Are "Dust Monsters" eating your computer?

I was reading through various tech sites and I came up with an article that gave me a pause for thought. The site clearly illustrated something that we might overlook as part of our basic computer maintenance regime -- cleaning the computer. When I saw pictures of fans, ventilation holes, heat sinks and filters clogged with dust it made me realize that my own pc needed a good cleaning.

Some of the photos illustrated dust from a consistency of talcum powder all the way to full grown dust bunnies. Maintaining a flow of air and a clean heat sink with a clean fan is an important aspect of having a good running computer. As well all know, or should, heat is the enemy and keeping that enemy at bay starts with a good cleaning. I know that this is on my "to do" list now.

Oh yes!!!

I had recently had my previous computer kick the bucket. The power supply went bad, and took some of the Motherboard with it. Upon opening my computer, there was dust and dust bunnies everywhere. All the fans were covere, as well as the heat sink on the processor.

A good thorough cleaning is highly recommended by most tech magazines, and sites. How often varies. But it usually consists of using canned compressed air to clean the hard to reach areas, etc. I also use a soft paint brush to help remove the crud.

I personally would recommend a cleaning once a month.

If yoou do not feel comfortable opening your computer, I'm sure it would'nt cost too much to have it done at a computer shop.

[edit on 8/10/2006 by Mechanic 32]

This is just to add a warning.

Those dust bunnies are combustible, and I know a case where the computer went down in flames, literally, when its owner was finishing her university work.

Makes sense as the dust bunnies provide fuel and oxygen, just waiting for an ignition source.

Yikes!!!

All the more reason to keep it clean. (Your coumputer, that is.)



[edit on 8/10/2006 by Mechanic 32]

That's rarely a problem with modern computers protected by filters. Most of the heavy dust gets clogged outside the case. Remember to never use a vacuum cleaner directly on the components as it may damage the electronics. I never cleaned my computer after more than a year (it was on 24/7) and when I opened it the result was shocking, barely any dust at all. Keep the vacuum cleaner outside and use compressed air on can instead to blow on the electronics. And It's also important to keep the house clean as dirty rooms and pets often are the reason of all the dust.

Dust!?, very bad for computers!! Well al I can say to this is, I'm the proud owner of a nvidia 6800 GT graphics card. After about 8 months of ownership it started getting realy high temps (over 80 C.; normaly it would run at about 50-60C.) even when I wasnt runing any high en games. The problem was all dust. I had to open the thing up and clean the heat sink, fans and everything else that the dust got to. It solved the problem andtaught me a lesson... Always clean your computer, at least once a month. I mean if anything else it doesn't hurt. Better safe than sorry...