Your computer is the world’s best vacuum, (don’t tell Dyson that), and in your case also the worst. This article is about the importance and ease of cleaning your PC. While ever the PC or laptop is “on” it is drawing in fine particles of dust and they are “sticking” to the parts inside to effectively put the equivalent of a cardigan over every component desperately seeking to keep itself cool.
Having been a computer technician for many years I’ve come across quite a few consistent issues that commonly create problems for users. Almost all of them are solvable by simple maintenance. One of the most common issues is forgetting exactly what a computer actually is and how it runs.
If I told you that a computer was a collection of electronic components with electricity running through them while they “work” you would likely say, “of course”. What that means in practice though seems to be a bit of a mystery to so many.
When an electronic device “works” it creates heat and an electro-magnetic field, (thus getting the charged dust particles to stick even more then if they were simply being blown about). To keep it “working” the designers have to account for this and provide cooling options and systems to keep things “running”. More often than not this simply means a fan located in the right place. That fan, (again more often than not), blows air on to what is for all intents and purposes a radiator but called a heatsink, (quite similar to what your car uses to stop from overheating), that is in turn sitting on top of the component that needs cooling.
Oh Dear – That’s Dust!
Now comes the part that breaks down in to what needs to be kept in mind at all times; When the component overheats it, ultimately, stops working. Sometimes for ever. Not to put too fine a point on it, though, we get plenty of warnings and lots or indicators before this catastrophe occurs.
Have you ever noticed your computer and its fans start making a LOT of noise after a while? Can you hear the fans racing to send more cooling in to the components? Does the PC “crash” and seem to “freeze” what you can see on the screen? While you’re in the middle of working on it, does it slow down and seem to take forever to respond? Each and every one of these symptoms point to the distinct possibility that your computer is overheating.
When we technicians get a PC/Laptop/Mac/etc. we quite often start the process of fixing your machine by cleaning your PC. Well, the good technicians do anyway. It doesn’t take much but the results can be astounding and may even go quite a way toward fixing the problem for the client.
The clean isn’t just an instance of taking off the side panel and rummaging around with a vacuum cleaner. No! that would do more damage. It becomes very technical. At least that’s what many would like you to believe. It needs specialty tools. Air and a clean brush. Yes, you heard that right. Air and a clean brush.
What to Do – Cleaning your PC
Wherever you see the dust, dislodge it, gently, with the CLEAN paintbrush, (definitely not one that has been used for painting and cleaned afterwards). Don’t be too rough. Just enough to have the dust come free from the parts it is stuck on. The dust can be across the CPU fan/heatsink (see the photo above), the Power supply vents (also seen in the photo above), the bottom of the case or any number of places. But, wherever it is, dislodge it and make sure you are gentle because you don’t want to dislodge anything other than the dust.
Now for the air. Some technicians simply use their mouth and blow the dust away, (it really depends on how much dust there is). Some buy cans of compressed air and some go to the extent that I have and purchase a device made to blow air in to the case and send the dust scattering off in to the outside, (see photo, below). Using your breath or the compressed air cans may send moisture into the components and we don’t want that. Being careful is the key and when considered and controlled any consistent air source that isn’t overly aggressive will do the trick.
Why don’t we use a Vacuum Cleaner? Well, simply, it can produce static electricity and if a spark should go across to the component it can be a faster way of killing the computer than any dust. Some technicians will go so far as to using static straps and various devices to reduce the risk of this damaging the components but making sure you are grounded and careful is all that is really needed. Besides, all of this is better for your computer than leaving the dust there.
Don’t just clean around the outside of your computer. This isn’t something you NEED a technician for. Cleaning your PC is simple and worthwhile. It’s a simple act that, done regularly, will keep your computer running at it’s best and lasting as long as it’s possible for it to keep running.
