how to clean dust-caked fans?

[cybian]

When working inside my case today, I realized my fans were in dire need of a cleaning. I was planning to buy one of those pressurized air can thingies tomorrow. I'm planning to clean my CPU heatsink, my 3 fans, and probably the inside of my power supply. The goal is to restore my 300A to its former 450mhz glory.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to clean these things and what tools to use? Are those pressurized cans powerful enough to blast away dust that's been building up for a year and a half?

 

[chiwawa626]

seriouusly. those air cans are all BS. i just take a hairdryer, and put it on cool, and blow everything in my case out! easy huh! works good too. Also u can use a shopvac and put it on blow

 

[Ulysses]

Nah. Try beloved patriot 'n' Span.

 

[shadow]

just use a vacuum with a brush attachment

 

[tweakr]

Hey there

A couple've things to watch - one, don't allow the fans to spin if you're using compressed air - these fans can be damaged if you spin them too fast

Two, I wouldn't recommend using a hoover on electronic devices that may be sensitive to static electricity. Air rushing around plastic can cause an electric charge to form, which can damage components...

cheers
tweakr

 

[sedimin]

One other thing you can do, if you feel up to it, is remove these fans and clean them with a damp/almost-dry cloth. I did this for my front and back fans. I also found that my front fan was grinding because it had been leaking oil. I peeled back the sticker, removed the cover for the bearing, and added some oil. Replaced the cover and sticker (although the sticker doesn't hold so well now ) and the fan is ALOT quieter. And I thought it was my CPU fan on my old 300a@450.

 

[EvilDonnyboy]

Q-tips and alcohol should work

 

[RayZor]

I have two, soft, artists brushes, 1" & 2" round. I use them, dry! to loosten the dust then just use compressed air to blow out all the krud. The brushes are soft enough that I even use'em on the mainboard and cards, and not worry about knocking anything off.

 

[lotust]

1 more thing if you use an aircompressor watch out for the moisture that can build up in the hose/tank . Moisture and motherboards dont mix well.

 

[cybian]

Ok, well that was easy. I just used a pressurized can and blew the crap out of everything. I know I should have listened to tweakr's advice about the fans, but I couldn't help myself.. blowing compressed air onto the fan makes to coolest sound . I used a Q-tip to loosen the really stubborn stuff.

I also noticed while cleaning that a bit of a gap had developed between my heatsink and CPU, so I tightened the screws. Hopefully that's enough to keep my 300A running at 450mhz for another few months.

 

[lotust]

cybian
I like that cool ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz sound too

 

[tweakr]

Does this mean I'm classed as a boring old git from now on, cos I told you not to make the wheee noise with the fans?