Use an Air Compressor, Surprise Inside

[hainer36]

I was cleaning out my basement room, and I noticed that my keyboard hadn't been cleaned since I got the G15 (3+ years ago), mostly to the disgust of my girlfriend, I decided that I should clean it. So I got a cloth for LCD screens and wiped it dow, but it wasnt doing anything. So I asked my dad if the air compressor had some air in it, and it did. But I plugged it in to charge it, this is maybe a 3 gallon portable air compressor, and was using it while charging it. At 50PSI it cleaned the keyboard back to new (minus the small wear and tear), the keys no longer are hard to press down, there is no hair, crumbs, or miscellaneous previously-floalting objects found underneath the keys and I am happy.

Now you are asking, what the hell does this have to do with watercooling? Well stop asking questions and I will tell you

I then decided that I should get the old computer into the garage and blow the hell out of it (yeah, I said that on purpose). I set the compressor to about 60PSI and let the thing charge to get the tank full, and slowly I blew the crap off of every fan, component, compartment and of course my rad. It took maybe 15 minutes, with 2 interuptions, 1 from my neighbour who was curious as to what the hell I was doing with a giant tin box. And my buddy came over to show me his new 1TB ext HDD and grab a copy of Windows 7 from me.

And the difference, well besides the fact that it is really really clean, and I probably put out about 3lbs of dust into my neighbourhood (note: make sure you have a fan blowing the dust away from you, or it wont really go far and might just stay in the case) the temperature difference is amazing.

Components
MCP-600 > MCP-600 > Cathar G4 (modded for Socket 1366) > BIX3 > Dual 3.5" Resivoir
Fans: 3x Sanyo Denki Metal Housed 24v fans @ 12v pulling air through the rad and many more throughout the case

Previous temperatures
Idle: 33C
Full Load: 60C

Current Temperatures:
Idle: 28C
Full Load: 43C

Yeah, cleaning out my rad and system fans managed to net me a drop in temperature of 5C on idle and 17C on full load

So since it is nice out now, in Canada, so everywhere else (North America, unsure of temps in other areas) better be, CLEAN OUT YOUR SYSTEMS and watch as you help breathe new life into your cooling.

 

[BobbyBubblehead]

you can buy greaseless cleaner in a spray can from electronics stores.
for the same purpose in general but you have to watch for it freezing stuff because its V cold out the can.

I was hoping youd had the heatsink off the CPU and gone compressor cooled #Chuckles#

rads do seem to collect every bit of dust `n fluff in the neighbourhood.

Good stuff!

 

[donuts]

Sound like you need to do this a little more often.

I had my portable air tank in the house a few weeks ago. I had forgotten I had blue LED's on the front intake of my CM 690, just a little dirty.

I'm still on air, so I have tendency to clean the heatsinks every few weeks.

 

[BobbyBubblehead]

My triple rad was on the carpet on 1 inch legs... good hoover like that.
Wish the guy nextdoor would stop renovating two.... dust, dust and more dust for two years.... hes done a brilliant job of the house and in doin my head in #Chuckles#

I do do brilliant slob though... once I get busy, the maintainance falls off.

maybe get me a compressor for the house work

 

[Diggrr]

I keep my small shop vac in the livingroom for just such occassions. It works awesome for the spiderwebs that seam to grow everywhere, and the computer area as well.

(and yeah, I'm single )

 

[Spawn-Inc]

lol, i was thinking you either blew up your rad or used compressor air to cool the system somehow.


i would take my case outside but it weigh in at 90lbs and i don't feel like working out...

nice results though!

 

[hainer36]

mine is about 65-70lbs...and have to lug it up a set of stairs...so thats why ive only cleaned it out once a summer

 

[voigts]

I bought a small 2 gallon Coleman compressor about 4 yrs ago on black Friday for maybe $40. Compared to buying cans of compressed air, it has paid for itself 3 times over by now.

I usually blow mine out every 3-4 weeks out on the front porch with the compressor. I cringe when I see pics on forums of radiators that are dust encrusted.

I had a client once who was a Bookkeeper. I went to work on her computers. Of her 5 systems, 3 of them hadn't been blown out in about 2 yrs, one in about 3-4 yrs, and one hadn't been blown out in about 5 years. The two most neglected computers had fist sized wads of dust in them. The front hard drive cages were almost buried in hair/dust. Frankly I couldn't believe they were even still running. The oldest one sat in a place where their favorite pet used to sit. It had handful after handful of cat hair/dust in it.

 

[Diggrr]

Eeww. Eat the cat, filter the fans.

 

[McTimson]

Yup, I just cleaned my system out today as well, and there was a ton of dust on the radiator. So much, that one of the fans that was supposed to be pushing actually felt like it was pulling, because the air was just being blocked by all the dust. Cleaning that off dropped it a good 15C under load. I had assumed that the higher temperatures lately were because it's getting warmer out, but it looks like dust buildup was a much bigger factor.