I had a computer go down last week. Turns out that the power supply was
clogged with dust and needed to be replaced. It was probably under powered
too, which added to its demise. Talking to some friends, this has happened
to two more people in the last 3 months. All of them multi monitor machines
running some big apps. Regular computers did not seem to suffer from the
same type of problem.
The tech suggested regular cleaning of the interior of the case every two
months. Again, this is probably overkill for most machines, but we have
three examples here of where we probably could have prevented the problems
we had. He suggested a small compressor for this purpose. He had one in
his shop. I have no problem with getting a small compressor to make my
computers happy. It is just that my beloved and other folks working in the
offices would have extreme objections to a noisy, pancake compressor
starting up.
I could probably get by with a can of compressed air. I have a small vacuum
cleaner which will do an OK job cleaning. But I need some compressed air to
get everything really clean. I need something small, quiet and not scary to
tool phobic office workers (or wives). Any suggestions?
I was thinking of the baby compressors that run artist's air brushes. But
did not think they were powerful enough. Maybe even a fireplace bellows may
work. I looked at a small compressor from Harbor Freight and was assured
that it was very noisy. So that won't work. Maybe I am asking too much,
inexpensive, quiet and effective. Any input from you guys would be
appreciated.
On Wed, 4 Apr 2012 23:01:02 -0400, "J. Clarke" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>In article <[email protected]>,
>[email protected] says...
>>
>> On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:05:42 -0700, Larry Jaques
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> >On Wed, 4 Apr 2012 14:24:41 -0400, "Mike Marlow"
>> ><[email protected]> wrote:
>> >
>> >>Bill wrote:
>> >>
>> >>>
>> >>> To each his own, but that sound like a strangle place to put a
>> >>> screwdriver. How about just holding them with your finger (s)?
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >>Why Bill? He's just trying to keep the blades from turning. You are
>> >>right - a finger could easily do it, but there is nothing wrong with using a
>> >>screw driver either. Methinks he wants to keep his fingers from getting
>> >>dirty...
>> >
>> >A soft plastic wand (for the princesses) or wooden popsicle stick
>> >would be a lot safer around electronics, boys and girls.
>> Except you are doing this with the power DISCONNECTED. And HOPEFULLY
>> before strting to blow the air. Sticking a screwdriver into a rapidly
>> spinning PC fan WILL remove blades.
>
>Maybe if it's a really crappy fan or turning really fast, but the
>average PC fan just stalls when you stick a screwdriver in it. If you
>don't time it right you may scratch a blade though.
>
If it is spinning from compressed air and you even TOUCH the tip with
a screwdriver, the fan is HISTORY. Running as designed they are
hardly "rapidly spinning". - but I've seen them shatter even under
their own power when someone who will remain nameless stuck a
screwdriver in to stop the fan to see if it was the PS fan that was
noisy.
Bill wrote:
> Steve Turner wrote:
>> On 4/3/2012 2:36 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>>> "Lee Michaels"<leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> writes:
>>>
>>>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air.
>>>
>>> Indeed. If your computer is in an environment where blowing it out
>>> more than every 6 months is necessary, move the computer or clean up
>>> the environment.
>>>
>>> Compressor is way overkill.
>>
>> Disagree. I've used canned air several times on computers with
>> marginal results, then took a 40 PSI blow gun from a compressor to
>> the very same computer and blew out all kinds of residual crap that
>> the canned air couldn't touch.
>>
>
> There's a point at which you'll start blowing components off the
> boards. I'm not sure where that point is and am not sure I'd want to
> find out the hard way.
I have no idea what that point would be, but I have shot 125+ pounds of air
at all of my computers for years with not a single problem. If blowing
components off is a possibility then you've got bigger problems with the
computer you bought than the act of using compressed air to clean it.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
m II wrote:
> Where would one ever see socketed ICs anymore? That went out when
> computers passed the 4MHz infancy stage.
Correct - but that is the only condition I could imagine where someone would
think they could blow a component off a board. One is Shirly not going to
blow off a soldered connection, as was suggested.
>
> Static electricity is a far bigger hazard for the sensitive chips from
> the air movement.
Yeahbut, no. You are correct that you can build a charge, but you won't
discharge it - and it's the discharge that causes the problem. Simply
blowing high volumes of air across anything will not build up and discharge
static electricity. If that were the case, we would not be using fans to
move air across delicate electronics.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
>
> -----------------
>
> "Mike Marlow" wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> Not unless you intentionally try to direct the air stream in such a
> manner
> as to try to lift them, and even then - not likely. Socketed IC's are
> not
> likely to unseat with that air pressure, shorting jumpers - maybe
> since they
> can be weak connections. But - you simply don't blow under them to
> lift
> them. Not a complex solution. Switches - not too likely at all.
> Again -
> it all comes down to how you apply the air.
On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:54:35 -0400, Bill <[email protected]> wrote:
>Rod & BJ Jacobson wrote:
>> "Lee Michaels"<leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>> snip
>>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air. I have a small
>>> vacuum cleaner which will do an OK job cleaning. But I need some
>>> compressed air to get everything really clean. I need something small,
>>> quiet and not scary to tool phobic office workers (or wives). Any
>>> suggestions?
>>>
>>> I was thinking of the baby compressors that run artist's air brushes. But
>>> did not think they were powerful enough. Maybe even a fireplace bellows
>>> may work. I looked at a small compressor from Harbor Freight and was
>>> assured that it was very noisy. So that won't work. Maybe I am asking
>>> too much, inexpensive, quiet and effective. Any input from you guys would
>>> be appreciated.
>>
>> Taking the PC box to a compressor takes care of the noise /dust in a office
>> issue.
>>
>> A portable air storage tank($20) takes care of the noise in a office issue
>> and avoids needing extra lengths of hose when used around the house.....if
>> you don't have a compressor to fill it, borrow some air from a friend who
>> does. For little jobs it is also easier to carry around than even most small
>> compressors
>>
>> When using a compressor or tank to clean your PC make sure you hold the fan
>> blades still so you don't spin out the bearings....usually a screw driver
>> works fine.
>
>To each his own, but that sound like a strangle place to put a
>screwdriver. How about just holding them with your finger (s)?
>
>>
>> Rod
>>
>>
You are going to get your finger into the powersupply enough to stop
the fan? You must have pretty skinny fingers, or extremely long nails.
Larry Jaques wrote:
> On Wed, 4 Apr 2012 14:24:41 -0400, "Mike Marlow"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Bill wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> To each his own, but that sound like a strangle place to put a
>>> screwdriver. How about just holding them with your finger (s)?
>>>
>>
>> Why Bill? He's just trying to keep the blades from turning. You are
>> right - a finger could easily do it, but there is nothing wrong with
>> using a screw driver either. Methinks he wants to keep his fingers
>> from getting dirty...
>
> A soft plastic wand (for the princesses) or wooden popsicle stick
> would be a lot safer around electronics, boys and girls.
Well - hopefully it's powered off while cleaning it.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
On 4/3/2012 3:12 PM, Bill wrote:
> Steve Turner wrote:
>> Disagree. I've used canned air several times on computers with marginal
>> results, then took a 40 PSI blow gun from a compressor to the very same
>> computer and blew out all kinds of residual crap that the canned air
>> couldn't touch.
>>
>
> There's a point at which you'll start blowing components off the boards.
> I'm not sure where that point is and am not sure I'd want to find out
> the hard way.
There's always a first time for everything, but like Steve, I've been
using air from the shop air compressor to blow out computers since the
late eighties with not one problem ... only I used a spare tank that
held 120 psi to start with. ;)
--
www.eWoodShop.com
Last update: 4/15/2010
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)
http://gplus.to/eWoodShop
Bill wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
>
>> You are going to get your finger into the powersupply enough to stop
>> the fan? You must have pretty skinny fingers, or extremely long
>> nails.
>
> I don't think it's the power supply fan that is under discussion
> above.
It sure would be included in the discussion. Ever looked at the dust that a
PS fan can build up? Regardless - power supply or any other fan - no real
threat in using the screwdriver.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
"Lee Michaels" <leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I had a computer go down last week. Turns out that the power supply was
>clogged with dust and needed to be replaced. It was probably under powered
>too, which added to its demise. Talking to some friends, this has happened
>to two more people in the last 3 months. All of them multi monitor
>machines running some big apps. Regular computers did not seem to suffer
>from the same type of problem.
>
Snip
Any suggestions?
>
> I was thinking of the baby compressors that run artist's air brushes. But
> did not think they were powerful enough. Maybe even a fireplace bellows
> may work. I looked at a small compressor from Harbor Freight and was
> assured that it was very noisy. So that won't work. Maybe I am asking
> too much, inexpensive, quiet and effective. Any input from you guys would
> be appreciated.
I hope you take the computer out side to do this, not in the office blowing
all the stuff in the air to be drawn back into other computers. A tank
vacuum works. Put hose on output of tank. Large volume of air but low enough
pressure so as not to cause damage. WW
Lee Michaels wrote:
> I had a computer go down last week. Turns out that the power supply was
> clogged with dust and needed to be replaced. It was probably under
> powered too, which added to its demise. Talking to some friends, this
> has happened to two more people in the last 3 months. All of them multi
> monitor machines running some big apps. Regular computers did not seem
> to suffer from the same type of problem.
Just my suggestions - been a while since I worked on systems but....
Multiple monitors and heavy apps shouldn't effect the power supply to
much since it will still only draw what it is built to draw. Being
underpowered (as I recall ) will not damage the system but will cause
malfunctioning from components not getting enough power.
I think the key here is the clogged power supply. If it can't cool
itself then it will be toast pretty fast. Just the same with all other
components - the heat is going to be the biggest problem. All the
components produce heat a layer of dust is like a blanket to help hold
it in.
I think cleaning every 6 to 12 months should be fine. Hard apps and more
monitors do not mean more dust sucking up into the computer. I don't
know how your computers are placed but on the floor are a bad idea they
will collect dust much faster. Better to have them in a cabinet.
Are the office staff normally allowed to open the computers up?
--
Michael Joel
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes,
His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen,
being understood through what has been made,
so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God,
they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became
futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
- Romans 1:20-21 (NASB)
parksfamily2 ------ ---- --- gmail ----- ----- com
replace dashes with correct symbols
On Apr 5, 7:40=A0am, "m II" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Plastic vacuum cleaner nozzles and moving air can generate a =A0lot of
> static and that will "fix" your CPU for good in quick time.
>
> Watch the fan bearings with compressed air. I have ruined a few and had
> to replace the power supplies.
>
> -------------"RonB" =A0wrote in message
>
> news:9af91a4f-15ee-4f20-b1d4-6ec5c2721f41@s27g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
> Our quad core machine runs rather warm especially with its upgraded
> graphics card. =A0I use canned air for the close in stuff and our house
> vacuum, with the long nozzle, for general cleaning. =A0With heat sinks
> and internal perforated mounts (disk drive, etc) it pulls air from the
> back of objects instead of pushing dust in deeper. =A0Just be careful
> and don't bump into board components.
>
> We don't do it quite as often as he recommended but I probably clean
> it out 3-4 times a year. =A0The main machine, mentioned above, actually
> starts sounding a little different when it wants to be cleaned - a
> mild buzz when working harder with big graphics of video.
>
> RonB
That is why I think vacuum is a little more gentle.
RonB
"Lee Michaels" <leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I had a computer go down last week. Turns out that the power supply was
> clogged with dust and needed to be replaced. It was probably under
> powered too, which added to its demise. Talking to some friends, this has
> happened to two more people in the last 3 months. All of them multi
> monitor machines running some big apps. Regular computers did not seem to
> suffer from the same type of problem.
>
> The tech suggested regular cleaning of the interior of the case every two
> months. Again, this is probably overkill for most machines, but we have
> three examples here of where we probably could have prevented the problems
> we had. He suggested a small compressor for this purpose. He had one in
> his shop. I have no problem with getting a small compressor to make my
> computers happy. It is just that my beloved and other folks working in
> the offices would have extreme objections to a noisy, pancake compressor
> starting up.
>
> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air. I have a small
> vacuum cleaner which will do an OK job cleaning. But I need some
> compressed air to get everything really clean. I need something small,
> quiet and not scary to tool phobic office workers (or wives). Any
> suggestions?
>
> I was thinking of the baby compressors that run artist's air brushes. But
> did not think they were powerful enough. Maybe even a fireplace bellows
> may work. I looked at a small compressor from Harbor Freight and was
> assured that it was very noisy. So that won't work. Maybe I am asking
> too much, inexpensive, quiet and effective. Any input from you guys would
> be appreciated.
You cannot get away from the noise of most any kind of compressor. We run an
internet business with many computers, I also have a wood shop with a
compressor. To blow out a computer, we either carry it into the workshop and
use the compressor there, it also allows the dirt, fluff and whatever that
blows out to land in the sawdust. To work on a computer in the office, I
connect a couple of 50 foot hoses to the compressor to clear out the
computer. The noise stays in the workshop. You will have to vacuum up all
the crud that blows out so that it doesn't just get sucked back into the
computer.
"Lee Michaels" <leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
*snip*
> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air. I have a small
> vacuum cleaner which will do an OK job cleaning. But I need some
> compressed air to get everything really clean. I need something
> small, quiet and not scary to tool phobic office workers (or wives).
> Any suggestions?
>
> I was thinking of the baby compressors that run artist's air brushes.
> But did not think they were powerful enough. Maybe even a fireplace
> bellows may work. I looked at a small compressor from Harbor Freight
> and was assured that it was very noisy. So that won't work. Maybe I
> am asking too much, inexpensive, quiet and effective. Any input from
> you guys would be appreciated.
>
I have an air brush compressor, and while it doesn't put out much air it
is quiet and would probably keep the computers clean enough if used on a
regular basis.
If the systems collect that much dust, though, would some sort of filter
be worthwhile? You'd probably have to add another fan or two, but
changing the filter on a regular basis might be easier than lugging a
compressor around.
One more idea... Put a regulator on a compressed air tank. Set it for
something reasonable (20-30 psi?) and pressurize the tank to 90-100 psi.
You can fill the tank in the shop and take it where needed.
Puckdropper
--
Make it to fit, don't make it fit.
"Lee Michaels" wrote
>I had a computer go down last week.
>The tech suggested regular cleaning of the interior of the case every two
>months.
> I need something small, quiet and not scary to
>tool phobic office workers (or wives). Any suggestions?
I have one of these for use in the shop.
http://www.senco.com/CompressorDetails.aspx?k=PC1010
I find it handy to use for several blow...............uh.........purposes.
For use on a computer I set the regulator at 35-40 PSI.
And I use this blow gun:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/H8229/images/
Max
On 04/03/2012 05:26 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> Steve Turner<[email protected]> writes:
>> On 4/3/2012 4:32 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>
>>>
>>> My last company had over 400 dual-socket 1U/2U servers, and about 100 workstation
>>> systems (high-end, dual-head) - canned compressed air was sufficient for those as well,
>>> albeit only required once every couple of years.
>>>
>>> scott
>>
>> That's nice. It doesn't change what I said (which you snipped) about having
>> attempted (on many occasions) to fully clean out a computer with canned air,
>> having it do an incomplete job, then getting just as much or more dust out of
>> the system with an air compressor blow gun.
>
> Sorry I snipped it; a small amount of residual dust is harmless. The only
> place you want to make sure you have no thick dustbunnies is on the power
> supply heat-sinks, the processor heatsink, fan blades and any ventilation openings.
>
> The rest of the system operates at
> temperatures that aren't affected by a small amount of dust. It doesn't need
> to be operating room clean. Rephrase, the lack of operating room cleanliness
> doesn't have an effect on MTBF.
>
>> Incidentally, I've been in the industry almost as long as you have, five years
>> of which were spent as an IBM CE where the only tools we had in the field to
>> clean out a machine were canned air and a vacuum cleaner. We could *always* do
>> a better job of cleaning out the machines if we were able to take them from the
>> customer's site back to the office where we had an air compressor.
>
> The IBM big-iron (S/360, S/370, 3080, through Z-series) have filters that
> prevent dust migration into the system in the first place. As did the
> Burroughs systems.
>
> Using a computer vacuum is better anyway, as compressed air by itself
> just returns the dust to the evironment, from whence it will reestablish
> itself in the computer.
>
> scott
It's a good thing my pea seas are not mainframes! It's out to the shop,
blow the fur balls out with the compressor and than back to the computer
room. No residual dust in the house.
I've had more electronics failures from bulging/leaking electrolytic
caps anyway.
--
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure,the creed of ignorance, and the
gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery"
-Winston Churchill
"Mike Marlow" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
>
> I have no idea what that point would be, but I have shot 125+ pounds
> of air at all of my computers for years with not a single problem. If
> blowing components off is a possibility then you've got bigger
> problems with the computer you bought than the act of using compressed
> air to clean it.
>
I've got some old circuit boards with surface mount components... maybe
it's time for an experiment.
Hm... a little googling found a mini-heated torch. It uses compressed air
and heat to melt the solder on SMD components (and blow it away) so the
parts can be salvaged. (or maybe the board.)
Puckdropper
--
Make it to fit, don't make it fit.
Puckdropper <puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> "Mike Marlow" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>>
>> I have no idea what that point would be, but I have shot 125+ pounds
>> of air at all of my computers for years with not a single problem.
>> If blowing components off is a possibility then you've got bigger
>> problems with the computer you bought than the act of using
>> compressed air to clean it.
>>
>
> I've got some old circuit boards with surface mount components...
> maybe it's time for an experiment.
>
> Hm... a little googling found a mini-heated torch. It uses compressed
> air and heat to melt the solder on SMD components (and blow it away)
> so the parts can be salvaged. (or maybe the board.)
>
> Puckdropper
A quick experiment showed no movement at all with the SMD components.
Compressor was set to 90 PSI (I forgot the 125 psi part) and I had a blow
gun with "pool floatie" nozzle on the end. Air was applied to the side
and front of the component, and nothing blew off or even looked like it
was moving.
However, application of heat with a heat gun set to high (which will melt
solder and remove components itself) and the compressor set to about 20
psi had excellent results removing components from the circuit board. A
bunch of LEDs came off in less than a minute (through-hole) and the smd
components came off even easier. Trouble was they'd blow away with the
force of the compressor.
In my opinion, an air compressor is not going to be sufficient to blow
chips off a cold circuit board. However, socketed ICs, pin and header
connections, shorting jumpers, and maybe even some switches may be
negatively affected by the compressed air. If sufficiently high heat
enters the equation, however, the force of the compressed air can easily
blow the solder away from the component and cause it to fly off.
You guys may have inadvertently sold me on another tool... I gotta see
how much those hot air soldering pencils cost.
Puckdropper
--
Make it to fit, don't make it fit.
Steve Turner <[email protected]> writes:
>On 4/3/2012 2:36 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>> "Lee Michaels"<leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> writes:
>>
>>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air.
>>
>> Indeed. If your computer is in an environment where blowing it out
>> more than every 6 months is necessary, move the computer or clean up
>> the environment.
>>
>> Compressor is way overkill.
>
>Disagree.
I've worked in the industry for 30 years, building everything from mainframes
to supercomputers. The only time we ever used an air compressor was to power
the loadable heads on a Burroughs 5N head-per-track disk drive built in the
1970's (and of course on the manufacturing floor to power various tools,
such as torque wrenches, drills and various place-and-route machines in
the wire-wrap era).
My last company had over 400 dual-socket 1U/2U servers, and about 100 workstation
systems (high-end, dual-head) - canned compressed air was sufficient for those as well,
albeit only required once every couple of years.
scott
On Tue, 3 Apr 2012 14:19:28 -0400, "Lee Michaels"
>I was thinking of the baby compressors that run artist's air brushes. But
>did not think they were powerful enough. Maybe even a fireplace bellows may
>work. I looked at a small compressor from Harbor Freight and was assured
>that it was very noisy. So that won't work. Maybe I am asking too much,
>inexpensive, quiet and effective. Any input from you guys would be
>appreciated.
Since I live in an apartment, quietness was my top priority. Not
wanting to spend an exorbitant amount of money on something exotic
like a compressor that might be used by a dentist, I had a look at a
Samona (Rok) 10925, a Rolair JC10, a Senco PC1010. I also looked at a
Bostitch CAP1512 on a friend's recommendation, but it was too loud for
my tastes.
They are all fairly quiet compressors in the order presented. I
finally settled on the Senco PC1010 because it was the smallest and
the lightest (20 lbs.) The rest were at least twice that weight. I
wanted/needed a compressor for filling tires and for two nail guns
that I have. The heaviest nail gun is a Porter Cable 15g gun. You
would NOT use this compressor for a framing gun.
For your purposes, I'm guessing the Senco would work, but if I were
you, I'd just use a can of compressed air. If you think that you'd be
using too many cans of compressed air and it would be too costly, then
you might consider buying one of the refillable tanks of compressed
air such as the one in the link below.
http://www.amazon.com/Pure-Energy-Compressed-Tank-3000psi/dp/B0008G2W8O
Tanks like these can also be found at Paintball stores.
"Lee Michaels" <leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> writes:
>I could probably get by with a can of compressed air.
Indeed. If your computer is in an environment where blowing it out
more than every 6 months is necessary, move the computer or clean up
the environment.
Compressor is way overkill.
A computer vacuum is nice, particularly for the keyboard.
scott
On Wed, 4 Apr 2012 14:24:41 -0400, "Mike Marlow"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Bill wrote:
>
>>
>> To each his own, but that sound like a strangle place to put a
>> screwdriver. How about just holding them with your finger (s)?
>>
>
>Why Bill? He's just trying to keep the blades from turning. You are
>right - a finger could easily do it, but there is nothing wrong with using a
>screw driver either. Methinks he wants to keep his fingers from getting
>dirty...
A soft plastic wand (for the princesses) or wooden popsicle stick
would be a lot safer around electronics, boys and girls.
--
Life is an escalator:
You can move forward or backward;
you can not remain still.
-- Patricia Russell-McCloud
On Wed, 4 Apr 2012 21:54:33 -0400, "Mike Marlow"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Larry Jaques wrote:
>
>>
>> A small metal screwdriver tip could take out a thin trace on a mobo in
>> a split second. It could also scrap off a SM cap or resistor in a
>> heartbeat.
>>
>
>Well - it could if you scraped it across the motherboard, but it's not hard
>to place it into a fan blade to keep it from turning from the air stream.
>
>> And speaking of non-metallic screwdrivers, who has used a Gecko G540
>> drive before? What driver do you use to get down to those buried
>> screws they use for motor optimization? I think they're trimpots.
>> http://www.geckodrive.com/g540-digital-axis-motor-control-p-39.html
>
>Hmmmmm... I do have a couple of long nylon (I think...) screw drivers, for
>use in areas like that, while tweaking live. Don't think they are any brand
>name - probably came from HF a long time ago. I've had them forever.
>They've worked as advertised - so much so that they are somewhat
>unremarkable to me now. Mine will turn a fair amount of torque - but since
>they're nylon, there is a limit. Fine for trim pots and the like, but
>they'd never back out a tight screw. I have tried to take out screws that
>were too tight and it's easy to tell - you can feel the shaft start to
>distort and you know the blade is about to goin BOING. So - you quit at
>that point. I also have steel drivers with insulated shafts, that can reach
>into live areas, but you have to be careful getting them into where the
>screw head is. The obvious stuff.
If I can find the right size shrink, I'll cover a tiny steel driver I
already have, I guess. Thanks for the tip.
--
Life is an escalator:
You can move forward or backward;
you can not remain still.
-- Patricia Russell-McCloud
Bill wrote:
> To be honest, I never worried to much about the dirt inside of a power
> supply. My thinking is that if it's own fan can't blow "dust" out of
> its own enclosure, it's probably not much of a threat and/or there's
> probably not much I can do about it.
You would be surprised then, to see how much of a dust blanket blows out of
a PS. Is it a huge problem? Well... I'm not really sure, but when I'm
blowing out a PC, I blow it all out - including the PS. Don't see why I
would want to leave a layer of dust behind.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
"Lee Michaels" <leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> writes:
> I was thinking of the baby compressors that run artist's air brushes.
> But did not think they were powerful enough. Maybe even a fireplace
> bellows may work. I looked at a small compressor from Harbor Freight
> and was assured that it was very noisy. So that won't work. Maybe I
> am asking too much, inexpensive, quiet and effective. Any input from
> you guys would be appreciated.
Make sure the computer is off. DAMHIK
On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:29:42 -0400, Bill <[email protected]> wrote:
>[email protected] wrote:
>
>> You are going to get your finger into the powersupply enough to stop
>> the fan? You must have pretty skinny fingers, or extremely long nails.
>>
>
>I don't think it's the power supply fan that is under discussion above.
Both the PS fan and the CPU fan require care - as does the fan on a
high-end video card. The PS fan is the one most often damaged because
it IS out of sight, and they PS tends to accumulate dust
On Apr 3, 1:19=A0pm, "Lee Michaels" <leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast
dot net> wrote:
> I had a computer go down last week. =A0Turns out that the power supply wa=
s
> clogged with dust and needed to be replaced. =A0It was probably under pow=
ered
> too, which added to its demise. =A0Talking to some friends, this has happ=
ened
> to two more people in the last 3 months. =A0All of them multi monitor mac=
hines
> running some big apps. =A0Regular computers did not seem to suffer from t=
he
> same type of problem.
>
> The tech suggested regular cleaning of the interior of the case every two
> months. =A0Again, this is probably overkill for most machines, but we hav=
e
> three examples here of where we probably could have prevented the problem=
s
> we had. =A0He suggested a small compressor for this purpose. =A0He had on=
e in
> his shop. =A0I have no problem with getting a small compressor to make my
> computers happy. =A0It is just that my beloved and other folks working in=
the
> offices would have extreme objections to a noisy, pancake compressor
> starting up.
>
> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air. =A0I have a small v=
acuum
> cleaner which will do an OK job cleaning. =A0But I need some compressed a=
ir to
> get everything really clean. =A0I need something small, quiet and not sca=
ry to
> tool phobic office workers (or wives). =A0Any suggestions?
>
> I was thinking of the baby compressors that run artist's air brushes. =A0=
But
> did not think they were powerful enough. =A0Maybe even a fireplace bellow=
s may
> work. =A0I looked at a small compressor from Harbor Freight and was assur=
ed
> that it was very noisy. =A0So that won't work. =A0Maybe I am asking too m=
uch,
> inexpensive, quiet and effective. =A0Any input from you guys would be
> appreciated.
Our quad core machine runs rather warm especially with its upgraded
graphics card. I use canned air for the close in stuff and our house
vacuum, with the long nozzle, for general cleaning. With heat sinks
and internal perforated mounts (disk drive, etc) it pulls air from the
back of objects instead of pushing dust in deeper. Just be careful
and don't bump into board components.
We don't do it quite as often as he recommended but I probably clean
it out 3-4 times a year. The main machine, mentioned above, actually
starts sounding a little different when it wants to be cleaned - a
mild buzz when working harder with big graphics of video.
RonB
"Lee Michaels" <leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I had a computer go down last week. Turns out that the power supply was
>clogged with dust and needed to be replaced. It was probably under powered
>too, which added to its demise. Talking to some friends, this has happened
>to two more people in the last 3 months. All of them multi monitor
>machines running some big apps. Regular computers did not seem to suffer
>from the same type of problem.
>
> The tech suggested regular cleaning of the interior of the case every two
> months. Again, this is probably overkill for most machines, but we have
> three examples here of where we probably could have prevented the problems
> we had. He suggested a small compressor for this purpose. He had one in
> his shop. I have no problem with getting a small compressor to make my
> computers happy. It is just that my beloved and other folks working in
> the offices would have extreme objections to a noisy, pancake compressor
> starting up.
>
> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air. I have a small
> vacuum cleaner which will do an OK job cleaning. But I need some
> compressed air to get everything really clean. I need something small,
> quiet and not scary to tool phobic office workers (or wives). Any
> suggestions?
>
> I was thinking of the baby compressors that run artist's air brushes. But
> did not think they were powerful enough. Maybe even a fireplace bellows
> may work. I looked at a small compressor from Harbor Freight and was
> assured that it was very noisy. So that won't work. Maybe I am asking
> too much, inexpensive, quiet and effective. Any input from you guys would
> be appreciated.
Could you not use a small, noisy compressor after folks have departed for
the day? Or give them a few quid to enjoy an extended lunch on a sunny
afternoon and then do the job whilst they are not present? Hey, take your
time guys. It's a beautiful day, go and enjoy yourselves, I'll look after
the shop whilst your gone. Bit of kudos for you to boot.
When using compressed air it is worth jamming all fans (PSU/CPU/Case etc) as
the high rotational speeds can knacker (sorry, an olde English term) these
fans. I know this to my cost.
HTH
Nick.
England.
"Lee Michaels" <leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
snip
> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air. I have a small
> vacuum cleaner which will do an OK job cleaning. But I need some
> compressed air to get everything really clean. I need something small,
> quiet and not scary to tool phobic office workers (or wives). Any
> suggestions?
>
> I was thinking of the baby compressors that run artist's air brushes. But
> did not think they were powerful enough. Maybe even a fireplace bellows
> may work. I looked at a small compressor from Harbor Freight and was
> assured that it was very noisy. So that won't work. Maybe I am asking
> too much, inexpensive, quiet and effective. Any input from you guys would
> be appreciated.
Taking the PC box to a compressor takes care of the noise /dust in a office
issue.
A portable air storage tank($20) takes care of the noise in a office issue
and avoids needing extra lengths of hose when used around the house.....if
you don't have a compressor to fill it, borrow some air from a friend who
does. For little jobs it is also easier to carry around than even most small
compressors
When using a compressor or tank to clean your PC make sure you hold the fan
blades still so you don't spin out the bearings....usually a screw driver
works fine.
Rod
On 4/3/2012 4:15 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
> On 4/3/12 2:54 PM, Steve Turner wrote:
>> On 4/3/2012 2:36 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>>> "Lee Michaels"<leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> writes:
>>>
>>>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air.
>>>
>>> Indeed. If your computer is in an environment where blowing it out
>>> more than every 6 months is necessary, move the computer or clean up
>>> the environment.
>>>
>>> Compressor is way overkill.
>>
>> Disagree. I've used canned air several times on computers with marginal
>> results, then took a 40 PSI blow gun from a compressor to the very same
>> computer and blew out all kinds of residual crap that the canned air
>> couldn't touch.
>>
>
> That's how I found my keys. :-)
+1
--
www.eWoodShop.com
Last update: 4/15/2010
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)
http://gplus.to/eWoodShop
Plastic vacuum cleaner nozzles and moving air can generate a lot of
static and that will "fix" your CPU for good in quick time.
Watch the fan bearings with compressed air. I have ruined a few and had
to replace the power supplies.
-------------
"RonB" wrote in message
news:9af91a4f-15ee-4f20-b1d4-6ec5c2721f41@s27g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
Our quad core machine runs rather warm especially with its upgraded
graphics card. I use canned air for the close in stuff and our house
vacuum, with the long nozzle, for general cleaning. With heat sinks
and internal perforated mounts (disk drive, etc) it pulls air from the
back of objects instead of pushing dust in deeper. Just be careful
and don't bump into board components.
We don't do it quite as often as he recommended but I probably clean
it out 3-4 times a year. The main machine, mentioned above, actually
starts sounding a little different when it wants to be cleaned - a
mild buzz when working harder with big graphics of video.
RonB
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
> "Steve Turner" wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> On 4/3/2012 4:32 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> > Steve Turner<[email protected]> writes:
> >> On 4/3/2012 2:36 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> >>> "Lee Michaels"<leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> writes:
> >>>
> >>>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air.
> >>>
> >>> Indeed. If your computer is in an environment where blowing it out
> >>> more than every 6 months is necessary, move the computer or clean up
> >>> the environment.
> >>>
> >>> Compressor is way overkill.
> >>
> >> Disagree.
> >
> > I've worked in the industry for 30 years, building everything from
> > mainframes
> > to supercomputers. The only time we ever used an air compressor was to
> > power
> > the loadable heads on a Burroughs 5N head-per-track disk drive built in
> > the
> > 1970's (and of course on the manufacturing floor to power various tools,
> > such as torque wrenches, drills and various place-and-route machines in
> > the wire-wrap era).
> >
> > My last company had over 400 dual-socket 1U/2U servers, and about 100
> > workstation
> > systems (high-end, dual-head) - canned compressed air was sufficient for
> > those as well,
> > albeit only required once every couple of years.
> >
> > scott
>
> That's nice. It doesn't change what I said (which you snipped) about having
> attempted (on many occasions) to fully clean out a computer with canned air,
> having it do an incomplete job, then getting just as much or more dust out
> of
> the system with an air compressor blow gun.
>
> Incidentally, I've been in the industry almost as long as you have, five
> years
> of which were spent as an IBM CE where the only tools we had in the field to
> clean out a machine were canned air and a vacuum cleaner. We could *always*
> do
> a better job of cleaning out the machines if we were able to take them from
> the
> customer's site back to the office where we had an air compressor.
> =============================================================================
> Of course you could. Those little cans of air are very little better than
> nothing. At work, we would take them out into the shop (machine shop) and
> use the shop air supply to blow them out. Shop air was at 120 psi so you
> didn't get any closer than about three feet. I do the same at home (90 psi).
> I was over to someone's house a while back working on their machine. It
> needed cleaning out. He handed me a can of air. I tried that and then told
> him that was little better than nothing. He had a leaf blower though so we
> did get it clean.
FWIW, don't waste your money on canned air. One of these things does as
good a job <http://www.amazon.com/Giottos-AA1900-Rocket-Blaster-
Large/dp/B00017LSPI> and never gets empty. I got it to blow the dust
off the sensor in my camera but it works fine on computers too.
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
> On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:05:42 -0700, Larry Jaques
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >On Wed, 4 Apr 2012 14:24:41 -0400, "Mike Marlow"
> ><[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >>Bill wrote:
> >>
> >>>
> >>> To each his own, but that sound like a strangle place to put a
> >>> screwdriver. How about just holding them with your finger (s)?
> >>>
> >>
> >>Why Bill? He's just trying to keep the blades from turning. You are
> >>right - a finger could easily do it, but there is nothing wrong with using a
> >>screw driver either. Methinks he wants to keep his fingers from getting
> >>dirty...
> >
> >A soft plastic wand (for the princesses) or wooden popsicle stick
> >would be a lot safer around electronics, boys and girls.
> Except you are doing this with the power DISCONNECTED. And HOPEFULLY
> before strting to blow the air. Sticking a screwdriver into a rapidly
> spinning PC fan WILL remove blades.
Maybe if it's a really crappy fan or turning really fast, but the
average PC fan just stalls when you stick a screwdriver in it. If you
don't time it right you may scratch a blade though.
I use my compressor all the time. I clean my computers about every 6 mos.
BTW that has not prolonged my power supplies. They still go. Yours may
well have been from heat and dust, but they tend to fail regularly.
My laptop gets cleaned too. I take the rear cover off and blow it out.
On 4/3/2012 4:12 PM, Bill wrote:
> Steve Turner wrote:
>> On 4/3/2012 2:36 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>>> "Lee Michaels"<leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> writes:
>>>
>>>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air.
>>>
>>> Indeed. If your computer is in an environment where blowing it out
>>> more than every 6 months is necessary, move the computer or clean up
>>> the environment.
>>>
>>> Compressor is way overkill.
>>
>> Disagree. I've used canned air several times on computers with marginal
>> results, then took a 40 PSI blow gun from a compressor to the very same
>> computer and blew out all kinds of residual crap that the canned air
>> couldn't touch.
>>
>
> There's a point at which you'll start blowing components off the boards.
> I'm not sure where that point is and am not sure I'd want to find out
> the hard way.
Where would one ever see socketed ICs anymore? That went out when
computers passed the 4MHz infancy stage.
Static electricity is a far bigger hazard for the sensitive chips from
the air movement.
-----------------
"Mike Marlow" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
Not unless you intentionally try to direct the air stream in such a
manner
as to try to lift them, and even then - not likely. Socketed IC's are
not
likely to unseat with that air pressure, shorting jumpers - maybe since
they
can be weak connections. But - you simply don't blow under them to
lift
them. Not a complex solution. Switches - not too likely at all.
Again -
it all comes down to how you apply the air.
On 4/3/2012 1:19 PM, Lee Michaels wrote:
> I had a computer go down last week. Turns out that the power supply was
> clogged with dust and needed to be replaced. It was probably under
> powered too, which added to its demise. Talking to some friends, this
> has happened to two more people in the last 3 months. All of them multi
> monitor machines running some big apps. Regular computers did not seem
> to suffer from the same type of problem.
>
> The tech suggested regular cleaning of the interior of the case every
> two months. Again, this is probably overkill for most machines, but we
> have three examples here of where we probably could have prevented the
> problems we had. He suggested a small compressor for this purpose. He
> had one in his shop. I have no problem with getting a small compressor
> to make my computers happy. It is just that my beloved and other folks
> working in the offices would have extreme objections to a noisy, pancake
> compressor starting up.
>
> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air. I have a small
> vacuum cleaner which will do an OK job cleaning. But I need some
> compressed air to get everything really clean. I need something small,
> quiet and not scary to tool phobic office workers (or wives). Any
> suggestions?
>
> I was thinking of the baby compressors that run artist's air brushes.
> But did not think they were powerful enough. Maybe even a fireplace
> bellows may work. I looked at a small compressor from Harbor Freight and
> was assured that it was very noisy. So that won't work. Maybe I am
> asking too much, inexpensive, quiet and effective. Any input from you
> guys would be appreciated.
Take the computer to the compressor.
Bill wrote:
>
> To each his own, but that sound like a strangle place to put a
> screwdriver. How about just holding them with your finger (s)?
>
Why Bill? He's just trying to keep the blades from turning. You are
right - a finger could easily do it, but there is nothing wrong with using a
screw driver either. Methinks he wants to keep his fingers from getting
dirty...
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
Puckdropper wrote:
>
> In my opinion, an air compressor is not going to be sufficient to blow
> chips off a cold circuit board.
Yup - and that was the whole point in my reply to Bill's post. Not even a
chance of that happening. Nothing to worry about.
> However, socketed ICs, pin and header
> connections, shorting jumpers, and maybe even some switches may be
> negatively affected by the compressed air.
Not unless you intentionally try to direct the air stream in such a manner
as to try to lift them, and even then - not likely. Socketed IC's are not
likely to unseat with that air pressure, shorting jumpers - maybe since they
can be weak connections. But - you simply don't blow under them to lift
them. Not a complex solution. Switches - not too likely at all. Again -
it all comes down to how you apply the air.
> If sufficiently high heat
> enters the equation, however, the force of the compressed air can
> easily blow the solder away from the component and cause it to fly
> off.
Sufficiently high heat is the key. Solder requires a nominal 450 degree
heat to melt. Not likely you're going to get that from any gun in
combination with a blow gun. Think about it - you can cause enough heat
disipation just by breathing on a soldering iron to prevent it from melting
a solder joint. And now you're talking about mixing 80-120psi of air in
with a marginal heat source? Not much chance of lifting any joints.
>
> You guys may have inadvertently sold me on another tool... I gotta see
> how much those hot air soldering pencils cost.
>
Dude - remember what PT Barnum said...
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:05:42 -0700, Larry Jaques
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On Wed, 4 Apr 2012 14:24:41 -0400, "Mike Marlow"
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Bill wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> To each his own, but that sound like a strangle place to put a
>>> screwdriver. How about just holding them with your finger (s)?
>>>
>>
>>Why Bill? He's just trying to keep the blades from turning. You are
>>right - a finger could easily do it, but there is nothing wrong with using a
>>screw driver either. Methinks he wants to keep his fingers from getting
>>dirty...
>
>A soft plastic wand (for the princesses) or wooden popsicle stick
>would be a lot safer around electronics, boys and girls.
Except you are doing this with the power DISCONNECTED. And HOPEFULLY
before strting to blow the air. Sticking a screwdriver into a rapidly
spinning PC fan WILL remove blades.
Larry Jaques wrote:
>
> A small metal screwdriver tip could take out a thin trace on a mobo in
> a split second. It could also scrap off a SM cap or resistor in a
> heartbeat.
>
Well - it could if you scraped it across the motherboard, but it's not hard
to place it into a fan blade to keep it from turning from the air stream.
> And speaking of non-metallic screwdrivers, who has used a Gecko G540
> drive before? What driver do you use to get down to those buried
> screws they use for motor optimization? I think they're trimpots.
> http://www.geckodrive.com/g540-digital-axis-motor-control-p-39.html
Hmmmmm... I do have a couple of long nylon (I think...) screw drivers, for
use in areas like that, while tweaking live. Don't think they are any brand
name - probably came from HF a long time ago. I've had them forever.
They've worked as advertised - so much so that they are somewhat
unremarkable to me now. Mine will turn a fair amount of torque - but since
they're nylon, there is a limit. Fine for trim pots and the like, but
they'd never back out a tight screw. I have tried to take out screws that
were too tight and it's easy to tell - you can feel the shaft start to
distort and you know the blade is about to goin BOING. So - you quit at
that point. I also have steel drivers with insulated shafts, that can reach
into live areas, but you have to be careful getting them into where the
screw head is. The obvious stuff.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
On Wed, 4 Apr 2012 20:18:32 -0400, "Mike Marlow"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Larry Jaques wrote:
>> On Wed, 4 Apr 2012 14:24:41 -0400, "Mike Marlow"
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Bill wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> To each his own, but that sound like a strangle place to put a
>>>> screwdriver. How about just holding them with your finger (s)?
>>>>
>>>
>>> Why Bill? He's just trying to keep the blades from turning. You are
>>> right - a finger could easily do it, but there is nothing wrong with
>>> using a screw driver either. Methinks he wants to keep his fingers
>>> from getting dirty...
>>
>> A soft plastic wand (for the princesses) or wooden popsicle stick
>> would be a lot safer around electronics, boys and girls.
>
>Well - hopefully it's powered off while cleaning it.
A small metal screwdriver tip could take out a thin trace on a mobo in
a split second. It could also scrap off a SM cap or resistor in a
heartbeat.
And speaking of non-metallic screwdrivers, who has used a Gecko G540
drive before? What driver do you use to get down to those buried
screws they use for motor optimization? I think they're trimpots.
http://www.geckodrive.com/g540-digital-axis-motor-control-p-39.html
--
Life is an escalator:
You can move forward or backward;
you can not remain still.
-- Patricia Russell-McCloud
On Tue, 3 Apr 2012 14:17:38 -0400, "EXT" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
>"Lee Michaels" <leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> I had a computer go down last week. Turns out that the power supply was
>> clogged with dust and needed to be replaced. It was probably under
>> powered too, which added to its demise. Talking to some friends, this has
>> happened to two more people in the last 3 months. All of them multi
>> monitor machines running some big apps. Regular computers did not seem to
>> suffer from the same type of problem.
>>
>> The tech suggested regular cleaning of the interior of the case every two
>> months. Again, this is probably overkill for most machines, but we have
>> three examples here of where we probably could have prevented the problems
>> we had. He suggested a small compressor for this purpose. He had one in
>> his shop. I have no problem with getting a small compressor to make my
>> computers happy. It is just that my beloved and other folks working in
>> the offices would have extreme objections to a noisy, pancake compressor
>> starting up.
>>
>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air. I have a small
>> vacuum cleaner which will do an OK job cleaning. But I need some
>> compressed air to get everything really clean. I need something small,
>> quiet and not scary to tool phobic office workers (or wives). Any
>> suggestions?
>>
>> I was thinking of the baby compressors that run artist's air brushes. But
>> did not think they were powerful enough. Maybe even a fireplace bellows
>> may work. I looked at a small compressor from Harbor Freight and was
>> assured that it was very noisy. So that won't work. Maybe I am asking
>> too much, inexpensive, quiet and effective. Any input from you guys would
>> be appreciated.
>
>You cannot get away from the noise of most any kind of compressor. We run an
>internet business with many computers, I also have a wood shop with a
>compressor. To blow out a computer, we either carry it into the workshop and
>use the compressor there, it also allows the dirt, fluff and whatever that
>blows out to land in the sawdust. To work on a computer in the office, I
>connect a couple of 50 foot hoses to the compressor to clear out the
>computer. The noise stays in the workshop. You will have to vacuum up all
>the crud that blows out so that it doesn't just get sucked back into the
>computer.
Use an "air pig" or a bottle of nitrogen from your local liquid
air/welding supply
Steve Turner <[email protected]> writes:
>On 4/3/2012 4:32 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>>
>> My last company had over 400 dual-socket 1U/2U servers, and about 100 workstation
>> systems (high-end, dual-head) - canned compressed air was sufficient for those as well,
>> albeit only required once every couple of years.
>>
>> scott
>
>That's nice. It doesn't change what I said (which you snipped) about having
>attempted (on many occasions) to fully clean out a computer with canned air,
>having it do an incomplete job, then getting just as much or more dust out of
>the system with an air compressor blow gun.
Sorry I snipped it; a small amount of residual dust is harmless. The only
place you want to make sure you have no thick dustbunnies is on the power
supply heat-sinks, the processor heatsink, fan blades and any ventilation openings.
The rest of the system operates at
temperatures that aren't affected by a small amount of dust. It doesn't need
to be operating room clean. Rephrase, the lack of operating room cleanliness
doesn't have an effect on MTBF.
> Incidentally, I've been in the industry almost as long as you have, five years
> of which were spent as an IBM CE where the only tools we had in the field to
> clean out a machine were canned air and a vacuum cleaner. We could *always* do
> a better job of cleaning out the machines if we were able to take them from the
> customer's site back to the office where we had an air compressor.
The IBM big-iron (S/360, S/370, 3080, through Z-series) have filters that
prevent dust migration into the system in the first place. As did the
Burroughs systems.
Using a computer vacuum is better anyway, as compressed air by itself
just returns the dust to the evironment, from whence it will reestablish
itself in the computer.
scott
On Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:49:39 -0700, Larry Jaques
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:31:26 -0400, Bill <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>[email protected] wrote:
>>> On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:05:42 -0700, Larry Jaques
>>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Wed, 4 Apr 2012 14:24:41 -0400, "Mike Marlow"
>>>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Bill wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To each his own, but that sound like a strangle place to put a
>>>>>> screwdriver. How about just holding them with your finger (s)?
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Why Bill? He's just trying to keep the blades from turning. You are
>>>>> right - a finger could easily do it, but there is nothing wrong with using a
>>>>> screw driver either. Methinks he wants to keep his fingers from getting
>>>>> dirty...
>>>>
>>>> A soft plastic wand (for the princesses) or wooden popsicle stick
>>>> would be a lot safer around electronics, boys and girls.
>>> Except you are doing this with the power DISCONNECTED. And HOPEFULLY
>>> before strting to blow the air. Sticking a screwdriver into a rapidly
>>> spinning PC fan WILL remove blades.
>>
>>Not only that, I ground myself before sticking my hands in the case!
>
>Which you can't do if the comp is unplugged and in the shop.
>Compressed air creates all -sorts- of static electricity.
Sure you can. Just take a power cord and snip of the right leg of
the plug (held ground up, legs facing you) and plug the computer in.
It is all grounded, with no power. You touch the case with one hand,
and hold the nozzle in the other and there is no static issue.
In article <[email protected]>, "Lee Michaels" <leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> wrote:
>I had a computer go down last week. Turns out that the power supply was
>clogged with dust and needed to be replaced.
Do you own a leafblower? It works very well on badly-encrusted computers.
Normally its easier than using an air compressor, as there's no waiting time
for the tank to fill.
Art
On 4/3/2012 2:36 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> "Lee Michaels"<leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> writes:
>
>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air.
>
> Indeed. If your computer is in an environment where blowing it out
> more than every 6 months is necessary, move the computer or clean up
> the environment.
>
> Compressor is way overkill.
Disagree. I've used canned air several times on computers with marginal
results, then took a 40 PSI blow gun from a compressor to the very same
computer and blew out all kinds of residual crap that the canned air couldn't
touch.
--
Free bad advice available here.
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/
Lee Michaels wrote:
>
> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air. I have a small
> vacuum cleaner which will do an OK job cleaning. But I need some
> compressed air to get everything really clean. I need something small,
> quiet and not scary to tool phobic office workers (or wives). Any
> suggestions?
I think the can of compressed air is the standard solution, but I'm
allergic to it. I paid about $43 for a hand held 110v substitute which
works very well, but it louder than a hair dryer. I'm quite delighted
with the electric solution. I will find a link if anyone is interested
in the product.
Bill
Steve Turner wrote:
> On 4/3/2012 2:36 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>> "Lee Michaels"<leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> writes:
>>
>>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air.
>>
>> Indeed. If your computer is in an environment where blowing it out
>> more than every 6 months is necessary, move the computer or clean up
>> the environment.
>>
>> Compressor is way overkill.
>
> Disagree. I've used canned air several times on computers with marginal
> results, then took a 40 PSI blow gun from a compressor to the very same
> computer and blew out all kinds of residual crap that the canned air
> couldn't touch.
>
There's a point at which you'll start blowing components off the boards.
I'm not sure where that point is and am not sure I'd want to find out
the hard way.
Bill wrote:
> Lee Michaels wrote:
>>
>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air. I have a small
>> vacuum cleaner which will do an OK job cleaning. But I need some
>> compressed air to get everything really clean. I need something small,
>> quiet and not scary to tool phobic office workers (or wives). Any
>> suggestions?
>
> I think the can of compressed air is the standard solution, but I'm
> allergic to it. I paid about $43 for a hand held 110v substitute which
> works very well, but it louder than a hair dryer. I'm quite delighted
> with the electric solution. I will find a link if anyone is interested
> in the product.
>
> Bill
Here's the item. It seems to have a lot of satisfied customers:
http://www.amazon.com/Metro-Vacuum-ED500-500-Watt-Electric/dp/B001J4ZOAW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1333485722&sr=8-4
It comes with the attachment set, so don't order it separately. It
doesn't seem like office workers could complain too much about something
so non-obtrusive looking that only took 30 seconds.
On 4/3/12 2:54 PM, Steve Turner wrote:
> On 4/3/2012 2:36 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>> "Lee Michaels"<leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> writes:
>>
>>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air.
>>
>> Indeed. If your computer is in an environment where blowing it out
>> more than every 6 months is necessary, move the computer or clean up
>> the environment.
>>
>> Compressor is way overkill.
>
> Disagree. I've used canned air several times on computers with marginal
> results, then took a 40 PSI blow gun from a compressor to the very same
> computer and blew out all kinds of residual crap that the canned air
> couldn't touch.
>
That's how I found my keys. :-)
--
-MIKE-
"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com
[email protected]
---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply
On 4/3/2012 4:32 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> Steve Turner<[email protected]> writes:
>> On 4/3/2012 2:36 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>>> "Lee Michaels"<leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> writes:
>>>
>>>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air.
>>>
>>> Indeed. If your computer is in an environment where blowing it out
>>> more than every 6 months is necessary, move the computer or clean up
>>> the environment.
>>>
>>> Compressor is way overkill.
>>
>> Disagree.
>
> I've worked in the industry for 30 years, building everything from mainframes
> to supercomputers. The only time we ever used an air compressor was to power
> the loadable heads on a Burroughs 5N head-per-track disk drive built in the
> 1970's (and of course on the manufacturing floor to power various tools,
> such as torque wrenches, drills and various place-and-route machines in
> the wire-wrap era).
>
> My last company had over 400 dual-socket 1U/2U servers, and about 100 workstation
> systems (high-end, dual-head) - canned compressed air was sufficient for those as well,
> albeit only required once every couple of years.
>
> scott
That's nice. It doesn't change what I said (which you snipped) about having
attempted (on many occasions) to fully clean out a computer with canned air,
having it do an incomplete job, then getting just as much or more dust out of
the system with an air compressor blow gun.
Incidentally, I've been in the industry almost as long as you have, five years
of which were spent as an IBM CE where the only tools we had in the field to
clean out a machine were canned air and a vacuum cleaner. We could *always* do
a better job of cleaning out the machines if we were able to take them from the
customer's site back to the office where we had an air compressor.
--
Free bad advice available here.
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/
"Steve Turner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 4/3/2012 2:36 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>> "Lee Michaels"<leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> writes:
>>
>>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air.
>>
>> Indeed. If your computer is in an environment where blowing it out
>> more than every 6 months is necessary, move the computer or clean up
>> the environment.
>>
>> Compressor is way overkill.
>
> Disagree. I've used canned air several times on computers with marginal
> results, then took a 40 PSI blow gun from a compressor to the very same
> computer and blew out all kinds of residual crap that the canned air
> couldn't touch.
>
I use a blowgun on my compressor, too. I have a little pancake that I use
for small house projects with the nailguns, etc. 30 psi is good. Canned
air freezes things sometimes, and I'm not sure that's good.
Steve
Rod & BJ Jacobson wrote:
> "Lee Michaels"<leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> snip
>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air. I have a small
>> vacuum cleaner which will do an OK job cleaning. But I need some
>> compressed air to get everything really clean. I need something small,
>> quiet and not scary to tool phobic office workers (or wives). Any
>> suggestions?
>>
>> I was thinking of the baby compressors that run artist's air brushes. But
>> did not think they were powerful enough. Maybe even a fireplace bellows
>> may work. I looked at a small compressor from Harbor Freight and was
>> assured that it was very noisy. So that won't work. Maybe I am asking
>> too much, inexpensive, quiet and effective. Any input from you guys would
>> be appreciated.
>
> Taking the PC box to a compressor takes care of the noise /dust in a office
> issue.
>
> A portable air storage tank($20) takes care of the noise in a office issue
> and avoids needing extra lengths of hose when used around the house.....if
> you don't have a compressor to fill it, borrow some air from a friend who
> does. For little jobs it is also easier to carry around than even most small
> compressors
>
> When using a compressor or tank to clean your PC make sure you hold the fan
> blades still so you don't spin out the bearings....usually a screw driver
> works fine.
To each his own, but that sound like a strangle place to put a
screwdriver. How about just holding them with your finger (s)?
>
> Rod
>
>
[email protected] wrote:
> You are going to get your finger into the powersupply enough to stop
> the fan? You must have pretty skinny fingers, or extremely long nails.
>
I don't think it's the power supply fan that is under discussion above.
[email protected] wrote:
> On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:05:42 -0700, Larry Jaques
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 4 Apr 2012 14:24:41 -0400, "Mike Marlow"
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Bill wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> To each his own, but that sound like a strangle place to put a
>>>> screwdriver. How about just holding them with your finger (s)?
>>>>
>>>
>>> Why Bill? He's just trying to keep the blades from turning. You are
>>> right - a finger could easily do it, but there is nothing wrong with using a
>>> screw driver either. Methinks he wants to keep his fingers from getting
>>> dirty...
>>
>> A soft plastic wand (for the princesses) or wooden popsicle stick
>> would be a lot safer around electronics, boys and girls.
> Except you are doing this with the power DISCONNECTED. And HOPEFULLY
> before strting to blow the air. Sticking a screwdriver into a rapidly
> spinning PC fan WILL remove blades.
Not only that, I ground myself before sticking my hands in the case!
Mike Marlow wrote:
> Bill wrote:
>> [email protected] wrote:
>>
>>> You are going to get your finger into the powersupply enough to stop
>>> the fan? You must have pretty skinny fingers, or extremely long
>>> nails.
>>
>> I don't think it's the power supply fan that is under discussion
>> above.
>
> It sure would be included in the discussion. Ever looked at the dust that a
> PS fan can build up? Regardless - power supply or any other fan - no real
> threat in using the screwdriver.
>
To be honest, I never worried to much about the dirt inside of a power
supply. My thinking is that if it's own fan can't blow "dust" out of
its own enclosure, it's probably not much of a threat and/or there's
probably not much I can do about it.
From my experience vacuums are worse.
Ever vacuum up drywall dust with a central-vac? You can generate
lightning bolts that can set you on your ass.
Compressed air nozzles don't seem to generate the static build-up.
-------
"RonB" wrote in message
news:4c3a7190-1b83-4c6d-99d7-1b3e98fb9c88@l30g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
That is why I think vacuum is a little more gentle.
RonB
-------------
On Apr 5, 7:40 am, "m II" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Plastic vacuum cleaner nozzles and moving air can generate a lot of
> static and that will "fix" your CPU for good in quick time.
>
> Watch the fan bearings with compressed air. I have ruined a few and
> had
> to replace the power supplies.
--------------
> -------------"RonB" wrote in message
>
> news:9af91a4f-15ee-4f20-b1d4-6ec5c2721f41@s27g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
> Our quad core machine runs rather warm especially with its upgraded
> graphics card. I use canned air for the close in stuff and our house
> vacuum, with the long nozzle, for general cleaning. With heat sinks
> and internal perforated mounts (disk drive, etc) it pulls air from
> the
> back of objects instead of pushing dust in deeper. Just be careful
> and don't bump into board components.
>
> We don't do it quite as often as he recommended but I probably clean
> it out 3-4 times a year. The main machine, mentioned above, actually
> starts sounding a little different when it wants to be cleaned - a
> mild buzz when working harder with big graphics of video.
>
> RonB
Lee Michaels wrote:
> I had a computer go down last week. Turns out that the power supply
> was clogged with dust and needed to be replaced. It was probably
> under powered too, which added to its demise. Talking to some
> friends, this has happened to two more people in the last 3 months. All of
> them multi monitor machines running some big apps. Regular
> computers did not seem to suffer from the same type of problem.
> Any input from you guys would be appreciated.
How much dirt you have in your computer depends on the environment. Some of
my customers have so much dust inside the box, that, upon seeing the cloud
of white smoke generated by the exhaust from the Hoover, you'd think the
computer just elected a new Pope.
"Steve Turner" wrote in message news:[email protected]...
On 4/3/2012 4:32 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> Steve Turner<[email protected]> writes:
>> On 4/3/2012 2:36 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>>> "Lee Michaels"<leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> writes:
>>>
>>>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air.
>>>
>>> Indeed. If your computer is in an environment where blowing it out
>>> more than every 6 months is necessary, move the computer or clean up
>>> the environment.
>>>
>>> Compressor is way overkill.
>>
>> Disagree.
>
> I've worked in the industry for 30 years, building everything from
> mainframes
> to supercomputers. The only time we ever used an air compressor was to
> power
> the loadable heads on a Burroughs 5N head-per-track disk drive built in
> the
> 1970's (and of course on the manufacturing floor to power various tools,
> such as torque wrenches, drills and various place-and-route machines in
> the wire-wrap era).
>
> My last company had over 400 dual-socket 1U/2U servers, and about 100
> workstation
> systems (high-end, dual-head) - canned compressed air was sufficient for
> those as well,
> albeit only required once every couple of years.
>
> scott
That's nice. It doesn't change what I said (which you snipped) about having
attempted (on many occasions) to fully clean out a computer with canned air,
having it do an incomplete job, then getting just as much or more dust out
of
the system with an air compressor blow gun.
Incidentally, I've been in the industry almost as long as you have, five
years
of which were spent as an IBM CE where the only tools we had in the field to
clean out a machine were canned air and a vacuum cleaner. We could *always*
do
a better job of cleaning out the machines if we were able to take them from
the
customer's site back to the office where we had an air compressor.
=============================================================================
Of course you could. Those little cans of air are very little better than
nothing. At work, we would take them out into the shop (machine shop) and
use the shop air supply to blow them out. Shop air was at 120 psi so you
didn't get any closer than about three feet. I do the same at home (90 psi).
I was over to someone's house a while back working on their machine. It
needed cleaning out. He handed me a can of air. I tried that and then told
him that was little better than nothing. He had a leaf blower though so we
did get it clean.
On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:31:26 -0400, Bill <[email protected]> wrote:
>[email protected] wrote:
>> On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:05:42 -0700, Larry Jaques
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, 4 Apr 2012 14:24:41 -0400, "Mike Marlow"
>>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Bill wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> To each his own, but that sound like a strangle place to put a
>>>>> screwdriver. How about just holding them with your finger (s)?
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Why Bill? He's just trying to keep the blades from turning. You are
>>>> right - a finger could easily do it, but there is nothing wrong with using a
>>>> screw driver either. Methinks he wants to keep his fingers from getting
>>>> dirty...
>>>
>>> A soft plastic wand (for the princesses) or wooden popsicle stick
>>> would be a lot safer around electronics, boys and girls.
>> Except you are doing this with the power DISCONNECTED. And HOPEFULLY
>> before strting to blow the air. Sticking a screwdriver into a rapidly
>> spinning PC fan WILL remove blades.
>
>Not only that, I ground myself before sticking my hands in the case!
Which you can't do if the comp is unplugged and in the shop.
Compressed air creates all -sorts- of static electricity.
--
Life is an escalator:
You can move forward or backward;
you can not remain still.
-- Patricia Russell-McCloud
I would have to disagree. The discharge is only the visible result of
too much charge equalizing usually over about 10kV. 60V can ruin most
MOS components.
I still do it but I just ruined the bearings on a PSU fan, just last
week, doing it. Keep your hand on the fan so the sensitive bearings
don't destroy themselves.
Components are not going to blow off, though. Keep PSI down and nozzle
a few inches away.
-----------
"Mike Marlow" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
Yeahbut, no. You are correct that you can build a charge, but you
won't
discharge it - and it's the discharge that causes the problem. Simply
blowing high volumes of air across anything will not build up and
discharge
static electricity. If that were the case, we would not be using fans
to
move air across delicate electronics.
On Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:12:50 -0400, Bill <[email protected]> wrote:
>Steve Turner wrote:
>> On 4/3/2012 2:36 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>>> "Lee Michaels"<leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net> writes:
>>>
>>>> I could probably get by with a can of compressed air.
>>>
>>> Indeed. If your computer is in an environment where blowing it out
>>> more than every 6 months is necessary, move the computer or clean up
>>> the environment.
>>>
>>> Compressor is way overkill.
>>
>> Disagree. I've used canned air several times on computers with marginal
>> results, then took a 40 PSI blow gun from a compressor to the very same
>> computer and blew out all kinds of residual crap that the canned air
>> couldn't touch.
>>
>
>There's a point at which you'll start blowing components off the boards.
> I'm not sure where that point is and am not sure I'd want to find out
>the hard way.
40 PSI isn't anywhere close.
I like an "excellerator" blow gun - it has a venturi and a small
amount of high velocity air moves a WHOLE LOT of not quite so high
velocity air - doing an excellent job.