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#21
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One of the factories I sell for had an old 286 PC a few years ago that
stayed on 24/7 for about 3 years (all it did was operate a bridge between an ancient IBM card-based data collection system and an A/S400 computer). It died one day, and I opened it up for them. It looked just like the inside of a vacuum cleaner bag. Dust killed that one. On the positive side, we got another old 386 computer at a yard sale for 5.00 and replaced it! "w_tom" wrote in message ... You already have the list of every time dust has caused failures - including computers before PC existed. Dust problems are myths often associated with a tech who is 'reaching' to solve a problem he never understood. Fans don't fail due to dust. They fail due to internal failures such as seized bearing, misplaced rotation sensor, or failed transistor. Been doing this for too many decades to fall for the 'too much dust' myth. No reason to use compressed air on electronics. Dust may create a marginal problem if ventilation holes are obstructed and computer operates in a 100 degree F room. Even a soft paint brush solves that problem. Ben Myers wrote: Let me know when the dust and dirt in your computer builds up enough to cause a critical fan to stop spinning, with one or more components burning up as a result... Ben Myers |
#22
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Beats me what he was talking about. I buy cartons of "Blow Off" in small
quantities for my own use. I've also run into other brands with similar product. Nothing but air. Nothing but net? Using this stuff is a slam-dunk for me... Ben Myers On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 09:39:47 -0400, "Prilosec" wrote: Do you think he was talking about the industrial-type compressed air that contains oil/water? I can see how that might be bad for electronics. The junk in the can you buy at Staples is probably OK. ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers) wrote in message ... Hmm. Never ever had a problem with a computer getting into difficulty as a result of my blasting it out with compressed air. Must be either dumb luck or highly refined technique. Several dealers and resellers in my neighborhood with whom I have a loose arrangement to exchange parts and repair/maintenance have never had a problem either. Admittedly a computer CAN survive with a lot of dust, dirt, dead mice, and animal hair inside it. But the chances of survival are generally better if the interior is somewhat clean, allowing clear and unimpeded air flow. I've also serviced a proprietary computer (a custom printer RIP) never ever cleaned by the so-called maintenance person. Opened up the chassis and found a ball about the side of a baseball consisting of cat hair, paper chaff, dust, dirt, and heaven knows what else. And that computer had a failed power supply. Luckily for my client, a common personal computer power supply fit right in, so there was no need for a service call from the other guy using parts paid via extortion. Factory environments are especially hard on personal computers, and some regular cleaning out of the dirt prolongs the life of the machine. That's my opinion, and you are just as free to have yours... Ben Myers On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 17:03:21 -0400, w_tom wrote: Compressed air can even change critical dip switch settings. Never use compressed air on electronics. In on case, a user vacuumed the computer and therefore removed a jumper setting. Computer would not operate. At most, gently vacuum or blow dust off of ventilation holes. Nothing more. If a dust problem is that large, then either an industrial grade computer for a harsh environment is required, or some silly person installed too many fans. Five fans inside a case does create dust problems especially since most every computer works just fine with only one 80mm fan. Why did power supply die? Air that is exhausted from computer must not be air that reenters computer. Ventilation is why holes must be properly cut in a cabinet that holds a computer - so that heat does not recycle. Computers must work just fine when room air is 100 degree F. A computer in a 70 degree room just will never have failures due to dust - if computer is properly designed and ventilated. Do not use compressed air on electronics. First it is not necessary. Second it can cause other failures. Too many have this 'clean' fetish. They always want to cure something only because it looks dirty. Short of large globs of dust on ventilation holes or large dust balls inside the case - removing dust is unnecessary. I only remove dust because I don't like getting my hands dirty if I happen to be inside the machine. Once even found a death mouse. But computer worked just fine. "A. & C. Bredt" wrote: I have it on a UPS, but I see that it is very dusty inside. How often would you use compressed air to clean it? Should I open it each time to do it? |
#23
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I've cleaned some fan fins that had caked dust/lint/hair on them to the
point that they added a small beaded effect to the edge of the fan. Now I'm no ventilation/fan expert but I would think that the added weight of all that crud would accelerate the demise of that fan. Also wouldn't those altered fan blade edges alter the efficiency of the fan? Fan outages can indeed croak a system, CPU or component. In the systems I've seen, the motherboard is usually mounted vertically and thus doesn't tend to be a dust collection point. Other components and areas tend to gather dust/hair/crud and I can't see that they'd be very susceptible to a short blast of compressed air. "w_tom" wrote in message ... You already have the list of every time dust has caused failures - including computers before PC existed. Dust problems are myths often associated with a tech who is 'reaching' to solve a problem he never understood. Fans don't fail due to dust. They fail due to internal failures such as seized bearing, misplaced rotation sensor, or failed transistor. Been doing this for too many decades to fall for the 'too much dust' myth. No reason to use compressed air on electronics. Dust may create a marginal problem if ventilation holes are obstructed and computer operates in a 100 degree F room. Even a soft paint brush solves that problem. Ben Myers wrote: Let me know when the dust and dirt in your computer builds up enough to cause a critical fan to stop spinning, with one or more components burning up as a result... Ben Myers |
#24
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Two fan problems involve bearing wear and location of the
hall effect sensor. Bearing wear creates far more stress on fan. The hall effect sensor, if not perfectly flat on printed circuit board (inside fan) can create insufficient torque (fan stalls). These are manufacturing defects. Dust on fan blades is not significant. In fact, if dust was significant, then fan was defective when it left the factory. If fan suffers an early demise, then suspect power supply manufacturer or computer assembler is again selecting components only on price - quality and manufacturer integrity be damned. One reason why some clone assembler recommend annual cleaning - they install too many fans. One 80 mm fan is typically enough cooling for most every computer. Too many case fans create significant dust buildup problems. Do the numbers. Theoretical numbers confirmed by experimentation says the computer works just fine even in a 100 degree F room. Too many fans create dust problems. snoopy wrote: I've cleaned some fan fins that had caked dust/lint/hair on them to the point that they added a small beaded effect to the edge of the fan. Now I'm no ventilation/fan expert but I would think that the added weight of all that crud would accelerate the demise of that fan. Also wouldn't those altered fan blade edges alter the efficiency of the fan? Fan outages can indeed croak a system, CPU or component. In the systems I've seen, the motherboard is usually mounted vertically and thus doesn't tend to be a dust collection point. Other components and areas tend to gather dust/hair/crud and I can't see that they'd be very susceptible to a short blast of compressed air. |
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