dust is not your friend!

D

DanSan

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 11, 2005
Messages
350
So i work at geek squad at my local best buy and this guy comes in and tells me his computer which is custom built in a busted up Thermaltake Xaser case which he obviously did not have any involvement in putting it together. He was complaining that is was overheating and then when i actually took a look at it, this is what i saw: Sorry for the bad quality, took em from my camera phone.

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hmm.. wonder what was causing the overheating. Definitely not the 30 pounds of dust in the cpu fan and the inability of ALL the case fans not spinning as well being clogged with dust.
 
At least he wasn't a smoker. Cigarette smoke leaves a sticky residue that glues dust to every surface inside the computer, and it's impossible to get off completely without some solvents like isopropyl alcohol. Plus it stinks horribly and turns everything black, especially when combined with burned dust.

Still, that's pretty bad for a CPU fan. He must have shag carpet or something. ;)
 
[Tripod]MajorPayne;1030652192 said:
At least he wasn't a smoker. Cigarette smoke leaves a sticky residue that glues dust to every surface inside the computer, and it's impossible to get off completely without some solvents like isopropyl alcohol. Plus it stinks horribly and turns everything black, especially when combined with burned dust.

Still, that's pretty bad for a CPU fan. He must have shag carpet or something. ;)
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arg, thats the worst.

I had one machine come in that had so much dust the CPU fan could not even turn. It was a dell with one of those covers to route air flow to the PSU and it turned out that the whole cover was just clogged with dust (it was a handful of sticky stinky smokers dust).

It actually fried the CPU as it overheated and did not have a safety shutdown or something. Smelled like crap as well :mad:
 
Hopefully you didn't bother showing him the aisle where the air duster cans are located..... that way, he continues to come back every year to get the servicing done again and again and again!! ;)
 
I do repair work beside my system building ventures... And I refuse to repair any people's computers if they smoke (the people, not the computers... Actually, both) If they insist, I charge extra. That's stuff actually angers me...You need to soak the HSF in about 500ml of 99.1% ISO alcohol, overnight to cut through that tarry bullshit. Even then, the HSF is all stained, the fan generally needs a new motor from being burnt out and *AGH*.

On the side, OP... I'm thinking of working for geeksquad this summer (I sell comps to college kids, who arn't there for ~5 months of the year :p) was it tough to get in? (I assume not).
 
At least he wasn't a smoker.
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Smoker + dog owner = vomit-inducing computers. Every fan is clogged up with hair & dust, glued solid with the tar from the cigarettes & the oil from the dog's hair. I've actually had to dismantle the cooler on a graphics card & wash it before - no matter how well I washed it the machine still reeked like a damp dog for months though.

Though the worst one I ever saw was one from a wood-working shop. The bottom 6" of the case was just sawdust. It came up above the AGP slot.
 
Only dogs that shed :p

Mine doesn't... he's a badass...

I cleaned out my computer... I was amazed how much dust I did have in there... it almost looked new when I was done :p
 
I HATE smokers rigs - working on them.

DanSan I hope you're not one of the GS guys in DFW. I just had to go back over a really crappy job where the GS tech was supposed to eliminate all spyware in someones PC and they only got about 75% of it, as well as missing a rootkit and two keyloggers completely (her son had an admin account and P2P software galore). Not to mention they failed to delete the previous system restores after leaving the rootkit and spyware on the system and charging this gal much $$. This would be the 4th time I have had to go back over GS jobs in the last year. I hope you're one of the better ones. :)
 
Yup, you should always check in your case from time to time.
Dust is a nice warm blanket for all components in your PC. It's nasty stuff and a real pain in the ass to clean out.
 
V99 said:
Yup, you should always check in your case from time to time.
Dust is a nice warm blanket for all components in your PC. It's nasty stuff and a real pain in the ass to clean out.
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...talk about having a warm blanket of dust in the summer...wow...:D
 
zone_86 said:
I HATE smokers rigs - working on them.

DanSan I hope you're not one of the GS guys in DFW. I just had to go back over a really crappy job where the GS tech was supposed to eliminate all spyware in someones PC and they only got about 75% of it, as well as missing a rootkit and two keyloggers completely (her son had an admin account and P2P software galore). Not to mention they failed to delete the previous system restores after leaving the rootkit and spyware on the system and charging this gal much $$. This would be the 4th time I have had to go back over GS jobs in the last year. I hope you're one of the better ones. :)
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Haha, yes I have heard the nightmares but ill let you know im one of the good ones. I do have a guy that works with me that is a useless craphead. We have this program made by Webroot that scans computers and show us what virus and spyware problems they have. If he cant clean the computer, he edits the html file the scan makes and takes out the bad stuff off the scan so it shows up clean when its not. Hes been suspended like 3 times but they screw up everytime they go to fire him.

Also for Arcygenical, I turn smokers away as well. I was informed by my manager I'm allowed to do that. After working there almost 2 years i've turned down id say around 30 smokers computers. Ive gotten cursed at sooo badly, soo many times
 
haha wow, that dust is soo bad. Until this thread, i never knew that cigarette smoke could get into the case and "plant itself" there. I wished i worked for GS, ive applied twice now and nothing :( lol. tech work is actually pretty fun, i cleaned a friends laptop that had like 500+ infected files haha, some people are clueless with computers :D
 
DJS2 said:
Until this thread, i never knew that cigarette smoke could get into the case and "plant itself" there.
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Back when it was legal to smoke in offices, you could tell the smokers from the non-smokers from their keyboards. The smokers' keyboards had sticky brown gunk on the keys; the non-smokers' were clean.

That photo above makes me think he used the computer to increase the air flow out of his clothes drier:D
 
What would you guys suggest to clean up inside a computer?

Normally I airdust and use isopropyl alcohol with either a cloth or a q-tip to clean dust that won't come off.
 
p3ngu!n said:
What would you guys suggest to clean up inside a computer?

Normally I airdust and use isopropyl alcohol with either a cloth or a q-tip to clean dust that won't come off.
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I use an air compressor and then alcohol on tough stuff.
Nice name, btw :D
 
DanSan said:
Also for Arcygenical, I turn smokers away as well. I was informed by my manager I'm allowed to do that. After working there almost 2 years i've turned down id say around 30 smokers computers. Ive gotten cursed at sooo badly, soo many times
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I just tell them, "You smoke, I charge extra"

They scream and rant etc. So... I show them.

Take off the side of the case, and SHOW them the HSF, then have them guess what it's doing to their lungs XD.

In any case. My girlfriend's laptop was overheating and shutting down. So I opened it up and looked in the HSF. My god, I wish I had a picture. ALL the fins were covered in tar. There was no space between the fins... I swear to god, it was like someone used her HSF as a jello mold. She doesn't even smoke
 
I'm going to be going through 2 computers at a LAN I'm at right now...

One kid idles at 80*C ... I'm pretty sure his heatsink isn't set right... and SOMEHOW the computer has been running for a year like this...

the other computer idles at 75*C (Prescott)

Either way we're gonna take them apart, clean all the dust out, new thermal paste... then check it out :p I have a feeling these kids have never taken their computers apart
 
75 and 80C are absolutely ridiculous, especially for an idle. If they have Intel processors, I'm sure they have been throttling themselves since Day 1 to avoid complete meltdown. I'd be willing to bet both heatsinks are set incorrectly, or the monitoring software is b0rked.

Wow...my prescott is overclocked and idles at 42C on a hot day. I'm surprised both of those chips haven't had a thermal-related failure yet.
 
I smoke outside to avoid those problems. I don't mind it, esp since it saves me alot of sickning grief when I open up my PCs.
 
My little brother was runnning his computer without the side panel for about 3 months. It sits on the ground, and he uses it as a footrest. I just moved it into a new case, and before I did, I dusted it out. I should have gotten pics; I had to use a leaf blower to get all the dust out. There was dust between all of the fins on the hsf (its the AMD default one), and you couldn't even see the fins through the fan because it had a blanket of dust.
 
I smoke. I used to only smoke outdoors, but one very cold winter made me lazy.

The only difference in dust I noticed was that it is a distinctly darker dust, used to be a light gray, now it's a darker grey with a slightly brown tinge. It is in no way "tarry." You guys must live in very humid climates.
And cigarette smoke won't burn out a fan motor. That's a silly thought.


I would say a great indicator for dust collection is where the PC is located during operation.
 
I live in south Georgia, where the humidity during the summer rarely, if ever, dips below 80%. Temps are over 100F every day, too. As a result, any cigarette smoke that gets inside a computer does get tar-like, and it sticks. Then dust sticks. It's just bad. If rooms are well-ventilated, it's noticeably less of a problem...
 
Codegen said:
Even worse: Pot smoker's computer.
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This guy came in the other day to get his iPod fixed. I almost got a contact high from him. I took his receipt and asked a friend to join me in the back, I swear, he must have use his receipt to smoke the pot. lol. It wreaked soooooooo much. The iPod was just as worse, i was amazed how badly that smell can get into things!
 
I think we charged him $100. $70 for a diag just to look at it, and then $30 bucks for a case cleaning. lol
 
Axion22 said:
I smoke. I used to only smoke outdoors, but one very cold winter made me lazy.

The only difference in dust I noticed was that it is a distinctly darker dust, used to be a light gray, now it's a darker grey with a slightly brown tinge. It is in no way "tarry." You guys must live in very humid climates.
And cigarette smoke won't burn out a fan motor. That's a silly thought.


I would say a great indicator for dust collection is where the PC is located during operation.
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If you quit, after more than a year then work on a smokers PC you'll be very annoyed and grossed out by it. Even when someone ships a used part to you (if you don't smoke) it stinks. Non smokers usually don't even consider having keyboards or mice shipped because of the discoloration and the smoke film that they (smokers) don't think are on the item (but it is). That darker dust that you think isn't "tarry" actually is if you have ever had to clean any of it off with q-tips and alcohol then you know. FWIW when I do clean out a smokers PC, especially one that's very badly 'tarred' I wear shop goggles and a basic paper respirator when I use compressed air in the shop/garage to blow it out. I also go over the electronics with pledge wipes and clean the case with a simple green and water mix. For the extra work I charge $40.00 additional above a non-smokers PC.
 
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