Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[MetalSlimeHunt]

So I need to clean my computer (Toshiba Satellite) of dust before I start getting first-degree burns off my trackpad. I'm not big on the whole hardware subject so I'd like to make sure I'm not missing anything important and vital before trying this. I'm not considering a service because the ones I've seen are asking about $100 dollars for a full once-over and don't offer just dust removal. I've heard bad things about compressed air, especially on my model. So that leaves me with opening this thing up and trying not to kill it.

What I know:
-Don't get your filthy human oils all over everything.
-Ground computer and self to prevent micoshocking components.
-Double-extra-plus don't touch the CPU directly.
-Everything is held together with pins and ribbon connectors.
-The fan is the single least accessible part of the computer, thanks Toshiba.
-If I pry out the keyboard frame it will probably be ruined.

What I don't know:
-What anything looks like.
-If I have to replace any thermal gel I disturb.
-How much of this I can safely skip once I can at least see the fan to pull dust out.
-How well I need to keep track of specific screws.
-What needs to be cleaned besides the fan and the heatsink.
-How to clean a heatsink.
-How to remove hard dust without losing my mind.
-How low the threshold for bricking this thing is.
-Anything not mentioned.

[Orange Wizard]

A basic clean-out would be fairly simple: just open it up and spray compressed air around to drive away the dust bunnies.

Replacing thermal paste on the processor is more critical in terms of long-term upkeep, but that's tricky to do without buggering something.

If your computer is old enough to still use ribbon connectors instead of SATA, then you're probably better off getting a new one rather than trying to clean it.

[Gunner-Chan]

Compressed air can mostly be bad if the parts are particularly sensitive and you blast the everloving shit out of them, poi. Otherwise it should be mostly safe.

Take an exploratory approach first, find out how to safely open it up and take a quick look inside, make a note of the most dirty portions and try to find the way air flows. Cleaning out the fan itself if it's started to get caked up is also very important but if you spray it make sure to prevent it from spinning with the air, that can damage it.

The best thing you can do to start though is look up if anyone has a guide on cleaning this model though, and then follow it step by step. Poi

[wierd]

Computers are far more durable than most people think.  Just dont go manhandling edge connectors and the like.

Compressed air duster, and a dry stencil brush (or better, non-used makeup brush) can clean the dust bunnies and "cling-ons" off fan blades and air intake/outlet grillwork. (Espeically problematical if you own pets like dogs. Their fur oils accumulate in the household dust, making it... "gooey")

Assuming your house is pet-free, and reasonably clean most of the time, you will just have the "fluffy" dustbunny type contaminants.  Compresesed air and a good brush will deal with those just fine.

You dont need to replace thermal compound unless you remove the heatsink from the CPU.  If you arent replacing the CPU, replacing the heatsink, or if your system is not overheating due to compound breakdown, there is no reason to remove the heatsink from the CPU. Leave it attached, and just hold the fan blades still, and shoot the heatsink's grillwork with the compressed air duster, then gently brush the cling ons off the fan blades with the brush.

[Thief^]

The one thing that makes a computer impossible to clean is cigarette smoke. Good god that makes for some sticky dust. If you (or your family) smoke near the computer, once it starts overheating it'll be easier to replace it than clean it. Seriously.

[i2amroy]

Compressed air can mostly be bad if the parts are particularly sensitive and you blast the everloving shit out of them, poi. Otherwise it should be mostly safe.

Important note: Always hold a compressed air can vertically upright if you are using a can (as opposed to an air compressor). Holding one upside down can result in spraying freezing liquid air onto your computer, which is not very good for it.

Honestly though on laptops there's only so much you can air out, and it highly depends on the exact make and model. Some (like the unibody macbooks) you can basically just take the whole backplate off and dust everything out, then put the whole backplate back on. Others are pretty much a sealed container, and involve taking lots of little screws out to even have a hope of dusting them out.

Should you run into some other problems here's another piece of advice I can give. Download a fan controller program (there are usually at least one that works for your computer somewhere online), open it up and set your fans to maximum. Let it run at max fan power for 5 minutes or so, then put the fans back to normal. That can help clear out any last remaining dust in your fans, at least. Also you might want to look into a fan-base, I know that I use one (along with several of my friends) and they are definitely worth the price (doubly so for the fact that you can actually put your laptop on your lap).

[Eldin00]

Compressed air can mostly be bad if the parts are particularly sensitive and you blast the everloving shit out of them, poi. Otherwise it should be mostly safe.

Important note: Always hold a compressed air can vertically upright if you are using a can (as opposed to an air compressor). Holding one upside down can result in spraying freezing liquid air onto your computer, which is not very good for it.

Honestly though on laptops there's only so much you can air out, and it highly depends on the exact make and model. Some (like the unibody macbooks) you can basically just take the whole backplate off and dust everything out, then put the whole backplate back on. Others are pretty much a sealed container, and involve taking lots of little screws out to even have a hope of dusting them out.

Should you run into some other problems here's another piece of advice I can give. Download a fan controller program (there are usually at least one that works for your computer somewhere online), open it up and set your fans to maximum. Let it run at max fan power for 5 minutes or so, then put the fans back to normal. That can help clear out any last remaining dust in your fans, at least. Also you might want to look into a fan-base, I know that I use one (along with several of my friends) and they are definitely worth the price (doubly so for the fact that you can actually put your laptop on your lap).

Since you mention an air compressor, let me add, don't use an air compressor unless you absolutely know what you're doing. Most compressors can, with the right (wrong?) blower attachments, cause serious permanent damage to computer components. Canned air doesn't produce nearly as much airflow, and as such is generally safe as long as you don't spin fans or hold it with the top low enough (relative to the bottom of the can) that you're getting liquid out of it instead of gas. I find that short bursts with a can give better results than a sustained blast of air.

[wierd]

That's what the regulator on the air compressor is for.

Dont use more than 10PSI through the regulator when blowing out PCs. You WILL blow surface mounted chips and components off if you do use more than this.

DONT hold the blower at point blank range-- DO hold the blower a good 2 feet (2/3 of a meter) away from the computer when doing the blowing.

[Adragis]

And don't do whar I did with my Satellite and try and clean it by unscrewing the bottom and using a vacuum cleaner. It worked, but the fan made this horrible noise from after tha.

[Eldin00]

That's what the regulator on the air compressor is for.

Dont use more than 10PSI through the regulator when blowing out PCs. You WILL blow surface mounted chips and components off if you do use more than this.

DONT hold the blower at point blank range-- DO hold the blower a good 2 feet (2/3 of a meter) away from the computer when doing the blowing.

Yeah, if you DO know what you're doing, an air compressor can be quite effective for cleaning the dust out of a computer. But I wouldn't recommend it for someone who has already indicated they don't know how to clean a computer properly.