I would be worried about the static electricity that might go along for the ride.  (I suspect that the
risk is relatively small to a mb installed and grounded inside a case.)  Compressed air from a can should
be much safer, albeit more expensive.  Personally, I would prefer just to blow the dust off rather than
subject the pc to risk.  After all, for most computers the dust is not going to be that big of a problem.
A good lungs' puff gets rid of most of it.   (The CPU is the part most prone to overheating, and it has a
heat-sink and fan on it, so dust is not a problem;  the video card and chipset may be hurt a little by
dust, I suppose.)

Has anybody had a computer that overheated and was cured simply by giving it a good cleaning??

Dean Kukral


----- Original Message -----
From: Dale Mentzer
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 6:22 PM


Hi listers,

I recycle a lot of old PC stuff and cleaning is a part of almost every box I acquire. I have a small
canister style vacuum and use it with the hose attached to the exhaust fitting and the crevice tool on
the other end of the hose. I also find a 3" or 4" new clean paintbrush to be ideal for fans and
heatsinks. The vacuum is a lot cheaper than the canned air. If it is not too obvious to say this, you
should do this kind of work outdoors.

Regards,
Dale Mentzer

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