Hardware Analysis - Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

Re: Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

Randall Lind — 2008-03-12T13:39:38-05:00

Brendan Gonsalves said:

Five inches of dust build up!?

Yea for the most part I took my hand and picked it up and threw it out. Ever brush a dog then clean the brush? That how thick it was on the bottom and in the front where I took the panel off.

I was surprise it worked after. Maybe it was 5 inches but looked like someone dump a vacuum cleaner bag inside. That how much dust was in it took me a good day to clean it. It also smelled like an ash tray.

Re: Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

Brendan Gonsalves — 2008-03-12T11:15:46-05:00

Five inches of dust build up!?

Re: Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

Randall Lind — 2008-03-12T02:33:28-05:00

That's how I got my new HP AMD 64 3700+ it didn't work so a friend gave me it. I open it up and there was dust 5 inches thick everywhere!

After I blew out the dust and pop off the front and clean it all out the PC came on. I brought a new video card for it (XFX 8600GT XXX pci-e) and now all I need is some more memory and I am set.

I didn't have that much dust on the CPU fan damn that is a lot from that picture. My friend has 4 dogs and hair everywhere in his house no wonder pc didn't work.

Re: Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

Tam the Bam — 2008-02-10T14:13:10-05:00

I wanted to kill my PC quickly a good few times... with a mallet!!! When things don't
run smoothly......

Re: Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

CrAsHnBuRnXp — 2008-02-07T02:23:45-05:00

Put dust filters on the fan to keep dust from getting in and spray the case out with compressed air (while the computer is off) every now and then.

Re: Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

Jordon Cai — 2008-02-07T02:17:02-05:00

Hey, can you send me a message telling me the tips that you tell people to keep thier computers from getting killed by dust. I have both a PC and a Laptop.
Thanks,
~Jordon~

Re: Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

Unatommer — 2007-11-15T15:46:51-05:00

"does smoking harm a computer btw? passive that is, not actually blowing the smoke into the fans... some have said it doesnt, as long as the temps are all in order..."

I would say that it doesn't help! It does the same thing to the components as it does to your lungs....leaves a think sticky residue on the components. If there is smoke in the air, it will get into your computer then mix with dust and create a nasty layer on all the system boards.

I opened a case once from this guy that as hillbilly as can be... He must have rolled his own cigarettes or smoked pall malls or something because there was lost of loose tobacco sitting in the bottom on the case. There was enough in there that I could have scraped it all up and rolled it up and smoked it! GROSS.

I also had a client whose machine would randomly lock up (all the time). After doing hardware tests and software tests, I dared to take of the side of the case. this thing had ONE INCH THICK of dusk over EVERYTHING! Took it outside and cleaned it out with a dust off can (holding my breath while doing so) and the machine started working properly again.

Re: Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

Gerritt — 2007-11-11T04:12:46-05:00

I can't understand how a system gets totally clogged or a fan gets totally clogged in less than a year.
Maybe it is because of of cheap components/fans.

I haven't added any fluid to my system in over 1.4 years.
I haven't added or removed any fans from my systems in over 7 years.

My liquid cooled system is non-conductive solution only.
My fans are ball-bearing and not sleave-bearing.

I do use filter material (pantyhose), I don't Jones for looking pretty, but my systems all work.

Gerritt

Re: Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

Bitmap — 2007-11-10T07:56:30-05:00

Really? I submerge mine in a vat of acid to destroy the dust.

Last time I did that, though, I wound up with FrankenServer.

Baaaaaad mojo.

Re: Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

CrAsHnBuRnXp — 2007-11-10T07:54:59-05:00

Every year or so, I take it outside and douse everything with a garden hose.

Then I wax the modem to make it go faster.

Re: Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

dark41 — 2007-11-09T22:47:10-05:00

I use an air compressor to blow out dust, but realize not everyone has one. I don't think sucking dust (er.. you know what I mean) is such a good idea as you never know just what may come loose. Making sure to hold the fan blades still is another very good point. We've always done that, but I forgot to mention it.

Re: Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

Jules — 2007-11-09T15:55:47-05:00

Hey - what a good discussion topic Sander.
And some excellent suggestions as to how to solve dust problems. I liked the one with old pantyhose over the air intakes.
When folk talk about 'filters' what do they mean? Is it some sort of Gauze over the air intakes?
Some of the cases that we are selling at the moment have 'gauze' for the front panel. Looks good, and will certainly help air flow, but dear - dust will surely accumulate.
I always strongly suggest to my customers that they put their tower up on the desk. If there is no room, or they don't like that idea I get them to lift the case off the carpet/floor by putting it on a small table/pile of books beside the desk. I am seriously thinking of having a small table made that I could sell - something that would lift the case off the floor by about 8 inches or so.
I go to a few pannel beaters/machine shops and bakery's, and I have made them construct an 'office' room with an air conditioner in it that creates positive pressure to try and keep the dust out of the room. And yes - I arrange to 'clean' the inside of the case every 3 months or so, or point out that they need to do it. Flour from baking is worse than old paint dust etc. The flour dust can 'ignite' - and that IS spectacular!
When taking a computer away to the workshop for repairs, after I have removed the tower I gently say to the owner "Have you got a vacuum cleaner". "While I'm away it would be a good idea to thorougly clean around the back and the shelves of the computer desk".
Worst dust creaters in my experience are cats and dogs, carpet, and 'slobs'.
I have an old vacuum cleaner that is able to 'blow' (as well as suck) and I use it to blow dust out. I take both sides of the case off, and the front panel if there is one. I hold the fans still with my hand while blowing them. I use a clean new 2-3 inch wide paint brush to brush off the 'stuck on" dust, expecially around heatsinks and on top of pci cards - then give another blow out.
For some reason I have this feeling that its better to 'blow' dust than to 'suck' it.
What do others think?

Re: Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

Afrow UK — 2007-11-09T13:01:12-05:00

It's amazing how effective a basic piece of gauze over the fans can reduce dust inside. My older machine has no basic filters and every time I open it up for cleaning, the bottom of the case itself has a nice thick layer of dust. The gauze mat on my newer machine picks up loads of strange stuff.

PCs need LSBB fans (Low Speed, Ball Bearing)

Michel Merlin — 2007-11-09T12:51:13-05:00

dark41 said:

The fans that have stopped the most for me and my customers are the video card fans (especially the small ones on low end cards) and the ones on chipsets (also small fans). Usually those fans start to make an aweful racket before going, but not always.

I confirm. I always silenced all the PCs I installed. In ~1995 this required a lot of work because nothing existed for it. On forums, speaking of silence was just drawing laughs and sarcasms. So I mail-ordered the only parts available from electronics shops in US or DE (fans, heatsinks, thermoregulators, cables, connectors) and made the rest of the work. Later when the need for silence started to be recognized I posted many times my request for what I called "LSBB" (Low Speed, Ball Bearing) fans, explaining why (In addition of engineer, I have been fluid mechanics professor in university).

Now the situation has vastly improved; low speed, large flow, hence high volume fans, are widely understood and accepted. Ball Bearing have been chosen by makers in many fans so the market tends to forget this aspect. So I recall:

- SB (Sleeve Bearing) is the most frequent because inexpensive and rather silent and effective... for a time; after some time (very variable) it will get worn and get friction, which will generate unpleasant noise - and possibly heat or other failures. SB is a good solution for a fan that works just occasionally, e.g. in a HD rack where you insert only secondary HDs, or even in CPU heatsink if its control makes it work not too long; in such cases the fan will reach its end of use (out of obsolescence) before its end of life.
- BB (Ball bearing) is the only long term heavy duty good quality solution really available in the real world. Don't trust all the ersatz (vapor-bearing, magnetic bearing and such), these are respectable tries, but none succeeded so far. A BB fan is almost as silent as a new SB fan, but will remain so for years of 24/24 work.
- SB small fans (e.g. 40�40�10mm) are IMO appropriate as initial mount in HD racks, but unfortunately also chosen as initial mount in graphic cards or chipset heatsinks, inappropriately IMO since those are mostly used 24/24 or nearly.

Versailles, Fri 9 Nov 2007 13:51:15 +0100, edited (restored missing "SB" in last �) Sat 10 Nov 08:59 +0100

Re: Re: How to kill your PC, quickly

dark41 — 2007-11-09T11:29:27-05:00

For what it's worth, I now use a thermaltake Kandalf which also has the filters on front. But I still have to clean it every other month or so as dust accumulates. The wife is using my old Lian Li PC65 which also has filters on front and also needs to be cleaned every other month or so. Same case for our server, and same situation. All 3 of these systems sit on the floor. The kids' use a generic case with no filters, but it sits inside a cabinet. That one never needs to be cleaned. The rest of ours are off the floor but out in the open and stay fairly clean as well.

Bottom line is there's a lot to be said for keeping your system off the floor, if you can stand the noise and have room. I don't.