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.

Notat Home wrote:
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.

Nah, you're not going to harm anything in the computer with compressed air.

You might try the blower end of your vacuum first. When you first blow your
computer, you'll be convinced it just elected a new Pope.

On 02/27/12 09:09 am, Notat Home wrote:

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.

Is the air from your air compressor dry and oil-free?

The air from a politician (of whichever party) might cause severe damage
to your computer because of its high temperature.

Perce

On 2/27/2012 8:09 AM, Notat Home wrote:
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.

i've used compressed air for decades. Just open her up, and blow away.
Just use your head about how close you get. It doesn't take much to
dislodge dust. You can get close to the power supply fan and the
processor fan. I used a rubber tipped blow gun on a 150psi shop line.
If you want to pussy foot about it, you can use the exhaust from your
shop vac.

--
Steve Barker
remove the "not" from my address to email

"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.

I'm going to have to disagree with the others. Do Not use compressed air
from
an air compressor.

First, there is often moisture in compressed air from you air compressor,
and this small undetectable amount can certainly harm your computer.

Second, too much pressure can damage components.

Best bet, buy the expensive compressed air.

Bob-tx

On Feb 27, 8:09*am, Notat Home wrote:
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.


Compressed air cans are not that expensive when you consider the
amount you will use to clean your computer. As another has suggested,
your vacuum can also work but let it run for a moment to get the crud
out of the hose. You can then reconnect the hose to the suck side and
remove loose debris

Periodic cleaning can work wonders. Mine was starting to make a
humming noise a few months ago and I assumed it was a loose case
connection. However, I opened it up and started cleaning one of the
big fan cooled heat sinks on the graphics processor. I turned the
machine back on and the buzzing was gone. I did have to remove the
heat sink/fan assembly (simple latches) to get the rest of the lint
out. The rest was easy and the machine was quiet afterwards.

RonB

Steve Barker writes:

On 2/27/2012 8:09 AM, Notat Home wrote:
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.

i've used compressed air for decades. Just open her up, and blow
away. Just use your head about how close you get. It doesn't take
much to dislodge dust. You can get close to the power supply fan and
the processor fan. I used a rubber tipped blow gun on a 150psi shop
line. If you want to pussy foot about it, you can use the exhaust from
your shop vac.

Thanks!

I just got a reason to buy an air compressor.
I have one that's older than I am, (I'm 66),
but it's bit dangerous to operate.

--
Dan Espen

On 2012-02-27, Notat Home wrote:
they suggested a can of compressed air. Cans of compressed air are
surprisingly expensive......

Shop air compressors have oil and water vapor in them. Canned air
doesn't.

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

You might consider an airbed pump, like this one from Coleman:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-12...h-Hose/5634288

I have one of these and the small tip provides a pretty decent blast
of ambient room air. It will easily blast most dust from a computer.
I'd suggest you use the suction side of a vacuum cleaner first, with
the crevice nozzle, specially for yer keyboard. Otherwise, yer jes
driving the dust deeper into the keyboard innards. Between the two
methods, it should be easy to clean up your PC.

As for canned air, I know it's absurdly expensive. I used to get 'em
fer about $2 can. Lately, I'm seeing $5-6 per can, even at Walmart.
Yikes! OTOH, they last a longggg time. I have a tall can I've yet to
empy after 4 yrs use. Another advantage, turned upside down, that
canned air comes out as a liquid sub-zero refrigerant and greaseless
PCB cleaner. There's even youtube vids on how to use 'em to remove
small dents from yer car. Pretty handy tool to have around for $6.

nb

--
Fight internet CENSORSHIP - Fight SOPA-PIPA
Contact your congressman and/or representative, now!
http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/
vi --the heart of evil!

An option for your vacuum cleaner or shop vac hose is to reduce the
outlet by duct taping the end down to 1/4 or less the open area,
making more of a nozzle type end.

Sonny

Notat Home wrote:

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.

The best procedure is to use the blowgun from your air compressor *and*
your shop vac. Hold the shop vac hose down into the target area from one
side and use the blowgun to loosen the dust and send it in the direction
of the shop vac hose. This avoids most of the mess, otherwise do it
outdoors and stand upwind.

Bob-tx wrote:

"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.

I'm going to have to disagree with the others. Do Not use compressed air
from
an air compressor.

First, there is often moisture in compressed air from you air compressor,
and this small undetectable amount can certainly harm your computer.

Second, too much pressure can damage components.

Best bet, buy the expensive compressed air.

Bob-tx

Moisture and oil in the compressed air will not harm a computer. What
moisture there is will evaporate before you even finish closing up the
computer case. Oil is an insulator and otherwise harmless if the minute
quantities present in normal compressed air.

In article , Notat Home wrote:

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

If you happen to own it, a leaf blower is a very convenient way of cleaning
out a computer. It give a huge amount of air flow.

Art

On Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:08:25 -0800 (PST), Sonny
wrote:

An option for your vacuum cleaner or shop vac hose is to reduce the
outlet by duct taping the end down to 1/4 or less the open area,
making more of a nozzle type end.

Sonny

That's what I do.
But I tape a small 1/4" - 3/8" rubber or plastic hose to smallest
vacuum nozzle. Auto vacuum or aquarium hose works.
Biggest danger is static created by air flow, so be careful about
grounding so you don't fry a components.
Just don't touch components with hands.
You are the ground, not the vacuum.
That's been my experience, anyway.

But what you want is a set of cheap dollar store artist brushes.
A 3/8" flat brush does most the work, so you can just get that.
Dust get's grunged to parts, especially fan blades.
Dislodge the dust with the brush first and you can suck it all up
without even touching components with the vacuum attachment.
Most of the dust will fall to the bottom of the case.

I've seen cans of compressed air shoot plenty of water vapor,
so I'd trust a regular oil-less air compressor that's been cleared
more than a can. But that's overkill for me.
I have very big PC cases and can reach everything with a brush.

--Vic

On Mon, 27 Feb 2012 11:15:10 -0600, "Pete C."
wrote:

Moisture and oil in the compressed air will not harm a computer. What
moisture there is will evaporate before you even finish closing up the
computer case.

I've used a compressor for years, in dozens of machines. Never any
harm. I use the air-cans for keyboard and mouse cleaning.

On 2/27/2012 6:09 AM, Notat Home wrote:
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.

There are a bunch of issues that probably aren't harmful in a typical
circumstance...probably...
but why take the chance.

Static electricity:
Be careful what you touch when you're in there.
High speed air flow can generate static electricity.
I'd not use plastic nozzle from the air source. You don't
know what they're made of. At least use a metal nozzle
that you hold on to. Keep the pressure low.

This link talks about CO2, but may apply to canned air,
which actually contains no air at all.
http://www.santa.com.tr/YONERGE/EIGA-NL-7602-E.pdf

Air compressor tanks collect water. And that water
dissolves whatever it comes into contact with.
Even clean water dissolves whatever is on the board
when it hits it.
You really don't want any water.

Resist the temptation to spin the fans up to 100,000 RPM.
It can't be good for the bearings.

Be careful around electromechanical devices with exposed
delicate parts. Floppy drives.
CD drives are pretty robust, but 100PSI is powerful.

I've been using an air compressor (carefully) for decades
with no incident.

On Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:14:59 -0500, wrote:

On Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:26:47 -0600, "Bob-tx" Live Spam free wrote:



"Notat Home" wrote in message
om...
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.

I'm going to have to disagree with the others. Do Not use compressed air
from
an air compressor.

First, there is often moisture in compressed air from you air compressor,
and this small undetectable amount can certainly harm your computer.

Second, too much pressure can damage components.

Best bet, buy the expensive compressed air.

Bob-tx

Why does everyone think these PSs are so sensitive?

A little water vapor or oil will not do a thing to them. More
dangerous would be static from air that was too dry. (vacuum cleaner)
Don't touch the nozzle to the parts.

I agree. The boards are washed with water (think: dishwasher). A little
moisture isn't going to hurt anything. The only problem with oil is that
it'll attract (capture) more dust. Be sure to throttle back the blast,
though.

On Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:09:26 -0500, Notat Home wrote:

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.


Compressed air can make a dusty, grimy computer look like brand new
again.

I know computer pro's who regularly clean out computers with shop
compressed air. I've done it myself for years. I've never known it to
cause a problem. It often lowers the CPU temperature substantially
once the heat sink isn't covered in fluff.

Just hold the fan blades so they don't spin up to supersonic speeds.



Ross

"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.

Be careful when blowing compressed air near small cooling fans. I've had
them fail soon after a blowout because dust got forced into the bearings. I
usually open a window, put a fan in it exhausting the air from the room and
then blow out the PC so that all the dust gets sucked out the window.

--
Bobby G.

"mike" wrote in message
...

stuff snipped

Resist the temptation to spin the fans up to 100,000 RPM.
It can't be good for the bearings.

Good point. If you hear them rev up and start whining like a New Year's Eve
noisemaker then you've probably damaged the bearings. I've unfortunately
had more than one PC fan fail right after a thorough cleaning. They should
not be running during a cleaning. Vic's solution to use soft brushes is a
good one. I've come across CPU heatsinks that were completely blocked off
with pet hair. Floor mounted machines are particular susceptible to "hair
blocks."

--
Bobby G.

Bob-tx wrote:
I'm going to have to disagree with the others. Do Not use compressed
air from an air compressor.

First, there is often moisture in compressed air from you air
compressor, and this small undetectable amount can certainly harm
your computer.
Second, too much pressure can damage components.

Best bet, buy the expensive compressed air.

Been doing it here for 15 years, hundreds of times, on dozens of computers
without so much as one hint of trouble. I don't have an inline oiler, but
since water sometimes comes out of the bottom of the tank I have to assume
it is at 100% humidity.

I see the humidity as a good thing, as it helps to keep static from building
up; don't know if that is true, but it's never caused me any trouble.

Do try and make sure you don't overspin the fans though, and obviously, do
this outside.

Jon

On 27 Feb 2012 16:19:18 GMT, notbob wrote:

Shop air compressors have oil and water vapor in them. Canned air
doesn't.

Just put / use an in-line filter on the compressor. It collects
moisture and oil. Keeps oil out of the paint gun and water out of the
sandblaster.

With no filters I blast the PC with my usual compressor blaster
nozzle.

"Jon Danniken" wrote in message
news:jigr63

stuff snipped

Do try and make sure you don't overspin the fans though, and obviously, do
this outside.

I gotta ask. Did all the people cautioning not to rev the cooling fans with
high PSI air learn about it the hard way, like I did? (-"

--
Bobby G.

On Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:09:26 -0500, Notat Home wrote:

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.
I use the compressor (and some common sense) all the time.

On Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:26:47 -0600, "Bob-tx" Live Spam free wrote:



"Notat Home" wrote in message
m...
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.

I'm going to have to disagree with the others. Do Not use compressed air
from
an air compressor.

First, there is often moisture in compressed air from you air compressor,
and this small undetectable amount can certainly harm your computer.

Second, too much pressure can damage components.

Best bet, buy the expensive compressed air.

Bob-tx
If you keep your compressor tank drained you don't get moisture in
the lines - and a water trap is a common accessory.

Copmmon sense goes a long way - but is getting hard to find.

On Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:01:27 -0500, wrote:

Copmmon sense goes a long way - but is getting hard to find.

.... what he said

"mike" wrote in message
...
On 2/27/2012 6:09 AM, Notat Home wrote:
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.


I used to use the compressed air approach but now I use a leaf blower.
Unhook everything, take off the side panels, and take outside and blow
everything out of all the nooks and crannies. It works great, and no, I've
never had a CPU fan go bad from overspeeding but I don't leave the airstream
on it for a long time either.

"SRN" writes:

"mike" wrote in message
...
On 2/27/2012 6:09 AM, Notat Home wrote:
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.

I used to use the compressed air approach but now I use a leaf blower.
Unhook everything, take off the side panels, and take outside and blow
everything out of all the nooks and crannies. It works great, and no, I've
never had a CPU fan go bad from overspeeding but I don't leave the airstream
on it for a long time either.

My backpack leaf blower would blow a PC over.


--
Dan Espen

On 2/27/12 5:01 PM, wrote:

Copmmon sense goes a long way - but is getting hard to find.

As a real fart smeller said long ago "Common sense isn't".

On Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:38:15 -0600, "SRN" wrote:

I used to use the compressed air approach but now I use a leaf blower.
Unhook everything, take off the side panels, and take outside and blow
everything out of all the nooks and crannies. It works great, and no, I've
never had a CPU fan go bad from overspeeding but I don't leave the airstream
on it for a long time either.


I borrow a leaf blower from next door.

The dial allows 225 MPH winds or such. I can roll 1-inch rocks around
my yard. Strap the PC down if you turn on one these creatures.

....reach for my compressor hose

"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.

------------------------------------

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)

"Bob-tx" Live Spam free wrote in message . ..


"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.

I'm going to have to disagree with the others. Do Not use compressed air
from
an air compressor.

First, there is often moisture in compressed air from you air compressor,
and this small undetectable amount can certainly harm your computer.

Second, too much pressure can damage components.

Best bet, buy the expensive compressed air.

Bob-tx


Always use A vacuum cleaner,
to suck up dust and dirt out of a computer,
For the fans suck up dust and dirt in to the computer,
and the right way is to suck out..

it ok to use a low compress air on the out side of a computer,

This is just plan old computer know how, one on one.......


--
User-agent: *
Disallow: /

Notat Home wrote:
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.

The only real danger of the compressor is overspeeding the fans and destroying
the bearings.