Cleaning Dust Out of Your PC - Tips?

Hi guys I never have cleaned dust out of my PC. Can anyone give me some tips on doing it? I watched many videos on it... it seems remove the cover, then get some canned air and spray all the dust you see.

How do I discharge electricity from my hands? That's for ESD. Also what components are safe to spray? On the fans and heat sink, do I just spray a burst of air into it to make it spin really fast or put a toothpick or something to prevent it from spinning? Some users on youtube said spinning the heat sink too fast can damage it. Also how fast should I spray them? Big bursts or slowly at a time?

I just don't want to mess up my expensive PC by frying or damaging something. Also if you are totally careful and discharge the electricity from your hands, is there much of a risk of damaging your PC?

Thanks A TON guys!!! I'm smart on software but a noob on H/W.

Assuming your case is metal like mine is, rub the side of it with both hands, and then take the side cover off. If you do not do this, you run the risk of ruining your RAM and Processor extremely easily, as well as other components.

Pretty much anything and everything, as long as you DON'T spray it for too long. Also: DO NOT turn the can upside down and spray. It'll become an instant "freeze-gun". I've had this done to me on my skin and my hardware. Not fun. :P

Simply use your finger with a light amount of pressure on the fan to prevent it from spinning. Forcing it to spin will ruin it. I, myself, took the fan off of the heatsink and cleaned the heatsink out with special toothpicks and light bursts of canned air. If you only spray it with the air, it has a chance of getting the dust clogged into the heatsink "teeth", which will cause it to overheat and actually slow your system down.

I presume you meant fan, instead of heatsink. A heatsink is the big hunk of metal with sharp "teeth" on it. If you get cut by it, you'll know. :P You should spray it a little at a time with big "bursts" when necessary. (Not really big bursts, more-so of an increased pressure of the air..Squeeze the trigger a little harder, but not all the way).

Unless you go on yanking and bumping stuff carelessly, you won't run much risk at all after discharging yourself of static electricity.

No problem.

Thanks so much Mini! You answered all my questions! Have a great day!

Most computer components aren't quite as fragile as some people make out... simply removing the metal side panel while the power cord is still plugged into the back of your powersupply is quite sufficient to act as an earth if you're worried about static.

Hell, you can toss a motherboard under the tap or in the dishwasher (no detergent!) if you really wanted to, just make sure it's dry before you use it

One thing to avoid, resist the temptation to stick a vacuum cleaner in you case when chasing down the dust bunnies... that's a pretty big source of static shocks.

Canned air, hard to go wrong with that just don't invert the can. Don't worry about sticking tooth picks in the fans... and if they're quite grotty with built up dust, wipe them with an anti static cloth (damp not wet paper towel in a pinch) or brush them out gently with a tooth brush.

On a completely unrelated topic, it's fun to use left-over canned air to freeze the outside of blueberries and make hand-held paintballs.

And yea, ESD is really over-hyped. Unless you've been running around with socks, sliding on a huge carpet, odds are you won't damage it. Just touching the side of the case will discharge anything.

P.S. While touching the case with the powersupply plugged in is a good idea, make sure you unplug it before you do any real work; unless you like spikey hair and the taste of iron.

I did not know this, the same applies to Case Fans?

[QUOTE=Nerel;

One thing to avoid, resist the temptation to stick a vacuum cleaner in you case when chasing down the dust bunnies... that's a pretty big source of static shocks..[/QUOTE]


Looks like I have been doing the wrong thing for years, I did this only last week.

Once I have the side off, I remove the outer venting that direct the flow of air across the processor then remove the fan and suck all the crap off the heat sink.

I hear that PC world in the uk now has a fine dust filter to keep much of this out of the case.
I haven't checked this out myself yet but it could reduce the number of clean outs we have to do.

It applies to nothing, that comment was absolute bullshit. Modern ball-bearing fans dont care how or when you spin them.

If I may ask, how does that ruin it?

When I clean my PC's fan, dust gets caked onto the blades and the inside of the "case" really good. I used a q-tip to dislodge the dust, then blew it out of the fan with light bursts of air from a can. It seems to work no issues.

The bearings on some cheap fans can get screwed up by blowing canned air on them and making them spin too fast. It also somewhat depends upon which side of the bearing has to take the load and/or whether the fan shifts on the shaft and/or etc.

Like so many of these things, it's easier just to tell people not to spin up any fans, then to explain the risk.

That. :P

Thanks, Quaker.

Yeah, thanks Quaker.