cheap and safe hardware cleaning methods (open discussion)

This thread is for everyone to weigh in on the methods and equipment they use to physically clean their computers and peripherals.

I recently started working with used machines and many of them are quite dirty when I get them. Also my personal systems that have been in use for several years accumulate a healthy layer of dust.

I know people would rather discuss over-clocking or virus hunting than mini vacuum cleaners and non-static cloths. I've been putting off the matter for some time, but now I'm searching in earnest and trying to find methods of cleaning that are the best, cheapest, most environmentally sound, and safest (hardware-wise).

I haven't found the quantity or quality of information I thought I would find.

I've checked books on computer hardware and maintainence and I've searched the internet some. Most of the books cover keyboard and mouse cleaning, and gloss over the subject of cleaning motherboard etc. with some vague suggestions.

I couldn't find many webpages on the subject. I found a few threads, but there was little indication of the safety of the methods discussed (that is, the cleaning method works, but does it damage the components at the same time?).

So lets hear some good information on:

-what you do

-to which components

-your reasoning behind your choice

-how safe you think it is as far as static electricity, corrosion, and other potential physical damage.

Feel free to report on anything whether it worked or not; was safe or destructive; home remedy or over-priced waste of money.

We're all aware of the common "blast it with duster! and/or vacuum it with a hoover!" method.

I think we can come up with some more refined methods, that are better for the environment, re-usable, cheaper, etc; and safer than the ceiling attachment on a dirtdevil gunkbuster8000.

I'll start with my current plan and a few things I've tried.

My plan for case interiors and motherboards etc. is to purchase a DataVac MDV-1BA vacuum/blower, and get some small paint brushes to dislodge any dust and debris that the blower doesn't move. I'm not sure if the brush bristles create static, and what the best types of brush/bristles are.

For gunk and stains on the exterior of cases: I use dish soap and warm water. If there is anything left I use baking soda and scrub it with a dishcloth. It works well and hasn't discolored or damaged any of the cases I've done it on. But I would try a more delicate method on nice new cases because the baking soda salts are a little coarse (which is why part of why it works I think.)

Something else I want to implement is a prevention strategy. For example keeping the area around the computer clean, and installing air filters on the intakes. Speaking of which, can anyone reccommend a good brand/type of air filter?

This site has thousands of members, so lets pool our collective knowledge and experiences and create the best source of computer cleaning info on the internet.

 

I have an air compressor (canned air ain't cheap), use several different paint brushes & rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle to clean grime off cases, etc.
If I can't take it outside I use a Shark mini vac (cheap) to catch as much dust as I can before & during blowing it out.

 

Have you used everyday paint brushes on motherboard components like chips and so fourth and has there ever been any static damage you are aware of?

Do you put the Shark attachments right up to circuitboard components, or just use it for airborne dust?

 

Welcome Liveware to MG forums :wave

I mailny use an antistatic brush like the one attached, except mine has a black handle & red bristles :-D

I clean all internal hardware with it, but I honestly couldn't tell you what the bristles are made of :confused

The brush is excellent as it fits almost anywhere, you can get fans really clean if you unscrew them & push the brush right inbetween ever fan blade

As for my LCD screen I just buy screenm wipes :-D

Safety is pretty simple all you need to do is follow 7 simple rules:

1, Always turn off the power before you start cleaning.

2, Unplug all the wires.

3, Once you have the side pannel off, before you touch any componant you need to discharge your body's static charge by simply touching your case chassis & for max safety keep doing so after touching componats.

4, If you can't reach something un-plug it.

5, Take off all the pannels you can to make sure you get all the dust.

6, Fans & heatsinks get the most dust on them so if they come apart get you're anti-static brush in there :-D, unscrew fans from the chassis becuase they hide dust behind them too.

7, Be gentle.



I guess a mixture of a well planned case airflow design & regular attention is my method. I have X2 Red High speed 12cm AKASA fans @ 1700RPM at the front, X1 Red high speed 8cm AKASA @ 2500RPM & X1 Multi colour adjustable speed 8cm AKASA fan with speed control @ 2000-3500 at the back. I use a Zalamn CNPS9700 LED CPU cooler which is very effective & my GPU has a cooler which sucks air into & along the heatsink then outside the case.

My only problem is my PSU has a 12cm fan inside the case & a mesh backplate to let the hot air exit, but the internal fan tends to suck in the hot air coming out of the top of my Zalman CPU cooler which makes the PSU loud & hot

+1 for "upgrade it before the dust settles!" because I go through parts very quickly LOL, here is just my recent CPU's:

*October 07 AMD Athlon X64 X2 4400+ 2.4GHz

*July 08 AMD Athlon X64 X2 6000+ 3.0GHz

*December 08 AMD Phenom X4 9750 2.4GHz

*July 09 AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.0GHz BE

I have noticed a distinct pattern in dates & CPU speed too :-D

Hope this helps someone Oh FYI I got my anti-static brush in with a mouse mat, it's supposed to be a keyboard cleaning brush but it is more useful inside the computer than out :-D

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

I just put the whole case with the side panels removed in my GE dishwasher on "Potscrubber" mode without using the heated dry feature.:-D:-D:-D:-D:-D

 

2-Bit-Geek:

Thanks for the welcome and the tips.

Where did you get your brush?

---

Puppywunder58:

Does that work well on a lasagna-clogged power supply?

 

No problem i'm happy to help

I actually stumbled upon the anti-static brush & mouse mat set in a £1 shop here in the UK LOL

You can get them in cleaning kits, mostly the cheaper ones. The idea of an anti-static brush to clean a PC is not very popular with manufacturers who make cleaning products for PC's, mainly because they aren't disposable so you only need 1 that will last you years . Compressed air is the most popular cleaning product beacause it is disposable but no more effective than a good AS brush :confused

Here is a kit I found that gives you a good idea of what you should be looking at, though the bristles are a little short for cleaning the inside of you're PC: http://www.thenerds.net/INLAND_PRODUCTS_INC.Inland_LCD_Screen_Cleaning_Kit.05119.html

As for you're clogged PSU if it's out of it's garentree I would open it & clean it with an anti-static brush, but if it is still under garentee you will only void you're garentree opening it so i'd use compressed air to try & blow out the dust. The amount of things that can be cleaned with a nice long bristle'd anti-static brush are endless PC wise LOL

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

Three essential items for cleaning a PC effectively and safely
Something that Blows (compressed air can)
Something that Sucks (Vacuum cleaner with hose)
Something that Brushes (AS Brush or similar - Artist brushes are a good alternative)
Dirt does need to be dislodged, but given it is only accumuated dry household/office dust you dont need a steam cleaner as you would with road grime.
I wouldnt necessarily brush all circuit boards, use something that blows on these as the dust only settles on these. Use the brush mainly for mechanical components such as fans where the dust is impacted into place by the high speed of the blades.
Discharge yourself as someone mentioned by touching the chassis case, and if possible avoid standing on a nylon carpet, or wearing anything nylon as this will create or promote static conductivity through to your finger tips.

And a note for 2-bit-geek "but the internal fan tends to suck in the hot air coming out of the top of my Zalman CPU ".
Try using a small piece of plastic or card cut to shape and secured in place as a deflector, to channel or block the passage of hot air directly toward the PSU. Nothing complex, just so it is in the way of the hot air path. I had a very noisy PSU due to high temp and fan speed, one night i had the idea, so I fashioned a piece of plastic from a tupperware container lid, added a couple of holes in the corner to secure with plastic tie wraps and made a neat job of it. It made a huge difference to the noise output of the machine. Alternatively a double deck diffuser as per Brawn GP will gain you over a second a lap.

Just my sixpence for any would be computer mechanics.

 

I wondered what you were doing with these used machines.

At a charity centre I give some time to we have to remove loads of external lables, before processing the pcs for charitable use. This is usually done with a hot air gun/hair dryer and a knife.

It always causes a chuckle to see a row of pcs labelled 'blown' In this case it means that the dust devils have been blown out with a high pressure airline and a blowpipe. You should prevent the fans turning when you do this as some can be damaged by the speeds they would get to.
Blow through the floppy and CD drive mechanisms, all sorts of crap gets in here.

Contacts on plug in boards and modules can be spruced up by removing the board and rubbing the contact strips with paper. I hear dollar notepaper is best.

In severly encrusted machines you need to remove the processor and blow out the socket. Replace the heatsink compound when putting it back it will probably have dried out anyway.

Check or just replace the cmos battery it's probably on its last legs.

Try to avoid chemicals, including alcohol, other than detergent and water or detergent base polishing compounds. Metal polish is OK on chassis parts removed from the electronics.

Most electronic circuit boards can be removed and scrubbed in a bucket of warm soapy water. Drain and thoroughly air dry before re-attachment. Do not get water near speaker/sounder components.

Note I have not mentioned static. that is because it is largely a bogey, unless your workshop is in the Arizona desert and has a 2 inch nylon carpet. I usually lay removed boars, modules processors etc on a sheet of paper or a conductive bag if one is available. I try to avoid plastic. I have never lost a component to static yet.

Remember to make a sketch of where the screws go on things like laptops. It can be useful to make an outline sketch and stick the screws on it with Sellotape in the place the go in the laptop.


And yes you can put many parts, including a keyboard, into a dishwasher quite safely but I have more respect for my dishwasher.

 

Definitely agreed with all of that, I use an Air Compressor with the blower attachment, I usually take at least 20 - 30 minutes with any machine, it takes time to properly get into all the corners, cracks, spaces etc. I always make sure to do the PSU really well and I pull it apart in extreme cases. I always make sure I do all connections, slots etc. I also use a paintbrush after a preliminary blowout. For card and RAM contacts you can use an eraser/rubber to clean them. Just rub it across the contacts then brush off with a brush. I also have never damaged any components through static, or with a compressor. Although I was extremely skeptical when I was first told to do it at my first IT Tech job. But I've used it ever since and it hasn't caused my any issues.

 

Another vote for air compressor. You can buy the small ones cheap. Sure they're loud and take a bit to get full blasting pressure, but nothing works nearly as well. Remove the side of the case, unplug your fans from the motherboard, and let 'er rip! Canned air runs out quick or freezes up, and a vacuum just doesn't work plus it runs the chance of knocking components loose. As to the "comment" about the dishwasher.... a friend of mine has one of those all-clear acrylic cases, and it gets really munjy looking after 2-3 months. He completely takes it apart (removes all components: PSU, mobo, HD, CD, etc) and pops it in the dishwasher with some of that JetDry no-spot stuff and it comes out freekin' beautiful!!!
:cool

(I unplug the fans from the mobo 'czu when a fan spins, it can act like a tiny generator and can actually pump electricity into the board. I guy I know damaged his mobo 'cuz he thought it would be neat to see "how fast can I get this fan spinning?" and he blasted it with a compresser for like 5 minutes and his mobo never powered on again. Maybe it was coincidence, but whatever, I always unplug fans from the mobo before basting 'em with air, and if I can reach it, I try to hold the fan blades to stop 'em from spinning or at least to slow 'em down so the fan doesn't get damaged by extreme spinnage)

(and spinnage is NOT the stuff that Popeye eats LOL )

 

Compressed air can make the fans spin many times faster than their bearings are designed for. Additionally you cannot usually unplug the one in the power supply.

I recommend inserting a screwriver or the handle of you brush to prevent rotation whilst blowing.

 

Well I must say I really have no need to use compressed air or any other of the extreme mesures mentioned.

I don't really get a dust build up, I must have a fairly dust free anviromenet :-D

The only places I cannot clean are inside my PSU & my GPU's heatsink, a "viod if removed" sticker is covering one of the screws onmy PSU & my GPU heatsink is covered by a plastic... cover "see thumbs". I heard if you unscrew my the heatsink on my GPU there is a "click" that only happens once & the manufacturer will know you have been tampering with it & void your garentee :confused, I wouldn't normally question something like that but how would they know unless they unscrewed it to hear the click?

Everything else gets cleaned regularly once a month

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

as a professional repair technician , i use a 25$ leaf blower and a soft paint brush
it provides a enough air to blow out most any heatsink.
i always try to pin the fans as not to damage the bearings like "STUDIOT" said.
i have found that can-o-air just doesn't cut it, and air compressors tend to blow water.

 

.. I keep my computer up in a little box in the computer desk that my dad and I specially made for it the week before he passed lol... I can't see just about any dust in it hahah

 

careful!!! that little box your dad made is a toaster oven. im sure it works great for the desk and all but i go to so many houses that have their pc's in that little cubby under the desk and they just cook for lack of airflow. very common reason for pc failure.
p.s. i dont care how clean your house is, they all get dusty. #2 reason for pc failure.

 

""""wow?"""" did you say
"Most electronic circuit boards can be removed and scrubbed in a bucket of warm soapy water. Drain and thoroughly air dry before re-attachment. Do not get water near speaker/sounder components."

i dont think thats a good idea at all!!!!!!
water is a nightmare to dry properly and can contain chemicals and minerals that will expedite corrosion.

go to autozone and buy a 5$ can of " CRC QD electronic cleaner ",
its a cold solvent, dries almost instantly, wont damage anything, and leaves absolutely no residue.

 

Welcome to MG rmoore, I hope you will share lots rmore :-D of your technical experience with us.

There are quite a few service technicians here so the opportunity to swop experience is great.

As to scrubbing electronic components

Marine equipement, Telecoms equipment, geophysical eqipement, navigation equipment, domestic equipment, agricultural equipment, test equipment........

I have scrubbed them all. :-D

Clearly you have to get things dry before replacement, but bear in mind that in some parts of the world they operate at or near 100% humidity so circuitry is often slightly damp.

The contaminents imparted by drinkable water are nothing to those picked up by a pc in say the chicken shed. :-D

It may be that in the long run, many times that of the service life of the equipment drinking water may degrade performance.

In any case such drastic techniques are usually unnecessary.

 

I second that.
I have 2 PCs built into a desk running heavy graphics 24/7 so heat was a big problem for me and is cost me a fortune to get it sorted, i installed a mini air conditioning unit but it is not the quietest of systems.

 

I have heard that if you blast the dust with the hoover is dangerous to the computer as it can damage the computer parts inside the tower. Is this True?

 

that's me :major :-D

As long as you use De-Mineralised water (can be bought from most supermarkets) you wont have any problems with harmful additives, also boiling water for ten minutes is a great way to remove additives.

 

I suppose it depends if you are using the suck or blow function?
If you suck out the dust it's not a problem just be careful not to touch components but if you use the blow you have to realise that there is dust and grit particles in the pipe that mom sucked up and you will just blow them into the PC.

 

:confused "...extreme measures..."??? Using an air compressor is more-or-less a standard and well known method of removing the dust build up from inside PCs. Using the word "extreme" seems a bit extreme. When you work on dozens of PCs a week, and many have NEVER been cleaned in their 6 year life span, I can guarantee that there is no other efficient way to clean it. You pull both sides off the case, take it outside, and let fly with the compressor. I live in a very windy, very dusty, very dry environment, so condensation in the air compressor is not a problem, though I have seen it happen, but very rarely. But dust is bad here, and I blow out my personal home PC 3-4 times a year. If it didn't have the 2 layers of dust filters on the dual 80mm fans up front, then I'd be cleaning it every month or so...

 

Thats why you buy a compressor with a release valve at the bottom of the compressor. Pull it once a week and all the water comes out

 

My hoover has got the suck action but it also has a adjustable speed on suction. If i clean my fans with that should i be fine with it on a low setting.

 

I guess so but that's not the real issue ... the real danger when using a vacuum is knocking components out of place and in rare cases, damaging them.

 

Bad wording on my part :confused, I meant I have never needed to use compressed air to get my rig squeaky clean :-D, I would however class using a dishwasher or scrubbing PCB's as extreme rolleyes

But if it works & doesn't damage you're pc why not.

As for PC's with mass dust build up, I have seen my share of "friends" computers caked. By friends I don't mean my friends I mean my parents friends, friends...friends, you know as soon as enough people know you can do more than just send an E-mail they ask you to take a look at thier pre historic Dell :-D

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

just buy a can of compressed air and blow the dust of your pc components:-D.

 

Thanks to everyone for the great, detailed information. I thought the thread was inactive because I stopped recieving email alerts (don't know why). Then I checked today and was pleasantly surprised.

I'm looking into several of the methods mentioned. As there are so many choices of product types, models, brands, etc. -it would be helpful and appreciated if everybody could provide some details and recommendations for products they have used, and -just as important- where you bought yours and/or some stores that might carry the items .

I'm having no luck with looking for an anti-static brush like the one pictured/mentioned. Any suggestions? there's a large pond between me and the nearest one-pound shop. : )

Can anyone reccommend a good small air compressor with a release valve (and where to get one)?

likewise for air filters.

Also if anyone has visited some stores (online or physical) that had a nice assortment of cleaning products please post some urls.

Thanks for voting, and for posting all the highly useful info!

So far everyone's theory, experiences, methods were informative and insightful. Thanks to studiot, dlb, and others for the 'assembly line' wisdom (which is specifically applicable to my situation with the used computers).

Also thanks to 2-Bit-Geek for hitting the nail on the head and making me laugh with the poignant observation: "you know as soon as enough people know you can do more than just send an E-mail they ask you to take a look at thier pre historic Dell."

Here's to prehistoric Dells and the people who attempt to maintain them!

 

Hrm I saw this on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/PC-Computer-Key...66:2|39:1|72:1205|240:1318|301:1|293:2|294:50

And if you don't wanna use eBay I found this: http://myofficesource.com/kmw12165.html

Hope one of them is useful, it is suprisingly hard to find one :confused
This is where I found the link: http://www.thefind.com/search?query=keyboard+cleaning+brush#page=2&local=0

You don't have a prehistoric Dell do you?:-D I hate Dells more than I have Apple & all of it's products LOL

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

Thanks for the info 2-Bit-Geek. Neither one of those webpages said their brush was anti-static. Do you think they are, and they just didn't put that on there?

When you bought your brush did it specifically say anti-static on the package?