James Oliver’s PC Guide & Tips

Many people get caught up in the software system maintenance side of things, but rarely consider the physical maintenance.

What do I mean? Computers have fans installed inside the case that are pulling air into the case as well as fans pushing air out of the case. These fans pull all kinda of dust bunnies into the system. This stuff builds up on components inside the case and causes air-flow problems. This stuff gets all over heat sinks, fans inside, down in fan bearings.

Over time, this buildup can cause a variety of problems. Bearings wear out faster causing fans to slow down and not have the RPM’s necessary to keep the components cool. Buildup on heat sinks causes air-flow through the fins. This causes components to over heat and can be damaging.

What can you do about this? Well. Nothing really. You can’t prevent the stuff from getting into your computer because it pulls it out of the air. However, you can clean it out on a regular maintenance schedule.

Depending on the environment where the PC sits will determine the physical maintenance schedule. If it’s a very dusty environment, you may need to do this monthly. If it’s a rather clean area, maybe quarterly will suffice.

Here’s what you do: Get yourself a can of compressed air from your local walmart or staples, open your case (by following directions in the manual), and blow all those components out (Might want to do this outside).  Just blow off all those fans, blow off all the dust you can see right out of that case! Blow out the power supply as well.

Many cases just have a couple of screws holding a side panel on. Some cases these days just have little releases that allow you to remove the side panel, or somehow it will separate.

Hope this helps you allow that system to run cooler and longer!