Lay In Wait
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Holy Scaryness
Well, yesterday I decided it was time to remove all the dust bunnies from my DAW. So I pulled the tower out to my shop and started removing the fans for cleaning. I used compressed air to blow out the PSU and elsewhere inside the case. Put it all back together and it looked great. I stuck the tower back into its home in my desk and crawled in beside it to hook it all back up. About 5secs after I plugged in the power source the PSU began crackling, sparking and smoking like 5inches from my face, I unplugged it as fast as humanly possible and yanked it out of its home to asses the damage. Needless to say I was crapping my pants thinking I had cooked the whole works. Called my pc builder and got the OOOOH thats not good response, "Your mobo is probably cooked" they said, Oh great just what I need. Anyway, I ran down to there shop and picked up another PSU, on my way home I was praying all would be well with the new PSU, but was preparing for the worse. Got home hooked up the PSU and she fired right up with no problems, can you say dodged a bullet. What a sickening feeling. Just thought I would share my scare.
Windows 7 Pro 64bit, Core i7 920, Asus p6td deluxe, Sonar X1c PE, Motu 2408 mk3, Apogee Mini DAC, 3x UAD-1, Digimax FS, Motu Microlite, MCU, Tranzport, Nocturn. And more...
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bitflipper
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RE: Holy Scaryness
2009/05/14 12:47:20
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Well, cleaning out the dust was still the right thing to do. Dust gums up the fans and air filters and can lead to fan failure and overheating of CPU and disk drives. Dust also reduces the ability of ICs and heatsinks to dissipate heat, which can lead to overheating. In some cases, dust can actually become conductive and lead to a short, although that's mostly a problem in high-voltage circuits like televisions.
The danger is when you use compressed air, which can force dust into small places where it can't be easily removed. I normally only use a vacuum cleaner, avoiding actually touching components with it, and just don't worry about getting every last speck of dust out of there.
The good news is it's unlikely you'd damage the motherboard that way - only if you physically removed it from the case for cleaning and didn't get the standoffs situated right during re-installation. I would never use compressed air around disk drives, CD and DVD drives though.
Oh yeh, I'm an expert at this! Especially after I fried my own PSU by neglecting such cleaning for too long! The PSU fan became sluggish, which overheated the PSU, causing it to shut down in self-defense, which in turn caused Windows to crash during a recording project, which corrupted the project file. Oh yeh, I am intimately familiar with such matters.
Come to think of it, it's been awhile since I've cleaned my box...
 All else is in doubt, so this is the truth I cling to. My Stuff
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Fog
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RE: Holy Scaryness
2009/05/14 12:57:52
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most pc's will cut the psu IF there is a chance there is a problem. the tell tell sign if you have fragged the mobo is if the connector is burnt (I had that).. thankfully I got a new connector of the makers, and a friend re-soldered a new connector. The tell tell clicking (like a giga counter) on audio is a tell tell sign.. i shouldn't laugh, as at the time it wasn't so funny. A friend years ago was sorting the wiring inside the pc... and the electric fried one of the cables for the front of the case (none powered).. it wasn't even touching, so although they are only 5 volt for drive connectors , its more the rate they push the voltage. Although what surprises me is so many people who build pc's don't use an anti-static strap, yep things now are less static prone, but still there is a chance of messing something up.
post edited by Fog - 2009/05/14 13:27:23
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Lay In Wait
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RE: Holy Scaryness
2009/05/14 13:50:10
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Funny thing is, I was sitting there looking at the tower, and said to myself, "If I clean this, something will go wrong and it wont start", you know, Murphys Law. But my confidence was high as I had done this several times over the years. Needless to say, I wasnt expecting sparks and smoke, I didnt want a heart attack 2 days before my 30th b-day, LOL. I dont think I'll blow compressed air into a PSU ever again.
Bit- Ive been reading that using a vacuum might not be a good idea, as it produces static electricity, which could also damage components. I guess either way you have to be carefull(duh).
Windows 7 Pro 64bit, Core i7 920, Asus p6td deluxe, Sonar X1c PE, Motu 2408 mk3, Apogee Mini DAC, 3x UAD-1, Digimax FS, Motu Microlite, MCU, Tranzport, Nocturn. And more...
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hairyjamie
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RE: Holy Scaryness
2009/05/14 14:37:03
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I use a vacuum cleaner also and I'd been thinking about the static problem - my cleaner is a 'drag along the floor behind you' type, so I just make sure that the wand is extended out to its fullest.
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DaveClark
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RE: Holy Scaryness
2009/05/14 14:56:37
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Hi all,
Air compressors become filled with water over time (not long, BTW), so when working with electronics, it's better to have some sort of dryer, dehydrator, or something like that. I don't know if blowing water into the PSU was the problem, of course, but I just mention this so that folks are careful not to do that. I have not yet installed a dryer or anything like that, but I do take steps to ensure that water is not being blown about. I have used compressed air, vacuum cleaner, "canned air" (1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane plus dimethyl ether); compressed air was the easiest --- Whoosh!.
Regards,
Dave Clark
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Lay In Wait
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RE: Holy Scaryness
2009/05/14 22:52:31
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Hey Dave, your advice is excellent, but for the record, my air compressor system is free of water, oil and rust with an industrial filter, I spray lacquer through this system and these contaminates would hoop my finishes (which is not the case). Someone doing this without these filters would most definitely run into problems. Its good you brought this up because, no, I was not using an off the shelf computer air compressed can of BS. I was using an actual air compressor at around 25psi with a good filter.
I think Dave(Bit) is right in that I blew dust into places they shouldn't be which might have caused a short. The PSU was also almost 4 years old so.... Next time I will bench test the PSU before its plugged into the mobo after a good cleaning.
Thanx for the posts guys.
Windows 7 Pro 64bit, Core i7 920, Asus p6td deluxe, Sonar X1c PE, Motu 2408 mk3, Apogee Mini DAC, 3x UAD-1, Digimax FS, Motu Microlite, MCU, Tranzport, Nocturn. And more...
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