Wich is the best way to clean my desktop computer ?

[bsmart805]

Hi there !

I want to clean my desktop computer, but i really dont want to broke it, wich is the best way to do it ? May you can share to me yours experiences.. (im talking about inside the tower of desktop PC )

regards !

[Strange]

What do you want to clean?

If it just accumulated dust (and hair, skin flakes, dead insects, ...) then a soft brush and a vacuum cleaner should do.

 

[StringJunky]

10 minutes ago, Strange said:

What do you want to clean?

If it just accumulated dust (and hair, skin flakes, dead insects, ...) then a soft brush and a vacuum cleaner should do.

 

Would a deionizer  to discharge static make dust removal easier? Would firing negative ions at it harm anything?

[Strange]

19 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Would a deionizer  to discharge static make dust removal easier? Would firing negative ions at it harm anything?

Not a bad idea. It shouldn't do any harm but I wouldn't want to guarantee it!

[studiot]

Compressed air is better than a vacuum cleaner.

Make sure ther is somewhere that doesn't matter for the dust bunnies to go outside or in a garage.

[MigL]

If you live in a dry area prone to static build-up ( like our Canadian winters ), always touch the power supply casing ( while still attached to the outlet ) to discharge any static.
Otherwise go ahead with compressed air, vacuums and brushes.
Its been a long time since I've worried about static discharge, back in the 80s, I used to wear an ant-static strap when working on the inside of the case.

If you are comfortable enough, remove any heat sinks, unscrew the fans off them, and clean both thoroughly. They are the only things affected by dust build-up, and the only actually needed. Clean up any dried, old thermal paste with Isopropanol ( I use a mix of IPA and Acetone, less elbow grease ) from the heat sinks and processor.
Don't forget to replace the thermal paste when re-assembling.
If it makes you uncomfortable, take it to a professional ( ? ).

[koti]

46 minutes ago, MigL said:

Its been a long time since I've worried about static discharge, back in the 80s, I used to wear an ant-static strap when working on the inside of the case.

I shot an 800 euro board a couple years ago with ESD from my fingers. It was during a training, we took photos of an area under a microscope prior to the event for other reasons and some photos after it got shot - it was obvious from the magnified photos that ESD melted the traces together - mayhem. At least the students got a hands-on lesson on ESD.

Edited August 19, 2018 by koti

[studiot]

10 hours ago, MigL said:

If you live in a dry area prone to static build-up ( like our Canadian winters ), always touch the power supply casing ( while still attached to the outlet ) to discharge any static.
Otherwise go ahead with compressed air, vacuums and brushes.
Its been a long time since I've worried about static discharge, back in the 80s, I used to wear an ant-static strap when working on the inside of the case.

If you are comfortable enough, remove any heat sinks, unscrew the fans off them, and clean both thoroughly. They are the only things affected by dust build-up, and the only actually needed. Clean up any dried, old thermal paste with Isopropanol ( I use a mix of IPA and Acetone, less elbow grease ) from the heat sinks and processor.
Don't forget to replace the thermal paste when re-assembling.
If it makes you uncomfortable, take it to a professional ( ? ).

 

A layer of dust on components is a thermally insulating layer. Components are designed to operate in free air, insulating them will raise their tempeature and shorten their service life, resulting in premature failure.

The important thing to do when blowing out fans is to immobilise the fan (eg with a screwdriver). Compressed air or even a vacuum cleaner can case excessively high rotation speed and the resultant back EMF can damage other parts of the circuit.

Acetone attacks/dissolves the varnish on many components, (hence its use as nail varnish remover). It is also used as a perspex solvent/glue.

[MigL]

While I agree with you Studiot, that dust is a thermal insulator, other than the CPU and GPU most other logic ICs don't generate that much heat.
CPU/GPUs can generate upwards of 100w, and as a result, usually come with heat sink/forced air cooling.
Cleaning them is crucial, but others such as voltage regulator circuits, Southbridge controller and memory, could all use a dusting while you're in there.

My use of the IPA/acetone mix is strictly for cleaning thermal paste off the heat sink or thermal spreader of a processor.
They have no varnish, and it makes the job easier.
I don't clean circuit boards anymore, but back in the day when I could see well enough to solder ( even on laptops ), I'd use spray electrical cleaner to wash off the rosin residue.

[bsmart805]

thanks for the answers guys !