Beware using compressed air to clean computers
A word of warning re fans just in case you have never had the experience.
If you are using canned compressed air, its no problem, BUT if (as I did) you are using an “proper” air compressor, there can be a problem.
The first time I struck this I was doing an onsite investigate of a desktop that would start acting up after 30+ mins running.
Suspecting overheating, I checked and found the case full of dust, and moreover, the CPU fins were clogged.
I used the clients workshop compressor to blow it all out, BUT got a bit exuberant and allowed the CPU fan to spin too fast and literally blew the blades off.
I quick trip back to my workshop and found an old CPU fan… fitted it and all was OK.
Since that day, I always blocked the fan in some way.
With P/S fans, a strip of folded paper works a treat.
CPU and case fans are easy as a finger is all that is needed.
However a couple of years later, I had a blocked HP laptop.
I was doing the same and somehow did the same thing, but didn’t realise it until I restarted it and got this nasty vibration.
Luckily I managed to get a dead laptop from a colleague and apart from a couple of hours unpaid time, got it sorted 2 days later.
Again I learned, and after that I always tried to “winkle” a long piece of thin plastic sleeving into the fan
Sometimes this is not possible and in those cases I just used very short bursts of compressed air.
I’ve found using a small portable hairdryer works well. it’s warmth also helps to loosen crap around the cpu and ram bars. I blow on low with medium heat from the inside of the box onto the housing of the fan to release the grease and dirt. it also helps to make the cables more pliable making them move around more easily while using a small vacuum to extract the dust bunnies. then I turn the case upside down. and blow the hairdryer on cool at highspeed to remove the remaining debris.
works like a charm. plus no harm to the environment from the cfc’s in the car.
I know a developer that shorted out his PSU because he used a can of compressed air and then turned his pc back on right after doing it. Some moisture got in there from the can of compressed air.
A good tip is that if you are using the canned stuff, to wait about 10 minutes before turning the PC back on, to make sure it’s dry.
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