How To Clean Your Video Card

Some of these video cards see a lot of pr0n and other nasty things, so a good cleaning is a good idea. :D
 
my new gtx670 actually will spin the fans in reverse when booting up and it blows out the dust on its own. so far.. it seems to work well.

i just have to reboot once in a while..LOL
 
I know this is an april fools joke, however I *HAVE* washed dirty components, including video cards, let them dry for a few days, and continue using them no problem.

Am I just that good? Just that lucky? I don't know. I can say it works.

Not an April fools joke. If you don't know how electricity works, I wouldn't recommend doing this... I would recommend it at all actually.
 
You all laugh, but I've seen people do worse.... told a guy his computer was full of virus and that he should get that cleaned...
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he at least used antibiotic soap...

Sigh..
 
Same here. This is actually pretty common when restoring old electronics. There's no other way to get all that caked on dirt off.
 
Steve said:
Long time [H] reader Matt Cary...
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Matt you lightweight... :p... when I want to clean my video card, I go down to my local self-serve car wash and use one those high pressure hoses. The water really gets the dust out of the heat sink fins. :D
 
You could use water and soap, ultrasonic cleaning and get good results. You just need to make sure you displace and/or evaporate the water before even thinking of plugging it back in. I went to a cellphone repair class that showed us how to do exactly that. The hard part is making sure the water gets out. The instructors told us to leave the electronics under a heating bulb to evaporate the water.
 
CompMage said:
You all laugh, but I've seen people do worse.... told a guy his computer was full of virus and that he should get that cleaned...
.
.
.
.
he at least used antibiotic soap...

Sigh..
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Fail^2...anti-bacterial soaps don't kill biological viruses either.
 
sonsonate said:
You could use water and soap, ultrasonic cleaning and get good results. You just need to make sure you displace and/or evaporate the water before even thinking of plugging it back in. I went to a cellphone repair class that showed us how to do exactly that. The hard part is making sure the water gets out. The instructors told us to leave the electronics under a heating bulb to evaporate the water.
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Well, if you felt the need to tempt fate that way a bag of dessicant is about $5 from a craft store (they use it to dry flowers) ... putting a wet cell phone or other damp electronics in it for a couple days will definitely soak the moisture out ... rice is supposed to work well also I have heard ;)
 
Won't water warp the wood that Nvidia cards are made of? I thought those were Dry Clean only.
 
kbrickley said:
rice is supposed to work well also I have heard ;)
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That is actually quite true. I can't say for sure about how it stacks up next to a bag of dessicant, but rice is great for absorbing moisture. That is why a lot of people put rice in salt shakers, nothing harmful to you and keeps the salt from getting all cloggy when there is a bit of damp in the air.
 
not much of an april fool

I get components in the sink all the time, hot soap and water, just make sure to dry them really well
 
I use my shop vac on reverse as a leaf blower to clean my computer, fins are bent on the heatsinks and actually cool better thanks to staggered fins.
 
Ripperjack said:
Matt you lightweight... :p... when I want to clean my video card, I go down to my local self-serve car wash and use one those high pressure hoses. The water really gets the dust out of the heat sink fins. :D
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The pressurized water is also really great for cleaning those always-dusty, always-messy PSU vents. Wash the PSU thoroughly with the jetting spray--have your friend hold the PSU away from his body as you scour it with your high-pressure hose--let the high-pressure water work to clean your PSU so you don't have to. Purely by accident on one occasion, I discovered that soapy water in a jetting stream cleans in between the vent louvers of your PSU better than anything else! A few more quarters will get you a white, soapy 50-psi jet of detergent water that'll clean anything! (Be sure and leave all of the PSU circuit boards inside the PSU as you clean--these components need some clean lovin', too.)

Once you are satisfied that the car-wash jets of both clean & soapy water have cleaned your PSU to a pristine condition inside and out, you want to leave the car wash and go home because we are about to initiate step 2, the final step, that makes this kind of specialized PSU cleaning what it is today.

Fold your sopping wet but spankin' clean PSU in a thick towel to avoid dripping residual water all over the place, and then carefully set the PSU down on a solid floor surface on top of the towel (in order to continue absorbing the few water droplets that continue to drip from inside your PSU.) Next, grab your 220v or your 115v modular plug for your PSU (depending on where you live, of course) and plug the idiot-proof end into the PSU and the other end into the closest wall socket. !!!!IMPORTANT!!!! IF YOUR PSU HAS A POWER SWITCH, MAKE SURE IT IS TURNED OFF BEFORE PLUGGING THE POWER CORD INTO THE WALL! IF YOUR PSU HAS NO MANUAL SWITCH THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO.

Last step to a new PSU with increased efficiency is to TURN ON THE POWER SWITCH using a wooden screwdriver with a thick, rubber handle. Crackling, popping and some arcing inside the PSU is normal as the transthermal lucids appropriate efficiencies from the Einsteinium graugometers as the PSU turbines spin up internally to create the magnetic field which is what creates the electricity the rest of the PSU RUNS ON AND SENDS OUT TO THE COMPUTER (you should not yet have your computer connected to your PSUconnected to it, however.) After maybe five or six seconds of this loud, smoky, fume-laden activity, you will hear a loud BANG! from your PSU and then all the lights in your home will go dark as circuits short and close down. Having passed every one of the CLEAN PSU BY DESIGN TESTs, your PSU is now silent and your house is dark and smoky.

!!!!!CONGRATULATIONS!!!! YOUR CLEAN PSU HAS PASSED WITH FLYING COLORS AND ACHIEVED 99% EFFICIENCY--a NEW RECORD!
 
I've washed several old motherboards and cases in the shower. Leave them in the warm for 2-3 days to dry and they work fine.
 
every time i use water it just turns all the dust into paste that is harder to remove.
 
RooK said:
I know this is an april fools joke, however I *HAVE* washed dirty components, including video cards, let them dry for a few days, and continue using them no problem.
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Or, after washing, you could rinse them with industrial alcohol, then let that evaporate and be done in an hour or two.
 
Works on power supplies as well. Just throw them under a sink a bit and its good to go :D

zqHagMi.jpg
 
....so much ruined decent hardware in this thread.

I'll be over there. In the corner. Crying.
 
MrGoodbar said:
I use my shop vac on reverse as a leaf blower to clean my computer, fins are bent on the heatsinks and actually cool better thanks to staggered fins.
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i use a Kirby 2nd gen, sucks/blows/carpet cleaner, blows that shit outta the PC like no tomorrow
 
TheMadHatterXxX said:
No thanks I think I'm ok with a can of compressed air.
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Every 6 months or so I bring my tower to one of those places that change your tires depending on the season - don't know how do you call such places. They all provide compressors free of charge. Everything is clean with minimum effort in less than 5 minutes. VGA card is easy to pull of and clean independently, too.

I love this nice dust cloud during the first blow :D
 
Many manufacturers wash their PCB's after soldering because of the use of water soluble organic flux. They just have to be dried completely before any sort of testing or power up is attempted. On another note, water is not good for fan motors and other such devices. No mater how much you dry them, you could be washing out grease or other lubricants that are necessary for function and lifespan.
 
p.i.m.p said:
i use a Kirby 2nd gen, sucks/blows/carpet cleaner, blows that shit outta the PC like no tomorrow
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nothing wrong with that, though a couple of warnings: (mostly for others who might try it)
  • turn off electricity at the powersupply, that much airflow can trigger an electrostatic discharge, especially when it is dry (central heating in the middle of winter)
  • hold your fan blades still when you dust them (in place with a qtip?), they can spin too fast and be damaged.

-------
even though i do the same thing essentially, i prefer to actually manually wipe my fan blades with a dry cotton ball.
 
Just go to Harbor Freight and buy a 3 gallon air compressor, hose, and an air delivery nozzle.

Unreal how much stuff it can clean safely, plus fill up tires.

I clean my PCs out once a year, they look like new in about a minute....unless you like to play with the fans to get them turning faster that stock till they make cool music that scales with speed. :confused:
 
I personally prefer an air compressor. Yes it does spray a bit of very fine water (can't see it) but because it's so fine it evaporates pretty instantly.

My main PC is terrible for catching dust, I'd have to clean it every day, but I aint got no time for that.

When I redo the power for my home server room it will require me to shut down all my servers, I'll probably take that opportunity to also clean them. Will probably be very nasty and wont surprise me if there are spider webs with bugs and spiders in them.
 
kbrickley said:
Well, if you felt the need to tempt fate that way a bag of dessicant is about $5 from a craft store (they use it to dry flowers) ... putting a wet cell phone or other damp electronics in it for a couple days will definitely soak the moisture out ... rice is supposed to work well also I have heard ;)
Click to expand...

I just use a hair dryer to dry them off after giving them a bath. It works very well and only takes a few minutes. (not even kidding about that)
 
Red Squirrel said:
I personally prefer an air compressor. Yes it does spray a bit of very fine water (can't see it) but because it's so fine it evaporates pretty instantly.

My main PC is terrible for catching dust, I'd have to clean it every day, but I aint got no time for that.

When I redo the power for my home server room it will require me to shut down all my servers, I'll probably take that opportunity to also clean them. Will probably be very nasty and wont surprise me if there are spider webs with bugs and spiders in them.
Click to expand...

I think the washing is more needed when related to liquid/gunk type cleaning, such as the spilled geekbeer or mountain dew.
 
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