Computer Hygiene

just a thing on why to keep it clean maybe obvious but neccesary.

 

ive had computer problems with performance and found completly different ways as to why
Dust a common thing that can eventualy jam fans and slow them down to the point of replacement

 

so as the fans are the parts that move the most in a pc it is they that will attract all the dust. At least a couple of times a year, and more often if you notice lots of detritus building up, take time the time to clean the fan vents, blades and the surfaces. Dirt build-up will slow down fan speed, decrease its efficiency, and increase the tempreture in the case. if a fan stops working it can lead to failure of more-expensive components so it pays to check.

The best weapon against grime and dust in the pc is air-in-a-can. you can get it from most technical stores such as Maplin electronics and radio shack and places that sell pc hardware. It blasts compressed air across the surface and, via a staw, into nooks and crannies to disturb the dust that can be vacuumed by those neat little pc cleaner things or your hose-hold vacuum cleaner. as long as you're vey careful with the nozzle.

 

I think the thought behind your posts is correct and I wish everyone understood the consequences of heat and dirt build up. But I think your solution is in need of considerable expansion. The fans are but a small (but critical) part of the concern as preventing buildup layers of heat trapping dust on printed circuit boards and heatsinks is initially, and ultimately more important. It is essential to mention safety concerns such as unplugging the computer, or necessary ESD precautions. Discussing ESD is especially important when using vacuum cleaners.

Here is my (forgive me) rather long canned text on cleaning Maintenance Safety, Cleaning, and ESD:

Safety First. It is common practice, as taught in any electronics course, to ensure safety first, so that's what we are doing here. Fuses and circuit breakers are used to stop excessive current events in overload situations. They react to, but do not prevent such events. They are fast, but not instantaneous, and they do not make any device 100% safe. We must never assume a power supply unit (PSU) is safe and working properly, that the wall outlet is wired correctly, or that the building has a good "ground" ("Earth" in some countries).

There is some confusion as to whether it is necessary to unplug the PSU (power supply unit) from the wall when doing maintenance inside a computer. Anything that plugs into the wall can kill! So when doing any kind of maintenance (routine, preventative, or unscheduled) when potentially lethal voltages are present, safety dictates that it is essential to unplug when digging around inside.

There are only three exceptions:

1. IF the PSU has a master power switch on the back of the PSU (many do not) - but that assumes the power supply and $.50 switch are not defective, or damaged
2. When necessary to have power applied for troubleshooting
3. When inspecting fans to ensure they are spinning

The problem is they all assume the power supply is functioning properly, has no manufacturing defects, and has not been physically damaged by some external force (dropped in shipping, a prime example). You should not assume with something that can kill. I have no doubt millions of off-brand, generic PSUs in use today were made under horrible working conditions in filthy unsafe factories under the watchful eye of corrupt third world governments. Some by children in slavery. You cannot trust the quality of the materials and components used in construction, the training or skills of the assemblers, or the integrity of their quality control. And remember that even name brand, quality PSUs can fail, or be damaged.

Beside the human safety factor, it is necessary to unplug before doing maintenance, even with a perfectly functioning power supply, to prevent damaging the motherboard or other components. This is because the ATX Form Factor Standard, as indicated on page 21, paragraph 4.1.3.2, calls for +5VDC @ 2 amperes "standby voltage" (normally designated as "+5Vsb") to be applied across several motherboard points whenever the computer is in "Standby Mode". Standby Mode is enabled whenever the power supply is plugged into an AC power source (the wall - or UPS), and if equipped, the rear master power switch is turned on. If the PSU does not have a master power switch, and many PSUs do not, Standby Mode is enabled whenever the power cord is simply connected!Standby Mode allows for such features as "soft power control" enabling the case's front panel power switch to power up the computer. It also allows other features, such as Wake on LAN, Wake on Modem, Wake on Keyboard, and Wake on Mouse.

While it is true that the exterior (output) side of a properly working PSU does not present a hazard to humans, if the supplied +5Vsb comes across the wrong contact on a critical component, it can easily destroy the device.

It is important to remember that RAM modules, CPUs, cards, etc., have many 100s of exposed electrical contacts/pins in very close proximity to each other. The likelihood of electricity jumping (arcing) from one conductor to another is dependent on 2 simple factors:

1. The greater the voltage the greater the chance of arcing
2. The smaller the gap the greater the chance of arcing

So even though the highest voltage we are talking about on the motherboard is 12VDC, the close proximity of the conductors (contacts/pins) on vulnerable devices greatly increases the chance electricity will jump the gap (arc) to an adjacent contact (and circuit), and destroy the component or a device in the related circuit. Even if there is no arc, the mere proximity of the closely grouped contacts and pins DEMANDS perfect (straight in/straight out) steady-hand alignment by the user when inserting or removing such devices so that adjacent pins/contacts do not physically touch the wrong insertion point. If no voltage is present, damage from accidental contact is avoided.

Therefore power MUST be completely removed before doing maintenance to any computer to ensure a simple distraction or less than rock-steady hand does not cause that +5VSB to contact the wrong point.

I know what safety and electronic technical/service manuals say, but in researching for this post, I wanted to see what the motherboard and video card makers say. I could find no documentation from any maker to support leaving the power cord attached when doing maintenance. I did find, over and over again, motherboard and video card makers who feel unplugging the PSU is necessary. I note a few examples:

Abit AT8 32X Motherboard Manual, Page 2-1:

Before the Installation: Turn off the power supply switch (fully turn off the +5V standby power), or disconnect the power cord before installing or unplugging any connectors or add-on cards. Failing to do so may cause the motherboard components or add-on cards to malfunction or damaged.​

ASUS P5LD2 Deluxe Motherboard Manual, Page 2-1, Before you proceed (their bold emphasis):

Before you install or remove any component, ensure that the ATX power supply is switched off or the power cord is detached from the power supply. Failure to do so may cause severe damage to the motherboard, peripherals, and/or components.​

ATI Radeon 1600 Graphics Card Manual, Page 8:

Installing the Radeon® graphics card
1 Turn off the computer, monitor, and other peripheral devices.
2 Unplug the computer’s power cord and disconnect all cables from the back of your computer.​

Gigabyte GA-945P-DS3 Motherboard Manual, Page 9:

Preparing Your Computer
The motherboard contains numerous delicate electronic circuits and components which can become damaged as a result of electrostatic discharge (ESD). Thus, prior to installation, please follow the instructions below:
1. Please turn off the computer and unplug its power cord.​

Intel D945GCCR Motherboard Manual, Page 30:

Before installing or removing the processor, make sure the AC power has been removed by unplugging the power cord from the computer; the standby power LED should not be lit (see Figure 3 on page 22). Failure to do so could damage the processor and the board.

If the AC power has been switched off and the standby power indicator is still lit, disconnect the power cord before installing or removing any devices connected to the board. Failure to do so could damage the board and any attached devices.​

Crucial Installing a DIMM in your desktop

Turn off the computer, monitor, and all accessories (printer, speakers, etc.)
Unplug the computer power cord. (It's OK to unplug your accessories if you like.) ​

Kingston How To Install 168-pin DIMMs

(Video) Step 1. Power down and unplug system. ​

The Problem with ESD.
Electro-static charges (static electricity) easily builds up in the human body. The "potential" (voltage) of the static electricity in humans can easily exceed 30,000 volts!! The threshold for human awareness is only around 3,500 volts, depending on many factors, including dryness of the skin, sensitivity, etc.

Electro-static discharge (ESD) sensitive devices used in sophisticated electronics, such as computer processors (including CPUs and GPUs) and memory integrated circuits (ICs), can easily be destroyed by static with potentials as little as 30 volts! This means that a static shock can totally destroy a sensitive device without you even being aware a discharge occurred!

So how do we prevent such damage? It is simple actually. The key is to remove the "difference in potential" between the two conductors - you, and the device.

Notice I did not say you have to "ground" the static. I said you must "remove the difference in potential between the two conductors". What this means is that it is not necessary to have the computer case connected to the facility ground to effectively eliminate static. Just as you can eliminate static in your body by touching the doorknob of an ungrounded, wooden door (or the dog's nose ), simply touching the case will work just fine. When you touch the case, you equalize and eliminate that difference, thus eliminating the chance of a static discharge to a sensitive component. Think of a "floating" ground - such as used in avionics - (airplane electronics). Continually touching the bare metal case (through a wrist strap, or dangling pinky finger) will prevent static caused by wiggling around in your clothes, moving on the carpet, sliding on the chair cover, etc. from ever building up. If you can't stay in constant contact with the case, frequently touching the case will discharge any build up before reaching damaging potential, and is generally considered a sufficient precaution, as long as you are self-disciplined enough to discharge yourself often.

It is true the potential at that point in time of the computer case, all components within, and your body may be at a different potential (charged state) than ground (Earth). However, like the electronics on an airplane, that does not present a threat to the ESD sensitive devices from you, because you are all at the same potential. Once you reconnect the PSU to the AC outlet, any difference there will then be eliminated.

Heat, Cleaning & ESD.
Heat is the bane of all electronics. To control heat, computers use fans to pull cool air in, and expel hot air out. Unfortunately, this same process also draws in heat trapping dust, dirt, hair, dander, microscopic critters that eat dander, and microscopic droppings from those microscopic critters.

Cleaning the insides of the computer presents a problem because sticking your hands or cleaning tools in the case without care can result in ESD damage. Yet it is a user responsibility to keep heat trapping dust from blanketing heat sensitive devices inside the computer. And today's computers generate a lot of heat. In particular, the CPU and increasingly, the GPU (graphics processor unit). Both can generate as much heat as 100 watt (or more) light bulbs!

I recommend inspecting monthly, and cleaning if necessary). While observing ESD precautions, I take my systems outside and use a soft paint brush and compressed air from an air compressor. With compressed air, you can blast out the PSU (make sure you do it from inside the case). WARNING: If using an air compressor, ensure it is configured for electronic. That is, an oilless compressor equipped with a suitable in-line moisture and contaminant filter. Alternatively, you can use cans of compressed dusting gas to clean the PC. (Note: Even with cans of dusting gas, I still recommend cleaning outside. There's no need to blow the dust back into the room, ready to be sucked back into the computer by the fans).

With care you can use a vacuum cleaner and a soft paint brush. As reported elsewhere, it is true that air and dust particles zipping past the nozzle of the vacuum can (will!) generate static in the nozzle. I agree this is a VERY SERIOUS and legitimate concern. But so is heat! And using some sort of forced air is best at removing heat trapping dust, so if compressed air is not possible, vacuuming is the next best thing.

Because of this static, it is absolutely essential ESD precautions are observed to prevent static buildup and damage from ESD, as well as physical damage from banging the nozzle into fragile devices, or scratching the motherboard. But the process is simple. With the computer powered down and unplugged, and with a soft brush in one hand and the vacuum nozzle in the other, extend a finger on your nozzle holding hand out past the tip of the nozzle and plant that finger on bare metal of the case. Then simply use the brush to sweep the dust into the vacuum. With your finger(s) touching metal, and your hand wrapped around the nozzle, no static can build up, no ESD damage can occur. Every time you reposition the nozzle, touch metal with an extended finger before moving in close.

Note: As with the compressed air, resist the temptation to see how fast you can make the fans spin. You can make them spin faster than designed limits and damage the bearings. I use wooden Popsicle sticks to hold the fans in the PSU stationary.

So the bottom line here is this: When doing maintenance (cleaning, installing and/or removing components) on your computer, ALWAYS remove the +5Vsb voltages from the computer by unplugging the power cord, or setting the master power switch on the back of the PSU to off. Keep yourself in contact with the case to ensure there is no difference in potential, and to prevent/eliminate static buildup in your body. This will prevent standby voltages from destroying your components and provide efficient ESD control as well.

***

Note: Where did this persistent misconception that it is okay to leave power cords plugged in come from? In the olden days, ground straps to station/facility ground were not always practical. It was common, in some situations, to leave the power cord connected so the ground wire in the cord would put the case and facility ground at the same potential, the same "common ground". But that came about when

(1) an understanding of ESD was not complete, and
(2) The old "AT" Form Factor standard was the standard. ​

With AT Form Factor cases and PSUs, the front panel power switch was not a remote power switch like those used today on ATX systems, Rather, it was a hardwired switch that went straight back to the AT Form Factor power supply. When you killed power from the front panel power switch on old AT systems, all power was removed from the motherboard. With the old AT motherboards, there was no such thing as exposed standby voltages present across the motherboard, as there is today with the ATX standard.
****
Static comes from our movements in our clothes, across certain floorings, and even by moving through the air. To minimize the buildup, do not work on carpeting. Sitting naked on unfinished hardwood flooring in a draft-free room works best. Or the kitchen table, or wooden bench.

 

Always a good reminder, even for us that know better, to get our butts in gear and keep our babies working at optimum. As a smoker, I can tell you that is one bad habit to have when you own a computer. The stickiness of the smoke just grabs every dust particle around and is disgusting to clean too but must be done. It also does a number on my optical drives. Another reason to quit.

 

Worse yet is a machine that's been around smoke and cats. Much worse than dogs, cat hair and dander is extremely oily. Layers of smoke and dust, baked in a PC oven is bad enough, add a few layers of cat and be ready to bring out the chisels, hammers and goggles.

 

I always think I should have taken a picture of that, usually just after the first cloud of dust dissipates. For my own computers, smoke is not a problem, but we do have a dog. BTW, I will never get a case without an easy to remove, washable filter again.