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Cleaning Dust Off PCB's

B

burningrave101

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Sep 9, 2003
Messages
11,825
How do you clean the dust off your motherboard, video card, audio card, ect. ??

I know most people just use a can of compressed air but i'm looking for something like static free wet wipes or somethin so that you can wipe them down and make them look like new. I get alot of dust down here in the basement and its hard to keep components clean.

Any suggestions?
 
Compressed air is the absolute best way, and will make them look new. You might want to consider some sort of material in front of your fans to keep some of the dust out.
 
n64man120 said:
welll... i use a vaccume cleaner with a small fuzzy bristle attachment lol.
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hehe that's what I do :p. I know compressed air is better, but I don't have any, so the vacuum cleaner it is!
 
Unless you have one of those commercial vacuums that wont cause a static discharge your definitely risking damage to your sensitive components with a normal vacuum cleaner. Vacuums create alot of static electricity.

I'm looking for SAFE suggestions to use on electrostatic sensitive hardware lol.
 
Alcohol bath--it wouldn't be too expensive. Just buy a couple of bottles of rubbing alcohol, or maybe even vodka. You could use a paint tray as a vessel.
 
burningrave101 said:
Unless you have one of those commercial vacuums that wont cause a static discharge your definitely risking damage to your sensitive components with a normal vacuum cleaner. Vacuums create alot of static electricity.

I'm looking for SAFE suggestions to use on electrostatic sensitive hardware lol.
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Well theres no metal touching it, think the inch long bristles can conduct electricity? My gut feeeling is there some sort of plastic or along those lines.
 
I'll probably just buy a couple cans of compressed air and see how good that does. I'm getting ready to built a new machine here in another month or so and i'm going to keep my current video card, audio card, and 56k modem and all three have started to get a little dust on them in their few months of operation.

I'm sorry, i'm just a neat freak and like everything clean lol.
 
n64man120 said:
Well theres no metal touching it, think the inch long bristles can conduct electricity? My gut feeeling is there some sort of plastic or along those lines.
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The point is that the bristles aren't conductive. The friction caused by vacuuming can build up a charge in a similar way to a capacitor. When the circuit is closed by a conductive bit on a circuit board, it discharges several thousands of volts (at micro-/nanoamperes of current, mind you) into said component..
 
n64man120 said:
welll... i use a vaccume cleaner with a small fuzzy bristle attachment lol.
Click to expand...

This is not a good idea. Vacuum cleaners are known to give off static electricity.

I'd seriously try a can of compressed air. Those things are more powerful than you'd think, it doesn't just blow the dust away, it really blasts it off.
 
I just wipe mine of with a good 'ol wet dust rag. Water really doesn't damage those components in the small amounts you're likely to use just wiping them off, and it dries fast enough and is cheaper than alcohol - that means you have more money for the kind of alcohol you can drink. :D

I mean, if you want to play it super-safe, go for the rubbing alcohol bath and all that, but I think you'll find the wet dust rag works just as well.

I've even taken apart HSF units, wet them down thoroughly under the faucet, let them dry overnight (or if you're impatient, "cook" them in the oven on low for an hour or so) and they worked like a charm. In fact, one of them is STILL working like a charm, and it's 5 years old. The same logic can be applied to expansion cards with a very low risk of damaging them.
 
I wouldn't say 'low' exactly. If water gets into the housing of transformers, inductors, or chokes, it's going to take a lot longer for that to evaporate, not to mention there are a lot of conductive surfaces in these components. Same goes for connectors, for the most part.
 
Use a regular air compressor will 100PSI of force behind it. That will clean it out really nice. Just don't forget to use a water trap.

:rolleyes:
 
For me the perfect way is to blow off the loose dust with compressed air, then brush the PCB with a fine, thick paintbrush, like the ones used to apply wood enamel of sorts. Works perfectly and makes the PCB look brand new.
 
ajm786 said:
For me the perfect way is to blow off the loose dust with compressed air, then brush the PCB with a fine, thick paintbrush, like the ones used to apply wood enamel of sorts. Works perfectly and makes the PCB look brand new.
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Personally, I find that nothing puts that like-new shine back into my mobo's PCB like good high quality steel wool.
You don't even need to blow the rig out before hand, because the steel wool takes off all the harmful dust collecting top layer of the PCB, leaving the dust-resistant traces exposed. Plus it helps cool those hot data lines.

Give it a try and let me know how it turns out...


PS...Take pictures.
 
I usually start off by blowing everything off with compressed air. If there is a lot of stubborn dust, then it's time for alcohol, Q-tips and paper towels. This has been working fine for me for over 6 years.
 
S1nF1xx said:
Personally, I find that nothing puts that like-new shine back into my mobo's PCB like good high quality steel wool.
You don't even need to blow the rig out before hand, because the steel wool takes off all the harmful dust collecting top layer of the PCB, leaving the dust-resistant traces exposed. Plus it helps cool those hot data lines.

Give it a try and let me know how it turns out...


PS...Take pictures.
Click to expand...

Funny.

Some people come to these boards to help people with their problems and share good advice. This isn't the place for thread-crapping.

burningrave101, you can always use those static-free wipes, but you won't be able to get to all the components on the board. There's always some dust that tends to get stuck between components. Compressed air is really the best solution.
 
Talonz said:
burningrave101, you can always use those static-free wipes, but you won't be able to get to all the components on the board. There's always some dust that tends to get stuck between components. Compressed air is really the best solution.
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Its the backs of the PCI and AGP cards that i plan to clean the most. The back of my 6800GT and Audigy 2 ZS are starting to get a little dusty and i like them looking new when i install them into my new motherboard.
 
Talonz said:
Funny.

Some people come to these boards to help people with their problems and share good advice. This isn't the place for thread-crapping.
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If anyone thought my advice was accurate, they shouldn't be opening a computer case in the first place. :p

Secondly, I've never seen dust that wouldn't come of with some nice compressed air, other than when people smoke heavily around the comptuer and get that sludge-like dust crap in there.

And after half a dozen people already recommended compressed air, and the thread was still going, I figured some humor was in order. ;)

Lighten up. :cool:
 
RS3RS said:
This is not a good idea. Vacuum cleaners are known to give off static electricity.

I'd seriously try a can of compressed air. Those things are more powerful than you'd think, it doesn't just blow the dust away, it really blasts it off.
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Yeah and for more power run some hot water over the air can. Just don't do it for too long or the can will explode. I usually do this when the can is getting low and is losing pressure. I am not responsible for anything that happens though so do it at you own risk.
 
S1nF1xx said:
If anyone thought my advice was accurate, they shouldn't be opening a computer case in the first place. :p
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...one point to consider is that there really are nO0bs on these pages that really, honestly, won't know you are kidding. Food for thought......:)

Cans of compressed air have always worked great for me. I buy mine in a 4-Pack at Costco and get them for about $4.00 a can. Never had an issue....

Regards - B.B.S.
 
Im gonna use some canned air, but you know if you tip the bottle or use it upside down (Not that I do that) then that ice shit comes out. is that going to hurt anything? :confused:
 
BlindedByScience said:
...one point to consider is that there really are nO0bs on these pages that really, honestly, won't know you are kidding. Food for thought......:)
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OMG, I just bursted out laughing at the thought of some poor kid on his hands an knees scraping off the PCB on his mobo with a steel wool pad hoping it will speed up his computer.

Oh, that's hilarious.

Maybe I'll put a disclaimer in my humorous posts before a mod changes my status from "Gawd" to "Don't follow my advice" or something. :p
 
The only downside to the canned air is that you spend 10 seconds using it and waste the rest of the can spraying your friends.
 
CarterMarkham said:
Im gonna use some canned air, but you know if you tip the bottle or use it upside down (Not that I do that) then that ice shit comes out. is that going to hurt anything? :confused:
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"Ice Sh!t" more or less = water. Not good to hose the inside of the PC with. A little won't hurt, but try to avoid it as much as possible.

....also, trying to hit 20K RPM with the fans should probably be avoided, too....:D

Regards - B.B.S.
 
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