I spent 20 years as an IT admin. We used cans of compressed air to clean dust out of computers. Light, gentle sprays, preferably cleaned outside so the dust doesn’t just fill the room.
If you hold down the spray button for a few seconds, the can turns ice cold really fast, so be sparing with it. Also, don’t tip it upside-down while spraying or it’ll spray liquid that can damage computer components.
In all the years blowing dust out of computers, the only time I actually damaged a computer was when I tried to use a vacuum hose blowing air in reverse. It was too rough and broke some motherboard components.
I work in a shop with compressed air for air guns and I use it on the insides of computers all the time to clean out the dust and haven’t ever broken anything.
If you’re using air compressors, you should consider adding a moisture filter on your air gun. When the air gets compressed, it gets hot. And hot air can hold more moisture. Then when you spray it, that air cools back down and the moisture re-condenses as it leaves the system. You can very easily fuck up electronics because you blew a bunch of water mist into the connections at 60 PSI.
It’s also why (unless you’re using a compressor specifically designed for it) you should be opening the dump valve and draining it entirely after you’re done using it. Don’t just let it sit with compressed air in the tank for weeks at a time. All of that humidity will slowly condense as the air in the tank cools, and you’ll end up with liquid water inside of your tank. And that’s how rust happens. If you never empty your compressor, you’re not only spraying rusty water everywhere; You’re working with a time bomb. It may explode in a year, or five years, or fifty… But that rust will slowly eat away at the internals, and weaken components that are designed to hold a LOT of pressure.
Source: I live in a humid area and occasionally use air compressors to clean electronics.
We used the compressed air all day everyday for air guns for vehicle lifts, it is constantly running and constantly being used. It also automatically drains. It’s quite an expensive setup for a large dealership.
I spent 20 years as an IT admin. We used cans of compressed air to clean dust out of computers. Light, gentle sprays, preferably cleaned outside so the dust doesn’t just fill the room.
If you hold down the spray button for a few seconds, the can turns ice cold really fast, so be sparing with it. Also, don’t tip it upside-down while spraying or it’ll spray liquid that can damage computer components.
In all the years blowing dust out of computers, the only time I actually damaged a computer was when I tried to use a vacuum hose blowing air in reverse. It was too rough and broke some motherboard components.
I work in a shop with compressed air for air guns and I use it on the insides of computers all the time to clean out the dust and haven’t ever broken anything.
If you’re using air compressors, you should consider adding a moisture filter on your air gun. When the air gets compressed, it gets hot. And hot air can hold more moisture. Then when you spray it, that air cools back down and the moisture re-condenses as it leaves the system. You can very easily fuck up electronics because you blew a bunch of water mist into the connections at 60 PSI.
It’s also why (unless you’re using a compressor specifically designed for it) you should be opening the dump valve and draining it entirely after you’re done using it. Don’t just let it sit with compressed air in the tank for weeks at a time. All of that humidity will slowly condense as the air in the tank cools, and you’ll end up with liquid water inside of your tank. And that’s how rust happens. If you never empty your compressor, you’re not only spraying rusty water everywhere; You’re working with a time bomb. It may explode in a year, or five years, or fifty… But that rust will slowly eat away at the internals, and weaken components that are designed to hold a LOT of pressure.
Source: I live in a humid area and occasionally use air compressors to clean electronics.
I fix broken computers and rebuild them from scrap parts, that’s all to much hard work, this is Thunderdome bro
We used the compressed air all day everyday for air guns for vehicle lifts, it is constantly running and constantly being used. It also automatically drains. It’s quite an expensive setup for a large dealership.
I believe that vacuums also generate a ton of static charge as the air flows over the plastic hoses and such. They make special vacuums for electronic that are static free but expensive.
https://metrovac.com/collections/electronics-it/products/datavac-electric-duster
Those things are amazing though, I’ve had one for over a decade now and it’s the best 100 dollars I ever spent.