cleaning inside of computer

[brian5258]

i just aquired an old computer that's pretty dirty inside. the fan on the heatsink on the cpu has a thick layer if crap covering 90% of the heatsink from the fan. would it be safe to use compressed air or would that risk blowing too much dirt into other parts of the computer? i've never messed with cpu's before so excuse me if this sounds dumb but is it safe to take the screws out and just take the fan off the heatsink to clean it without having to use thermal compound to put it back on?

[sweeper2]

you should be able to use compressed air....just be carefull it's not to powerfull to blow capacitors off the board etc...lol...but yeah, you can unscrew the fan on the HS without taking off the HS, so you won't have to put on thermal compound. Just make sure you blow evrything out of the pc after cleaning off the HSF....

[crossedup]

Just as a caution, when you are blowing it out hold the fan with your finger or a pencil between the rotors. You dont want to spin them faster than they are supposed to go.

I used to think it was kicks and giggles to blow them real fast and hear the high whine but i burned a couple out that way. Especially the little one like the one that is probably on the heatsink you are talking about.

[Trophy1]

My biggest problem is smoking at my computer. Every three months or less I have to clean in the inside and I mean CLEAN. If you don't clean every couple of months the dust becomes GOOK. Sticky smoke film is ugly to clean.

[bombledmonk]

your computer???? Maybe you should try cleaning your lungs...

[Gt3guy5137]

A Nice Can of Compressed air, I've even heard of people using a Vacuum Which does the trick also just make sure ya don't bump or scratch your motherboard or parts that are sensitive.