Keeping Dust Out of a Case and Fake Compressed Air

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Navaros

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First I want to know why all the stores near me label a can as "Compressed Air" when in actuality it is not air.

Specifically, they sell canisters that contain extremely flammable "1,1,1,2 Tetrafluororethane, Petroleum Hydrocarbon".

Question 1: Why do they call this "compressed air"?

Question 2: Is this stuff safe for use on hardware?

After using this canister for a few minutes and then coming back to it half an hour later, I noticed it got very cold and started to leak some water-like liquid from around the bottom.

Question 3: Why is it leaking?

I sprayed a ton of this into the heatsink fan of a Geforce FX 5800 that I am RMAing today. I noticed that it blasted a lot of the dust out of it but there is still a whole crapload of dust piled up on the individual fins of the heatsink fan, and repeated sprayings have no effect whatsoever upon this dust.

Question 4: Why can't I spray that dust off?

Question 5: Is there any way to get all that dust off?

Question 6: Are there any places that sell "compressed air" that is actually just compressed air and nothing else?

Question 7: Is pure compressed air safe to use on computer hardware?

Question 8: Would a portable air compressor be safe to use on computer hardware?

Secondly, I want to know if there is any sureproof way to keep dust out of my case. I don't want to use watercooling.

Question 9: Aside from watercooling, what is the most surefire way to keep almost all dust out of my computer case?


I'd greatly appreciate answers to all 9 of these questions. :)
 
1: simplicity
2: not realy, anything compressed, when decompressed, it condenses
3: condensation from the can, the can got cold, and attracted moisture, much like a cup
4: most likely got damp
5: scrape it off with something
6: if you look around, closest thing u might find is compressed co2
7: #2
8: should be, then again #2
9: filters

wow that was like a test, hope this answeres ur thoughts ^_^
 
Thanks for the answers!

Good thing I'm RMAing that card and didn't use that on any important hardware.

Question 10: So then what does one do to remove dust from his computer, since compressed air and fake compressed air are not safe? :amazed:

Question 11: How can I scrape the dust off?

Beause the fins are too small to reach with most things. What I tried doing was busting a Q-Tip head off and using the headless end to scrape some dust off the fins. It works marginally well but it ends up bending the fins out of shape and probably will bust them if I keep doing it more. The Q-Tip rod is too thick to fit between them and scrape without causing structural damage to the fins.
 
ohhh gezz, ok compressed air from an aircompressor is fine, just make sure your not using 90 psi, 20psi provides enough airflow to dislodge dust. You just need to hit it from different angles until it dislodges.

Air compressors can spit water. This happens when the tank temp gets too high(from running too long), and causes the water to stay suspended until it reaches a cool area, like say your hose. So as long as your not spraying continously you should be fine. However if this doesn't give you that warm and fuzzy feeling you can try an desiccant moisure filter(about $5 at harbor frieght) to sop up that little bit of vapor that probably wouldn't do much anyway, but if your tank gets hot its still gonna spit, and those filter can't absorb that much water. You can get a cheap air dryer for the low low price of 500-600 dollors.
 
We get some of that 'compressed air' from John Deere specifically for electronic parts. When you spray it, it gets wet, but drys in seconds and doesnt leave any residue. Its fun stuff.
 
Are there any air compressors that are made specifically for computers?

The air compressors I know about are sold at automotive section of Canadian Tire stores.

I know another guy who uses one of those on his computer but his was a $50 one that they don't carry any more and most of their other air compressors are $150+. I'd prefer not to spend that much, if possible.

Any suggestions on relatively cheap air compressors that would work good on computers?

Is there an alternative to removing dust that does not involve any moisture at all?
 
Navaros said:
Are there any air compressors that are made specifically for computers?

The air compressors I know about are sold at automotive section of Canadian Tire stores.

I know another guy who uses one of those on his computer but his was a $50 one that they don't carry any more and most of their other air compressors are $150+. I'd prefer not to spend that much, if possible.

Any suggestions on relatively cheap air compressors that would work good on computers?

Is there an alternative to removing dust that does not involve any moisture at all?

No, not that I'm aware of.

You can get a small portable air tank that you can fill.... somewhere else. End cost would probably about 40-50 bucks after the tank, blower, and air line. This can usually be found at a discount tool store.

..... sure, but do you mean realistic ways? Vacuum for one, you could burn it off with a blow torch, buy new heatsinks instead of cleaning them. You could always take the heatsink off, then you wouldn't have to worry about moisture.

Maybe you should think about keeping dust out rather then cleaning.
 
Sui said:
Maybe you should think about keeping dust out rather then cleaning.

I'm definitely gonna try that too but I don't understand much about how that would be done.

For example, say I bought this case, then what would the procedure be for stopping those massive fans from intaking dust into my case?

In regards to taking heatsinks off graphics cards, would that void the warranty?
 
Hmmm...My dad uses this spray can labeled "Contact Cleaner" specifically made for cleaning electrical components. He's an electrician/technician so contact cleaners must be built for computers. The stuff is highly flammable though so shouldn't be used with any flames near (duh...) but it evaporates into the air (be careful of the fumes) and leaves no moisture or residue. It'll clean your components great. Tis wut I use for my computer.
 
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