Cleaning the Sensitive components in DS system

can of air works very well just be careful to not spray it directly at the fans bc it may cause them to over spin and not work

sprays liquid??? i would def stray away from that im lucky enough to have my own air compressor so i just use that very carefully to blow out my case

Yea, i asked this question a while back, most people said can of air.....and said the usual dont tip it to make the liquid come out...

make sure your system is tight, make sure its not pluged in, then vacume the crap out.

yeah, but there are some tight holes in which the vacuum can't even reach. even with those small shafts.

Originally posted by 13cizma yeah, but there are some tight holes in which the vacuum can't even reach. even with those small shafts.

be very careful with vacume cleaners.  To be completely safe do not use one that touches the floor, if you have a portable one its much better due to the static electricity factor.

Cans and non-lint cloths do the job pretty well if you maintain a decent periodic cleaning schedule. Considering the expense we pay for a customized system that shouldn't be too much of an inconvenience.

 

But if you're feeling it...you can always experiment with a 200mph leaf blower and see what kind of interesting results you get.... 

 

"Do not attempt at home without proper psychiatric supervision"

Most cans of compressed air that say on the label they are OK to use for computers will be fine. Before using it on your computer, shake it throughly and spray it outside. The air inside is very compressed and cool so sometimes for the first 1/2 a second or so it may spray some Liquid Nitrogen. Accidentally sprayed some on the plastic of my computer case and it turned into ice instantly. Pretty cool and it came off but could be really damaging to your components.

As for cloths, a Kiwi Polishing cloth should work wonders for cleaning monitors as it is very soft to avoid scratches even in polish (Which is not even a solid) so it's very fine and gentle.

Also, be sure to clean your computer in an open place if using a can of compressed air as dust that you blow out can go right back in.

I recommend cleaning your comp every 3-6 months if not every 1-3. Any longer and you will collect a ton of dust. (I.E: First cleaned mine after like a year and a half. Ugh, too much dust.)

Don't stick your fingers in moving fans, it is not fun. Unplug your computer and turn it off before cleaning it. Common sense.


Edited by tyler_14_420 - 22 Oct 2008 at 2:41am

cans wont get everything out, and they blow a lot of stuff further into the system components IMO, if you use a vacuum you have to make sure the tip and arm you are using are not metal, something that can't hold static, mine has a like a plastic kinda tip so no static getting anywhere near the system, and I find it does a much better job then all the times I used air cans to try and clean it.

thats just me tho.

I air can and vacuum (since my vacuum can't get into the hard to reach spots lol)

Can of air is best utilised in very short bursts. Once the can gets cold, wait a bit before spraying again. Keep can upright as possible. I highly recommend avoiding vaccuum cleaning any circuit boards as it's very easy to suck surface mounted components right off. It's always a risk to break a solder connection in small components if you're not careful. Avoid bumping electronic components that are attached to circuit boards.
Whenever I worked with equipment, I erred on the side of dusty vs risking damaging the $10k plus gear I worked with. A little dust is NOT as dangerous as popping off a capacitor. So, go ahead and get rid of most of the dust, but don't stress over it not being spotless. Vaccuum at your own risk. I've seen professional suck parts off pc boards and yeah... they stopped using vaccuums... I used to laugh, since they told me it couldn't happen. Nah, I didn't really laugh...  until they left.

if parts are coming off the board, I think the problem is the board not the vacuum, I can't imagine what kind of power vacuum would need to have to rip the components off the board, unless those parts where lose to begin with.

but ya vacuum at your own risk for sure.

I've been doing it for years, with many different PCs, so I don't see how buying a PC has anything to do with it. and I don't clean my PC to have fun, I do it to clean when I wanna have fun, I go skiing or horse back ridding or things like that

Edited by DST4ME - 22 Oct 2008 at 3:56am

my pets put out too much hair, can air is powerless against them

d00d! Invest in some filters then! You can prolly even find some at Radio Shack to mount in front of your fans or somewhere that will reduce dust and especially stop hair from entering heheh. Another anti-dust solution is to take used fabric softening sheets and put them in someway to cover the intake. Air movement will be slightly impeded, but provided you keep tabs on heat and adjust fan speed accordingly, it's a better answer than just letting junk enter your pc case.

Thank god for water cooling ahaah.

Cosmos S at the time pre-built with dust filters already I believe (in only few spots, the bottom for the PSU, and I THINK the side panel fan right?).  But I'm just mentioning that on the side in terms of computers having pre-dust filters

Best of all you can just wash em/vacuum em or something.  (Washing would probably be a bad idea, since then you'd have to let them dry for awhile ahah)

Btw DST, for the HAF can a 3x120 Radiator really fit in the ceiling of the case?  (One review said it wouldn't fit, and every other review would state it does see mount screws, to accomdate a triple.  Not sure what to believe ahah)

I also just realized to myself, I can just ask DS to stick radiators all over the place.  Triple Rad on the top, One rad on the bottom, and two 2x120s on the side panel if I honestly wanna go that far.  I actually don't wanna, since then there'd be no air flow to cool the rest of the board, aside from the specific components being watercooled

Actually you still have to stick fans anyway... (in my living conditions, no pets around, only mostly dust, so I can probably do a dust filter + fan mount on the radiators anyway)


Edited by Axel Daemon - 22 Oct 2008 at 4:39am

If the hose part you stick in the has a non conductive tip, there is no danger from static.