FEATURED My Massive PC Cleaning Thread!! ***Graphic Content****

[onefstsnake]

Rig was ~5 years old. Sat on a carpeted floor under a desk.
I pulled pieces of dust out of it that were as strong as felt.
Should have made him a hat out of it or something.

Also both him and his wife smoked it the office.

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Could be worse. Not my pic, but I worked on a coworkers Dell that was randomly shutting down... wonder why... Looked very similar to this.

ooh, lookie, ISA slots.

Is that what happens when a dust bunny gets inside your computer and sneezes?

Seriously though, I've worked on some dusty and dirty PC's, but this takes the cake.

 

[SuperDave1685]

That one definitely takes the cake.

 

[jason4207]

Great thread Dave! Love the pics!

The best investment I've ever made for cleaning my PC and others PCs is an air compressor. I have an in-line oil and water filter as well as a desiccant filter. I just take the PC out into the driveway and I can clean out years of dust in just a few minutes at 90psi. Cans-of-air just don't have the power to get in there like the compressor. I don't even have to take anything apart aside form the side and front case panels, and it's almost as good as new in no time. No wiping, tedious cleaning, or major disassembly required unless you really want everything to shine.

 

[SuperDave1685]

LOl yea I want one Jason! I just haven't found one at a good price here I was afraid too much force from an air compressor might damage something like the fins in the radiator, or blow a capacitor off the board

 

[jason4207]

I've heard of rusty water getting sprayed and fans being damaged using air compressors. The filters take care of the rusty water problem. I put the compressor nozzle right up to fans and spin them faster than have ever spun, and haven't had a problem yet. I do this on all kinds of fans from the small fans on older CPUs to gfx card fans to standard case fans of all shapes and sizes all the way up to the Panaflo and Delta monsters; never had a problem. I've never had a problem with other components either. The only bad thing that has happened to me is a face full of dust!

I use 90psi as the desiccant filter says not to exceed that.

 

[SuperDave1685]

ahhhh gotcha jason! Well I don't have any filters on my fans except the 2 120mm ones in the front- The one in front of my HD cage, and the other one in my 3, 5.25" bays. I'm still looking though!

 

[onefstsnake]

Yeah, I use my small electric air compressor to dust all my rigs out.
30psi seems to work well. I try to hold a fan blade while blowing the fans out so they dont spin like crazy.

 

[jason4207]

ahhhh gotcha jason! Well I don't have any filters on my fans except the 2 120mm ones in the front- The one in front of my HD cage, and the other one in my 3, 5.25" bays. I'm still looking though!

I was referring to filters on the air compressor that eliminate any water, oil, or other contaminants that can get into the spray line. Similar to the steps one would take for using the compressor to spray paint.

I've heard other folks on the forum say they don't use any filters on their compressor and still don't have any issues, though.

 

[someinterwebguy]

Awesome thread!

I am looking into water cooling down the road, but have to stick with air for now. Setups like yours are the reason I want to move to water.

BTW - Thank you for your service (my dad was in the Army, Coast Guard & USMC).

 

[SuperDave1685]

Ahh I gotcha now Jason. I didn't know you get filters for a compressor. You learn something new everyday!

In other news, stay tuned for an update. I'll be getting my 1200W Antec in hopefully tomorrow, so I'll be re-wiring my case

Thanks for the support someinterwebguy!

 

[Conumdrum]

Ahh I gotcha now Jason. I didn't know you get filters for a compressor. You learn something new everyday!

In other news, stay tuned for an update. I'll be getting my 1200W Antec in hopefully tomorrow, so I'll be re-wiring my case

Thanks for the support someinterwebguy!

Depends on the compressor. Bigg ones that weigh more than a car use oil to cool them, and keep the compressor oiled. They get very hot compressing air. HOT.

So you need an oil seperator. You also need down line a water seperator. As the air cools, the moisture in the air can condense. Seen our lines put out a nice mist of water/air when it's messed up.

Ones in the garage that run on a 1-5 HP electric/gas motor, usually using pistons have oil. So again you need a seperator.

The small one like I have, electric 2 gallons ones, about 20 lbs has no oil in it. So no need for a seperator or filters. It's loud and handy as heck. I plug it in, let if fill (about 10 min or so to 100 PSI, turn it off, lug it inside to the kitchen to blow dry all my parts. 5 min later if not less, it goes back outside for a recharge. Nice to have, loud as heck.

 

[Convicted1]

I was referring to filters on the air compressor that eliminate any water, oil, or other contaminants that can get into the spray line. Similar to the steps one would take for using the compressor to spray paint.

I've heard other folks on the forum say they don't use any filters on their compressor and still don't have any issues, though.

I'd be one of those without the filters...

Only extra precaution I take is to go ahead and drain the compressor prior to blowing out electronics... Just to make sure any large amount of water sitting in the tank is gone. I use my compressor quite a bit, so it does sometimes have a decent amount of water in the tank.

Never had a problem yet... Done this LOTS of times.

I use 120PSI on my stuff, but don't get real close to anything with the nozzle.

Works like a charm!