Stability issues? Have you cleaned your case lately?

I have had a rock solid PC for a while now. However, last night I got my first BSOD in a long time. I was looking at the system stats (temp, fans speed, etc...) and noticed my CPU was running twice as hot as usual.


I opened the case and found every inlet surface coated with dust. I cleaned all the dust out and now the CPU is running at normal temps. My CPU, when just running basic stuff (web, word processing, etc...) runs at 23C. Before cleaning everything, it was running at 45C. Who knows what temperature it was at when I was recording with a bunch of plugins and tracks!

I know this is probably obvious to many of you and it normally is to me too but I had forgotten and had to get a BSOD to remind me to do the maintenance I should be doing.

I've always used an air can.  I take the PC out in the yard weather permitting.  I let the CPU get cool before blowing with the air can - the temp of the air is very cold.  And keep the can upright otherwise it starts blowing a wet stream - not good.

I've heard conflicting stories about using a vacuum - generates a static charge at the nozzle which could be bad.  I think I've heard of a special vacuum designed for this kind of cleaning and it doesn't generate a static charge.

--Larry

I want to be interested, about this topic. I will continue the attention. Hope everyone happy!


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Very important to keep the fins and inlets clear of dust.  

I have used the canned air. I'm in the security biz so I buy the stuff by the case. The heavy duty kind with bigger nozzle holes. I use it to clean smoke detectors and it works quite well on computers too.  I also use vacuums too but not as commonly simply due to convenience. 

In a laptop, I just blow the air in the reverse direction. 

I was called to a hospital that had a crashed security system computer server. When I got there it was off. So with the head of hospital security standing there, I turned it on and booted it up. It came up just fine. I casually said..."Looks like it's working to me" to which he mutters something about  "no s*** sherlock".... and tells me to call him when I figure out why it crashes.  I disassembled the case as I noticed the air intakes were totally clogged with dust. 

A quick trip to my truck to get my canned air. I blew out the filters, and the fan and the fins on the processor.  It looked like a snowstorm at that nurses station with all the dust that came out. I put it back together and rebooted it. Now the intake and exhaust vents were actually allowing air to move. I could feel it. 

I called him back. He did not want to believe that dust was the cause of the crashes they were having and demanded a new server. I showed him the dust bunnies on the desk. He said that one was only 9 months old and he wanted it replaced.  I told him he could take that up with the company, but in the meantime be sure to put the servers on a 3 month dust mitigation cleaning schedule.......at which point he left again. Now, he was refusing to answer his pages and calls. I left without getting the work order signed. But the system was working dust free. 

Another typical day for me. 

The compressed air can makes everything cold when using it, and it does not really clean the circuit boards up that good. I use regular electronic computer circuit board cleaner, and let it dry afterwards like suppose to. If using compressed air, I suggest you let your computer warm up first back to room temperature before turning it on. And if touching the case with your hand after disconnecting the power plug to the computer then you should not have any static electricity on you (provided you do not move well, at least I don't) so perhaps a grounding strap is not needed in some climates. I suppose in others, well I don't know.