Computer Cleaning Day!!!! (1 Viewer)

[Steve R.]

Today is/was computer cleaning day!! An annual event I look forward to.
A good day to clean my computers, the day started out very stormy. We are expected to have a phenomenal (nearly) 40° F (21.6° C) drop today as a result of a cold front passing through.
Don't forget to also change batteries in remotes and flashlights.

The cooling fan and fins, are a bit of a pain. The fins are quite sharp, so it is easy to get your fingers cut. Also you don't want to bend them.
Reinstalling the fins into the fan "cradle" a bit of a challenge, there is an almost imperceptible "flat" surface that has to be correctly positioned to get the fins to fit back into the fan "cradle". Finally, you need to re-apply cooling paste before putting the cooling system back into place on the CPU.

Below is the before cleaning image. I keep thinking that the cooling system is too "big", but then by being too large (in a figurative sense), dust accumulation, for a period of time, will not have a substantial adverse effect on the temperature of the CPU.

Below is the after cleaning image. After rebooting, I monitor the CPU temperature for a while to verify that the thermal paste is working.

 

[Isaac]

Today is/was computer cleaning day!! An annual event I look forward to.
A good day to clean my computers, the day started out very stormy. We are expected to have a phenomenal (nearly) 40° F drop today as a result of a cold front passing through.
Don't forget to also change batteries in remotes and flashlights.

I am going to pass this information along to my 19 yr old son, who has a PC box or two that may warrant a good cleaning/looking-over.

Personally I just enjoy hearing about people's different weather. It truly sounds strange to those who are in places with interesting and changing weather - as I was also many years ago - but now that I am in Arizona, where it is kind of "always the same" Dec-Apr, and then "always the same" (but a different same" between June-November......nothing ever changes.......I get all excited at a drop of rain, a cloud or a bit of wind.

The weather really does seem to be getting odd. This Christmas in Parral, Chih MX, the weather was shorts and tshirt the whole time (although we've had snow other years). Here in Phoenix we've had the 40's (4 c), but where my brother lives in Victoria TX, (used to be he was usually colder than us), he's having 78 (25 c). Parral also has had some extreme (~35-40 degree) changes

And coincidentally I watched Don't Look Up last night (not by choice......my wife was watching it, so I sat in during most of the 2-hour bombardment of typical jokes and tired tropes about conservatives). I don't think it's totally without merit, though, and am capable of seeing past the bad and trying to take the good.

 

[Steve R.]

Personally I just enjoy hearing about people's different weather.

Guess what, I just accidentally ran across.

Say it ain't snow: Flakes fall in Florida after 40-degree temperature drop

With a 40-degree temperature drop overnight, the Florida Panhandle went from beach weather to snow falling from the sky.

www.foxweather.com

So far, knock on wood, I have not heard of any weather alerts for the Morehead City, NC area. Nevertheless, the project rapid drop in temperature today, is of significant concern.
Evidently, the cold front has once again created tornadic activity in Kentucky.

Kentucky governor declares state of emergency after tornado-warned storms cause significant damage

Another round of severe storms that authorities warned might become tornadoes ripped through Kentucky and other areas of the southeast on Saturday, resulting in significant damage in some areas.

www.foxnews.com

In early December, Kentucky was hit badly.

Tornado damage in Kentucky and other states Dec. 12, 2021

Powerful tornadoes left paths of destruction in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee.

www.cnn.com

 

[Isaac]

re: FL--wow!! That's amazing. It's a reminder that the most proximate cause of negative consequences from weather is the rather fascinating topic of preparedness. Of course, in FL they aren't prepared for snow, which I understand obviously - but, it's always interesting to me how hurricanes rip through Caribbean islands and many times they just roll with the punches, they know what to board up and how, they know where to build structures and where not to. Then one rips through LA and half the state is wiped away, which boggles my mind.

Hope NC fares well - hopefully the worst that happens is a light dusting of snowy cheer without anything worse !! Ice is the worst for driving.

 

[oleronesoftwares]

computer cleaning day

its a good event to look forward to, considering how important computers have become in our lives.

 

[kevlray]

I normally put my computer outside and use my air compressor to blow out most of the built up dust. I think I am getting most of it out. I try not to over rev the fans too much.

 

[Isaac]

That reminds me how I have found out there are definitely some creative uses for those air hoses (the tiny ones that people use to get dust out of small things, or on their mats) at the car wash. We go to a big carwash place near us that we subscribe monthly for unlimited washes, very handy, and sometimes I bring all our laptops to give them a once-over with that little high-pressure air sprayer.

 

[JonXL]

Certainly you can get that sufficiently clean without disassembling it like that(?)

At the very least, I've never done such a thing except to perform an actual repair - seems too risky to pull all that off when a good can of air and some patience can get things good enough.

But the only tower I still have hasn't been turned on in several years and the last time I did what you did was on a laptop where the fan had gone shot.

As to the weather, it's 27°F below zero here. So if I were to do anything for fun, it'd have to be inside as well.

 

[Steve R.]

No one approach to computer cleaning is perfect. Using a vacuum with a soft brush attachment, sucks the dust out of the computer, which is my favored approach. Using compressed air has the potential to "force" dust particles into electronic components where they stick in crevices and ventilation holes.