I recently had a Computer Cleaning Business. It didn't take off that well but I learned one heck of a lot of excellent computer cleaning skills. It seems that businesses don't want anybody tampering with their computers except their own I.T. people. It's okay, it's all good, I learned so much.
There are 3 simple steps to cleaning out the dust and dirt out of your computer.
1.)disconnect the tower
2.)open the tower and blow air in it
3.)reconnect the tower
Heat destroys computers. Dust and other debris will most certainly choke any possibility of ventilation for your computer, specifically the delicate electronic components. (capacitors, resistors, transistors ect. ect.) As I'm sure you know, your computer has fans and these fans attract huge amounts of thick, sticky dust ( Just look at the heat sink on top of your CPU.) This is only one dust problem in your computer, there are more.
The next big accumulator of dirt is your power supply. This little box inside your computer converts your 120 volts A.C. through some electronics to 24v, 18v,12v and 3 volts D.C. It's quite an amazing piece of electronics. Never open a power supply, the voltages that reside in the capacitors are fatal. The fan or fans in this box suck in dust and dirt that sticks on the fan blades. If dust buildup accumulates on the fan blades of any fan, the blades will become unbalanced. This will eventually pull the fan apart .The life of your computer will be extended for years if allowed proper ventilation. Why replace when you can get the dust out of the computer.
Right about now your probably asking yourself, why do I need computer cleaning now? I have gotten along fine without it before. Of course, but the fact is that it only a matter of time before the cpu, power supply or other mainboard component fails leaving your data gone. Depending on the location, the computer will get dirty and fail, if not right away than bit by bit with little errors and cursor freeze ups. These are conditions where the computer is telling you something. Something is wrong. What is wrong is that the machine is running too hot!
This method of cleaning dust and debris is so thorough, after your done the fans inside your machine will run quieter and smoother with less vibration. If you want to see the positive effects of cleaning on your computer, go to freewarefiles.com, download speedfan, a totally free program that monitors your CPU temp. After cleaning, look at the temperature of your CPU, it is much lower.
Canned air is not effective, at best it only blows the dust around and can't even touch greasy dust. A vacuum cleaner can only do surface stuff.
What really does the best job, an air compressor. Yep, that's the ticket. Disconnect all the cables, bring the tower outdoors. Open the case and make sure it is on a steady surface as well as the air compressor. Turn down the pressure to 15 lbs. per square inch. (15 P.S.I.) Blow the dust in short bursts from 2 to 3 seconds. You will see large clouds of dust flying out your computer. Don't forget the inside and outside vents of the power supply box, the CPU and all the fans and fan blades, around the disk drives (not inside the drives themselves).
Make sure the air compressor nozzle over 3 inches away from any parts. Static electricity can destroy your computer. So blow out your computer until no dirt comes out.
Put on the cover, go back inside and reconnect it. Now is a good time to do the keyboard.
You can take a Q-tip lightly dipped in alcohol (not dripping) and run that in between the keys. For stuff like dried on ice cream and yogurt, put the Q-tip in a hand drill and gently maneuver it between the keys.
Do this once a year, and your computer will be singing.
Neil Armstrong lives in beautiful Edmonton, Alberta with his 2 teenagers. He is a 2nd. Class Power Engineer working in a Control Center here in Edmonton. His interests are camera repair, electronics, computers and Marketing.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
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