"Notat Home" wrote in message
...

One of my pc's has a health check program, which supposedly checks the
pc for problems. The last time it ran, it gave me a message that the pc
should periodically be cleaned. I've been doing this with a vacuum, but
they suggested a can of compressed air. Cans of compressed air are
surprisingly expensive, so I started thinking of using my air
compressor, or a politician.

Would an air compressor work? I'm wondering if I can set it low enough
to insure the computer is not harmed.

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I worked at a PC repair shop for years. We always used a compressor and
ALWAYS used a moisture trap in the air line (cheap!) to clean almost every
computer that came into the shop. Also as you mention, be a little careful
with extreme high pressure but we used pressure much higher than comes out
of a can. ALWAYS hold the fan blades still with fingers, pencil, etc. to
keep them from spinning too fast. They are usually cheap plastic and can
break blades easily. I have heard that spinning the fans backwards from
their normal direction can create a possibly dangerous "reverse" current. I
don't know about this but holding the fans still solves that problem too.

Moisture, dirt and heat are the enemy of electronics. A careful, frequent,
cleaning can save big expenses. When parts get dirty and quit cooling, it is
the motherboard or processor that usually suffers... most expensive parts
and often not replaceable after a few years.

How often? maybe once a month, maybe once every couple of years... just look
at filters, fan blade edges, cooling vents and cooling fins.

No moisture trap? Empty water from air tank (valve at bottom) and spray air
on a piece of paper or wood.... depending on local humidity, you may or may
not see much moisture. Then its your call... After cleaning, let the
computer sit a few hours or overnight in a dry (air conditioned or heated)
atmosphere before starting.

Moisture trap or not, if you see mist being blown into computer, dry it (as
above) for a few hours before starting.


-- --
Les Stewart
Nacogdoches, TX
s t e w a r t 5 4 3 2 1 @ g m a i l . c o m (remove spaces)