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How often do you blow the dust out of your PC? (Read 8539 times)
Lord Herbert
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How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Apr 15th, 2014 at 4:49pm
 
I did it today. The PC's fans were making a hell of a racket, and so ..

Now, I literally can't hear the PC operating except only very faintly.

Marvellous.

A job well done.  Smiley
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« Last Edit: Apr 15th, 2014 at 7:58pm by Lord Herbert »  
 
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Vuk11
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Re: How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Reply #1 - Apr 15th, 2014 at 5:08pm
 
I have dust filters all over my case (high quality full tower), so I only do it every quarter or so. In summer I do it monthly because a carpet house with no insulation + dusty computer = bad combination for hardware. My last PC fried because of it  Angry
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Kat
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Re: How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Reply #2 - Apr 15th, 2014 at 6:01pm
 
The desktop, about once a year, less often now it's not used so much.

The lappy, every three to six months (I have to, or it gets very hot).
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Lord Herbert
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Re: How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Reply #3 - Apr 15th, 2014 at 8:03pm
 
How do you tell if it's getting hot?

Is there a reading somewhere?

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Kat
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Re: How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Reply #4 - Apr 15th, 2014 at 9:31pm
 
Lord Herbert wrote on Apr 15th, 2014 at 8:03pm:
How do you tell if it's getting hot?

Is there a reading somewhere?



The lappy will shut down automatically if it hits 100 deg. So does the desktop, but not sure what temp.

But I run a little widget called 'Core Temp', which will monitor the CPU temp in real time.

When the numbers (it reads all 4 cores separately) turn red ie over 90 deg, then I know it's time for the compressed air again.

Here's a screenshot and the URL if you want to give it a try.

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/
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Core_Temp.PNG (22 KB | 202 )
Core_Temp.PNG

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Bobby.
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Re: How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Reply #5 - Apr 16th, 2014 at 6:57am
 
Dear Herbert,
If the PC internals are badly covered in dust the CPU  heat sink & fan may need to be
removed & the heatsink cleaned of all dust using water & scrubbing in the sink - then dried out before re-installing.

This is more a job for a technician who understands anti- static procedures & re-application of heat sink thermal compound etc.

The PCB board needs to be blown out with compressed air.

The fans need to be checked to see if they still turn &
replaced if necessary.

cheers
Bobby


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Bobby.
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Re: How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Reply #6 - Apr 16th, 2014 at 7:04am
 
Kat wrote on Apr 15th, 2014 at 9:31pm:
Lord Herbert wrote on Apr 15th, 2014 at 8:03pm:
How do you tell if it's getting hot?

Is there a reading somewhere?



The lappy will shut down automatically if it hits 100 deg. So does the desktop, but not sure what temp.

But I run a little widget called 'Core Temp', which will monitor the CPU temp in real time.

When the numbers (it reads all 4 cores separately) turn red ie over 90 deg, then I know it's time for the compressed air again.

Here's a screenshot and the URL if you want to give it a try.

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/



Yes I run that but version 1.0 RC6
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Lord Herbert
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Re: How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Reply #7 - Apr 16th, 2014 at 8:08am
 
Thanks El Gatto ~ I've got the Core Temp 1.0 RC6 app running now.

Normally I wouldn't bother, except that I have a habit of putting the cleaning off for another day because I'm busy.

The grinding noises from my PC was actually beginning to annoy me enough so that I finally cleaned out the layers of dust, redbacks, cockroaches, rats nest, food scraps, etc.

The graphic says


Core #0    41ºC (Min)    60ºC (Max)
Core #1    40ºC            55ºC

Am I right in assuming that if the temps get close to 60ºC or 55ºC ~ then it's time to air-blow the PC again?

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Bobby ~ how did you manage to get a photo of my PC?  Huh Tongue

***************

MY quest for a Usage Meter for my Windows 7 has proved to be hopeless. I find it hard to believe that nobody has designed one for this version of Windows.
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Re: How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Reply #8 - Apr 16th, 2014 at 8:12am
 
Bobby. wrote on Apr 16th, 2014 at 6:57am:
Dear Herbert,
If the PC internals are badly covered in dust the CPU  heat sink & fan may need to be
removed & the heatsink cleaned of all dust using water & scrubbing in the sink - then dried out before re-installing.

This is more a job for a technician who understands anti- static procedures & re-application of heat sink thermal compound etc.

The PCB board needs to be blown out with compressed air.

The fans need to be checked to see if they still turn &
replaced if necessary.

cheers
Bobby


http://icomputerdenver.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/dirty-computer-fan.jpg



technician my butt ... the last time a technician did mine he used an old paintbrush and a dustbuster .....  Grin Grin Grin
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Lord Herbert
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Re: How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Reply #9 - Apr 16th, 2014 at 8:15am
 
John Smith wrote on Apr 16th, 2014 at 8:12am:
technician my butt ... the last time a technician did mine he used an old paintbrush and a dustbuster .....  Grin Grin Grin


I was charged $25 'labour' for this fat computer guy down at the shop to do the same thing. It took him less than 5 mins. That was years ago.
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Kat
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Re: How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Reply #10 - Apr 16th, 2014 at 8:56am
 
Geez, Bobby, you could grow tomatoes in there! That's BAD. I've seen a few this bad, but not many. It's a good advert for doing it regularly.


Herb, on a dual-core, 55-60 deg is well within limits, and nothing to really worry about. If it gets up to 80 or more, regularly (it will get that hot on occasions when working hard, but should cool down again once the workload is reduced)then definitely there's an issue.

Cooling fans do die too (and a noisy one WILL drive you crazy), but, in a desktop machine, they are cheap and easy to replace yourself. For a laptop, it means a trip to the service-man.

A dead/slow/noisy fan in a desktop PSU (power supply unit, where the cord goes in) WILL kill it, sooner rather than later. Replace the PSU, asap.

Don't oil a noisy fan, it won't help, and may kill it altogether.

My laptop has a two-speed fan, you can hear the fan shift into 'top gear' when the CPU is fairly busy. Smiley
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« Last Edit: Apr 16th, 2014 at 9:04am by Kat »  

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Lord Herbert
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Re: How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Reply #11 - Apr 16th, 2014 at 9:04am
 
Kat wrote on Apr 16th, 2014 at 8:56am:
Cooling fans do die too (and a noisy one WILL drive you crazy), but, in a desktop machine, they are cheap and easy to replace yourself. For a laptop, it means a trip to the service-man.


Bobby mentioned you could remove the fans for cleaning. I never realised this. I'll check that out.

I have two neighbours who use wood-burners throughout winter, and one has a regular backyard burn of bits of trash ... all of this leaves a layer of black ash on windowsills and everywhere else.
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Kat
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Re: How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Reply #12 - Apr 16th, 2014 at 9:06am
 
Lord Herbert wrote on Apr 16th, 2014 at 9:04am:
Kat wrote on Apr 16th, 2014 at 8:56am:
Geez, Bobby, you could grow tomatoes in there! That's BAD. I've seen a few this bad, but not many. It's a good advert for doing it regularly.


Herb, on a dual-core, 55-60 deg is well within limits, and nothing to really worry about. If it gets up to 80 or more, regularly (it will get that hot on occasions when working hard, but should cool down again once the workload is reduced)then definitely there's an issue.

Cooling fans do die too (and a noisy one WILL drive you crazy), but, in a desktop machine, they are cheap and easy to replace yourself. For a laptop, it means a trip to the service-man.


Bobby mentioned you could remove the fans for cleaning. I never realised this. I'll check that out.

I have two neighbours who use wood-burners throughout winter, and one has a regular backyard burn of bits of trash ... all of this leaving a layer of ash on windowsills and everywhere else.



Computers seem to act as magnets towards that sort of thing.

When I had a wood stove I had the same issue. It kills floppy disks stone-dead very quickly too.

The fan on the right of Bobby's pic is the one which cools the CPU (processor). Once removed, you'll see an alloy block with lots of fins, like the cooling-fins on a mower engine.

These will likely be clogged, and must be cleaned or even a working fan won't be able to circulate enough air to ensure adequate cooling.

Oh! And never use a vacuum cleaner to hoover the debris away. Use a brush or compressed air. A bike-pump with a restricted outlet is a good substitute if you have no compressed air.
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« Last Edit: Apr 16th, 2014 at 9:14am by Kat »  

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Frances
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Re: How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Reply #13 - Apr 16th, 2014 at 9:36am
 
Kat wrote on Apr 16th, 2014 at 8:56am:
you can hear the fan shift into 'top gear' when the CPU is fairly busy


Is that when it sounds like it's about to take off?  I had a PC at work that used to do that from time to time....
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Lord Herbert
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Re: How often do you blow the dust out of your PC?
Reply #14 - Apr 16th, 2014 at 11:34am
 
Frances wrote on Apr 16th, 2014 at 9:36am:
Kat wrote on Apr 16th, 2014 at 8:56am:
you can hear the fan shift into 'top gear' when the CPU is fairly busy


Is that when it sounds like it's about to take off?  I had a PC at work that used to do that from time to time....


If you had given it a blow-job that would have solved the problem.  Cool
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