Today on the Internet you can find many articles about the need to regularly clean your computer from dust. But after that, users often turn to PC repair offices. Let's think about whether it is necessary to clean a personal computer from dust and how to do it safely.
Why you need to clean your computer from dust
Interestingly, there are many user opinions on this topic, and they are often strange and contradictory. For example, someone thinks that dust is a conductor, so if it accumulates on a video card or other PC components, soon you should expect glitches, "braking" of the computer, short circuits on the board. Such users would like to remind the physics course of junior high school.
But let's not talk about sad things. So why do you need to regularly clean your computer from dust? The fact is that since house dust accumulates wherever it can enter, it will cover all surfaces inside the PC. A layer of dust will play the role of a kind of fur coat for components, because between the small hairs, the debris that make up the dust, there are many air bubbles, the thermal conductivity of which is low. Consequently, the cooling of each chip, capacitor, and other components that are soldered to the motherboard, video card, and other components will deteriorate significantly. Well, if for a long time electronic components overheat, the chance of disruption of their performance increases, up to a complete failure.
It should also be remembered that if an insect gets on the board, a short circuit is possible, as a result of which the operation of the PC is also disrupted.
How to clean a computer from dust for an ordinary user
If you do not understand the structure of a computer, you should not thoroughly disassemble it. To prevent overheating caused by dust, it is sufficient to do the following:
- Disconnect your computer from the network. Also, you need to unplug the cables from the outlet that go to the monitor, printer, other devices that are somehow connected to your PC (this can be a scanner, MFP …).
if you are not sure that afterwards, correctly reconnect any cables (power, connecting devices for data transmission, etc.), take a detailed photo of everything before disconnecting.
- Remove the side cover from the system unit. With a very soft brush (without pressing anywhere!), Sweep the dust down to the bottom of the system unit. Vacuum it up from the bottom. If you have a hairdryer that can be used to blow out cold air, you can use it instead of a brush.
Pay special attention to all coolers (fans). Clean them especially thoroughly, but do not press on the blades with any hard objects, twist them, or remove the coolers from the boards.
- Close the lid of the PC. Plug the wires back in. Turn on your computer and check that it is working normally.
To clean the computer from dust, do not use damp rags, napkins or sponges, even if they are not moistened with water, but with a special liquid for cleaning office equipment!
It is worth cleaning your computer from dust at least once a year. If dust builds up very quickly in your home, this period can be shortened by two or three times.
