Compressed air

Ok, so I've got dust allergies so I've never been keen on trying compressed air to clean my computer and normally spend a good 2 or 3 hours cleaning everything with a fine painting brush...thing is, I never feel like I get it completely clean since the brush can clean the components and the fans (ish) but it doesn't go inside filters and other stuff so I've been reading about compressed air.

For most people this seems to be the way to go and they're happy with the results, although there's a lot of "don't tilt your can" warnings and concerns about blowing humidity into the components. Also a lot of complaints about how quickly a can runs out and how expensive it is after a while. Do you guys think it's worth it for me to switch to compressed air?

I also heard about the datavac, which is pretty much an electric blower (no compressed air tank though) that seems to be much more efficient than compressed air cans, and eventually cheaper as well. Also no problem with humidity or leaking fluids. Do any of you guys have experience with this? Is it worth it? Also, it seems that in the US it goes for around $62 but the Amazon listings in Europe are anywhere from 114 euro ($122) to 200 euro ($214)...would there be any problem if I just got it shipped from the US or do you guys think there would be a power output problem?

Thank you in advance for your feedback; I'm sort of a noob in this sort of thing =)

@Chatch09: Thank you for your feedback =D My wife tours a lot so she has an outlet adapter...just not sure if she can only plug in standard European, will have to check...

So no problems with it or damaged components so far?

@Chatch09: Great...I might try the noise maker...I mean, the blower, then =) Thanks again.

By the way, do you know if it's useful on laptops without having to open them up?

I've wanted to buy the Datavac for a couple of years as I heard it was good. Thing is I just take my Tower to work and use the airlines there and that's free :)

One thing to keep in mind: Do remember to hold fans in place while blowing them. Otherwise, you risk coilwhine, which has been know to drive great men mad.

I've got a Datavac. It's one of those things you simply need if you want to keep your PC as clean as possible with minimal fuss. It's really powerful too - so it does a way better job at removing dust from CPU and GPU heatsinks than canned air. Once every few weeks I just pull my pc out, set it on a chair, and go to town dusting for 5 minutes. I vacuum my room right afterwards and all is good.

Definitely. As long as you avoid spinning your fans really fast using the air pressure for the vacuum or Datavac - you'll be okay. For inaccessible fans (like PSU fans), I use a small metal pick I can stick through the grills in my PC and stick it in between the blades so they don't spin.

Great minds think alike.

My wife gives me blowers. Oh wait...I was thinking about something else.

I usually like to go all out and hose down my pc with a power washer. It really helps getting those hard to reach places.

lol...for those that couldn't tell, I'm joking! Don't wash your pc. Unless you really, really want it clean.

You can wash your PC with rubbing alcohol if you're into that sort of thing

I've considered oil cooling a pc just as an experiment. That'd keep the dust off! (look it up if you haven't seen it...they dip the whole pc in oil)

@korvus: There is a 220V European version of it as well. http://www.amazon.com/Metro-Datavac-Elctrcduster-500W-European/dp/B003BZCOKK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429528227&sr=8-1&keywords=metro+vacuum+220V, granted might still need something for the power connector though.

Cheaper than getting a decent 120V to 220V converter.

@demi0227_basic: If you do. I recommend going for sub zero cooling as well. No condensation to worry about either.

Thanks guys for all the positive reviews.

@horgen: That's a good one, although my wife just reminded me of the huge taxes we have to pay in order to import stuff from the US; still have to calculate how much it'll be but it might actually be more expensive...forgot all about that for some reason. I ordered her engagement ring from the States and I payed almost as much in taxes as I did the ring...

@demi0227_basic: I'm a fan of cleansing fire, myself. The other advantage is that it seals those hard to reach places so dust won't collect there and it dulls all the sharp edges you might cut yourself on...the disadvantage is that your PC's efficiency takes a bit of a hit...

Ah yeah import taxes is a bitch. We have the same in Norway, and it's really annoying because sometimes you have to pay import tax although the value is to low. Simply because DHL and the like 2x-3x the cost of transport if it isn't stated explicitly on the package. Causes a big problem when buying from sites with free shipping.

Do you got import taxes on everything you order from foreign sites? Or do you have to buy for more than X amount of money? In Norway the limit is 350nok kr, and this includes shipping costs.

Would you have to pay import taxes for this one?

@horgen: I think that stuff from Europe is tax free; I normally order stuff from German Amazon (they didn't even have Dutch Amazon until a few months ago) and never noticed any taxes. As for your link the pound is high atm, so that's about 120 euro which is the same price I can buy it here for.

Be happy you can buy it in your country. No place in Norway takes it in as far as I know :(

@horgen: Well, not exactly my country but close enough...it comes from Germany.

@korvus: Well import without extra taxes then, god damn it :x

That fire idea is pretty good. I'll try it today, and update you with how it went. ;)

I used compressed air for the inside of my PC, but I also stick the back of my HEPA fan filter right next to my case so it "sucks" in all the dust. No sense in using a blower if you're not gonna catch that dust somehow.

Take the pc outside, open case, get leaf blower, blow case out from about 3 feet away.

i never liked the idea of blowing loose dust deeper into crevices, open ports, and under components where it will collect. the only way i would trust is to take it all apart and brush, vacuum, and wipe.

dust-off is good for other things

I'm not sure how you could think compressed air is expensive. I've only gone through 2 cans in the past 4 years and i've used it on my dads office pc, my own pc, and another pc thats on 24 hrs a day and collects a lot of dust. Out of all those i probably do the 24hr one the most, maybe once every 2-3 months.

It only requires a few quick blasts in some areas until you see no more dust, it uses very little. if your using a lot of cans your doing it wrong and no doubt shooting a lot of water into your components as well. It says right on the cans not to use long bursts.

So overall, i've probably cleaned all my pcs 20-30 times at least using just a couple cans. And i think they only cost a few dollars each... if thats too expensive, the pc you own probably isnt worth even dusting. Even if you are allergic, you can do this, just take the case outside in an open area, do quick shots of air till the dust is clean.

I had an ancient pc that had some very old dust in it i cleaned a few weeks back and my brother had the vacuum catching the dust i was freeing from it, but most dust isn't that compact unless it gets really old and crusty.

That's really not a good idea. I'm not sure what would happen with 100% isopropyl alcohol, but any mixture with water is going to have salt ions dissolve in solution making it conductive.

Unless of course it's totally dry.

Just use a vacuum cleaner op, I've never had any issues using one. You really aren't going to kill components on a computer when they're attached to a motherboard. Static is only really a problem for ICs hanging around by themselves. Also get rid of carpet if you have it and get a air filter for your room.

Rubbing alcohol evaporates completely, so I think you'd be okay. It'd be for the people who spilled coke or beer onto their case and shut it down before any real damage took place.

I think the problem with compressed air is that it just doesn't have a lot of power. It will take out loose dust but it's not great against thick dust lodged in heatsinks and radiators. After the first few gusts you lose a lot of the power as the can gets colder. And it takes a lot of canned air to clean a radiator (they have a lot of surface area). I could go through a can of canned air in a couple weeks.

@korvus: when i saw that title for some reason i started to think about doom 3

@korvus: I have that exact datavac and it's absolutely the best way to clean a pc, way more effective than canned air. Be aware though, this thing will shoot dust everywhere... maybe not the best thing for someone with a dust allergy, I dunno. If you buy the U.S. one you are going to need an adapter.

@dethtrain: Gotta catch it all

@BSC14: I don't own a leaf blower either =P

@elessarGObonzo: Yeah, that's how I've been doing it so far, minus the vacuuming.

@nicecall: Yeah, I might try a can of compressed air first but not only does it not feel very powerful but it's kind of a waste environmentally speaking.

@malimedo: I could also shoot the dust of of the pc but alas, it's not a Dell.

@MuD3: Aww, thanks for your concern for my health, that's very nice of you =D I plan on using a dust mask to be on the safe side or my wife can do it.

With my PC being a window ledge PC, it doesn't collect that much dust, so its not often I need to clean.

Was inside my PC only yesterday to fix the crossfire cable that came loose when moving my PC to a friends house.