General Discussions

[rockmuncher]

Recently, I opened up my case to do some cleaning. I was going to install a fan to increase airflow, so it seemed like a reasonable time to clean the case out as well.

I was genuinely surprised by how much dust had collected inside. It had been about a year since my last cleaning. Ssome dust bunnies had moved in and had to be evicted.

It got me wondering, how often do you guys open up your case and do some cleaning? If you do so regularly, at what frequency?

[elstaci · Accepted solution]

Many do it once a month frequency. I also read from several tech sites you should clean the inside of your computer case once a month.

I do it every time I look inside my computer case which is maybe once every 8-12 months or if I notice my CPU or GPU temperatures are running hotter than normal.

Then I use a vacuum cleaner to blow out all the dust inside and compressed air to clean out the GPU and CPU Cooler heat sinks and fans.

Once a year I disassemble my Computer case and clean out all the dust filters and fans which has, at times, an oily gunk film that isn't removed by air pressure.

but I clean the outside in the rear of the computer case more often to remove excess dust build up.

[ThunderBeaver]

Once a month is a good all around cleaning standard.

If you have indoor pets (anything that sheds) and/or smoke indoors I would recommend once every 2 weeks.

The tar buildup from tobacco smoke can create a thick nasty cement type consistency when combined with dust and the heat generated by your PC and will severely impact thermal dissipation (cooling).

Truthfully if you want your home electronics to last a long time don't smoke around them. Its actually worse than dust buildup alone.  

One of my IT jobs was maintaining and repairing slot machines in a few local casinos. All slots for the past 20 years have gone from mechanical to computerized with digital screens with a handful using actual spinning wheels behind a glass.

One thing I learned the primary 2 things that destroyed our internal components was tobacco tar buildup and old sugary drink spills,    

[elstaci]

In my case is  from cooking (frying) that produces at times blue greasy smoke enough to set off my fire alarm sensors in my apartment.

That was what ruined my old CPU Cooler. The Heat sink fins was covered in a oily film that was difficult to clean out.

[ThunderBeaver]

Now elstaci its well known that AMD CPU's run hotter than Intel CPU's but that's no excuse to fry chicken and game at the same time.

[johnnyenglish]

I do it very frequently. Sometimes like twice a week, but more steadly like four times a month.

It helps to be a friendly case, easy to open and having fewer stuff.

An eletric air duster is key to do quick cleans in less time, thus maintining the pc dust free for long before it gets hard to scrub out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahqtSTkDwKo

[ThunderBeaver]

Those AC powered vacuum/blower combos are awesome. Got 3 from my last IT job 2 still in their boxes unopened.

They always sent us one apiece about every 4 months due to how much we used them they only lasted 4 to 6 months before their motors gave out.