Cleaning out your PC case ...

[XavierMace]

I just blow mine out with the ShopVac.

 

[schmuckley]

Take cover off..out to to driveway...electric blower.
For stuck-on dust..a girl's makeup brush works really good.

 

[Cerb]

Others? Canned air, typically. Mine doesn't get dusty enough to need it more than once every couples of years, now, but still leave a dust filter in place (all that quieting down has positive side effects 🙂).

 

[Charlie98]

Take it out back, hose it out with canned air, use a Swiffer sheet to knock the kruft off the fan blades, etc.

Having a properly filtered case has helped case cleanliness a LOT.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

 

[corkyg]

... Having a properly filtered case has helped case cleanliness a LOT.

Great point! And here is another very good use for Swiffers. If you tape a Swiffer sheet across the air intakes, it will filter out and trap much of your dust and dirt.

 

[Phaetos]

Great point! And here is another very good use for Swiffers. If you tape a Swiffer sheet across the air intakes, it will filter out and trap much of your dust and dirt.

That's a great tip, but won't it inhibit airflow?

 

[Cerb]

That's a great tip, but won't it inhibit airflow?

Yes. Easiest is to build in a case that was designed with intake filters from the beginning, and then to keep fan RPMs reasonable, so as not to be pulling/pushing more dust through the case than necessary. Cable management and fan placement matter, to be able to get sufficient cooling as the fan speeds (and thus pressure) get lower (most popular cases, except the Antec dinosaurs, make this fairly easy).

 

[corkyg]

That's a great tip, but won't it inhibit airflow?

No. Been doing it for years - Swiffers are very loose when it comes to air flow. Put a clean one over your face and you'll breathe normally. They are treated to attract and hold dust particles.

OTOH, you need to replace them periodically, because the accumulation of dust can inhibit air flow. IOW, it is simply an effective poor man's filter.

 

[Phaetos]

No. Been doing it for years - Swiffers are very loose when it comes to air flow. Put a clean one over your face and you'll breathe normally. They are treated to attract and hold dust particles.

OTOH, you need to replace them periodically, because the accumulation of dust can inhibit air flow. IOW, it is simply an effective poor man's filter.

I may just try that ...

 

[Tsavo]

I live in an area that has a LOT of dust from spring to fall. With 3x active computers, canned air was getting expensive. I bought a Datavac ($60).

Two of my boxes really catch the crap in terms of dust. I pulled off all the grilles on both and put them into the leg portion of my GF's black tights...that alone catches 80% of heavy dust. Not to mention they look pretty cool...like 80's Technics hardware.

One pair of tights is good to cover two big PC boxes if the grills are just right. Get regular old black tights, like $4 at Wally World. <snip>

Datavac is $60 these days...an easy buy. On my PC's that have tights as air filters, all I have to do is blast the exterior...no need to open up the chassis panels or what have you...well, not every three weeks or so.

My main PC has such good airflow that it doesn't get packed with dust. I haven't used tights on the grills, but I probably will cos it looks butch.

Let's keep the descriptions of female anatomy out of the technical forums.

mfenn
General Hardware Moderator