What's the best way to clean a PSU and fans

[RaynorWolfcastle]

I've had the same mobo, PSU, and fans for 2 years now and the dust is starting to pile up, any suggestions for cleaning it out? Vacuum? lint-free cloth? dry? help me out guys

-Ice

 

[Dan]

I use a small (1/2-inch) paint brush and a can of compressed air. It's also an unfortunate fact that some people use their systems in very dirty conditions and never open them up. (I opened someone's system the other day and found a spider living in it! :Q) I take really dirty systems to the corner gas station and blow them out with the air hose. It's unbelievable how much crap comes out of the power supplies!

 

[bacillus]

<< I opened someone's system the other day and found a spider living in it! >>


poor creature was probably just surfing the web!

 

[Viper0329]

<< poor creature was probably just surfing the web! >>




doh!

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

<< I take really dirty systems to the corner gas station and blow them out with the air hose. It's unbelievable how much crap comes out of the power supplies! >>



err... isn't there the possibility of damaging stuff by doing this?

I think I will use a paintbrush with the compressed air, while the vacuum is on near the case to suck up all the dust that comes out. I will also remove the fan from the heatsink to clean it, any words of caution?

-Ice

 

[kingink]

I have washed my heatsinks. The compressed air and brush work well. I use an extra brush that I have for cleaning lenses.

Taking it to the gas station and blowing it out, now that is pretty damn funny.

 

[Jeff7]

I usually use pipecleaners on things with caked on dust. Seems to work fine; the dust can be vacuumed or blown away.

 

[Jhhnn]

Any kind of air compressor works great, especially on long-neglected machines. I have a small compressor at home, but if I didn't, I wouldn't hesitate to take some of the 'puters I've seen to a friendly gas station. Yuck. Keep one hand on the case, the other on the nozzle, blast away. A canister vac and canned air work OK, too, just not as effective.

Old toothbrushes work well on the really crusty bits, or any kind of brush that will reach into the crevices. I've heard of people washing the boards with dish detergent &amp; water, which I thought was nuts, until we got a miniature steam cleaner at the shop where I work that's made just for cleaning computer boards. Haven't tried it on my own stuff, but it blasts the crap right off of the company's industrial computer components.

 

[sohcrates]

just make sure that if you're using a high power blower (i.e. at a gas station) that you hold your fans at a stop with your fingers...else the air could spin them so fast that they become damaged.

 

[Dan]

I seem to end up working on a lot of old systems and I've lost count of how many I've brought to the corner gas station for a good cleaning.

I also brought my empty (clean) case there after I cut a blowhole in the top of it. I figured a blast from the old air hose would blow out any metal shavings better than anything else could.

At any rate, I've never had a problem with any system after using the air hose on it.

 

[thecrews]

put it in the dishwasher, but make sure you turn on the heat dry