Computer cleaning

[Chris]

What solution/chemical do you guys use to clean the exterior of your computer chassis? I used to use kitchen foam, but can't seem to find it on the supermarket shelves anymore.

[Skillachi]

To clean the exterior, well to clean the plastic see through side i use windex or some other window cleaner, and i normally just use a damp cloth to wipe it off, for inside get compressed air and just spray it till u tired.

[Chris]

Thanks Skillachi. I guess Windex will do the job on the exterior of a regular Dell case huh? I just read the bottle and it includes plastics as one of the materials that it can be used on 8).

[Skillachi]

Yup Windex works on anything thats see-through ;D

[deakie]

warm soapy water and then squeeze out di clat. wipe till clean with the occasional rinse out of claat. does a good job.
monitor screen-----use damp newspaper from, yes you guessed it, warm soapy water, then dry with dry newspaper.
nothing clean glass like a good celluloid paper. ;D
an skilla, windex is fi glass man....fi di windo fi watch when the jubbi's goin by. ;D

im amazed how most ppl dont read the labels on electrical goods. do not use cleaning agents or solvents to clean the euipment. it may look clean the first time but watch how fast it gathers dirt after as the surface of the plastic or paint coating is damaged by these solvents or agents.

WARM SOAPY WATER! :P

an doe let me have fi tek off mi belt :D

[tech_guru]

Normally use a lint free cloth with some alcholol to clen the exterior of a PC. Have a small vacum I normally use to clean the interior components

[Chris]

I might disagree with you on that deakie. Yes it's true that some household chemicals are not to be used on plastics and appliances, but some can. I spot tested Windex on part of a monitor and it worked well. Remember, the Windex (the bottle that I have) says that it can be used on plastics. What it says it is not to be used on is wood and varnished surfaces.

Oh, and about using newspaper. Yes, a damp newspaper is normally good to clean glass with, but the newspapers we get here leave your hands and everything else it comes into contact with black!

[wheelman]

I use alcohol diluted with water in a spray bottle and then a hand towel to do the cleaning of the exterior.

Then I use can of compressed air along with a paintbrush to get the dust and stuff out from off the mobo. I remove the ram and wipe the connectors with a q-tip dipped in alcohol. I also remove the heat sink and make sure any dust around the fan is removed cuz i dont want that slowing down on me. Every to weeks or so I go in the BIOS and look a the RPM.

feedback as well as tips appreciated.

[deakie]

i dont think you need to remove the ram as the dirt should not slide between the connection. they are in contact s that shouldnt be a problem.

here are a few problems.

1. alchohol is a solvent. if you u use it on yourdevices boards, you will strip the laminate off. that lil thin film to keep the board moisture free.

2. windex may be alright on plastic but will it be okay if there is a thinly applied layer on the plastic to keep the surface free from weather effects?

3. blowing air generates thousands of volts in static ionisation. thats just what cmos and mosfet chips need. a reason to go bad across their junctions thru the pins. you have to do that in average or higher humidity to remain safe. certainly not dry hot air.

the effetcs are never obvious suddenly unless you are extreme but over time, yes.

i urge you to read the manufacturers reccomendations on cleaning your equipment before deciding what to use.

one of the principal components of my job is safety and you would be shocked at some of the stuff that i come across that ppl take for granted.

though i can add......do you know your keyboard, if modern, can stand up to a full wash job? its sealed. not a lot of ppl know that. they can be rinsed under the tap. :D but dont go trying it until you are sure yours is one of them. they had to do this because of all the coffee and tea spills in the office....... :P

also chris, monitors ahve several layers of toughened anti glare material on that glass you love cleaning.

vacumn is good.

[wheelman]

i dont think you need to remove the ram as the dirt should not slide between the connection. they are in contact s that shouldnt be a problem.

its not that it gets between the connectors but sometimes, for some unknown reason it get built up arround there, and since i dont like doing half hearted jobs I'll take down my whole pc to clean it and as such remove the ram and remove any dirt that may drop in the slot and also clean the connectors on the chip itself



here are a few problems.

1. alchohol is a solvent. if you u use it on yourdevices boards, you will strip the laminate off. that lil thin film to keep the board moisture free.


Point taken but I wont be using it on my board but rather the connectors which wouldnt have anything separating them and the slots in which they connect.



2. windex may be alright on plastic but will it be okay if there is a thinly applied layer on the plastic to keep the surface free from weather effects?


Not too sure about that one, dont really use windex on my case.



3. blowing air generates thousands of volts in static ionisation. thats just what cmos and mosfet chips need. a reason to go bad across their junctions thru the pins. you have to do that in average or higher humidity to remain safe. certainly not dry hot air.


Dont quite understand what you saying there

[deakie]

if your board is out on the table, or its in the box with the plug out the wall, then chances are its not grounded. an ungrounded baord is at risk, the same way a chip is at risk. you know, where they say, where a static wrist strap to touch the device or it my fail.
its the same advice.
walking across a room on a carpet generates over sixty thousand volts of of static charge on your body. by touching one of these chips, it goes bang on the inside. this is because they have very thin gates.
your memory is mainly mosfet technology. most mosfet technology is susceptible to static.
when i find a link wid a piccy, i'l post it here k.
when air is fast moving, it can generate static. this is becuse the air molecules are moving over each other quickly. this is amplified when they touch or rub past objects. you are then blowing this highly ionised or static wind straight onto your chip pins, which re normwlly the gateway to the gates im talkin about. you may not lose the obvious function of the chip, but you may lose some portion of it, this then unfolds as a decreased performance of your board.
however, you may spemnd hours trying to work out why the performance of the computer is the way it is without ever realising why.chek you manual for your motherboard. there should be a warning about handling it. if there is such a warning, then the rules for static applies in general.
its only the benfit of my lil experience im sharing. i have blown chips while designing boards cause of bad handling etc and go on to spend hours wondering why my thing dont work. only when i stick a new chip in that i realise. i dont do that so much anymore. :D

everytime you pull a component out of a socket, the socket restrainers get weaker. eventually, they will faill in a few areas. your memory wont connect so well and you may even get complete ram failure. due to some address pin not connecting properly. they didnt build most of these for continuos reuse. only the top boards do. normally they expect you to have an upgrade once or twice, not much more than that. manufacturers think that way to keep costs down. especially in competitive markets.

[wheelman]

So you're basically saying I'm lucky that those things havent happened to me yet? ;D ;D ;D

[deakie]

ye :D :P

[wheelman]

haha ;D ;D

seen, point taken