Vacuuming PC as an alternative to compressed air?

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Andy0432

Andy0432

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Apr 9, 2014
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Would it be ok to vacuum the dust out of your PC rather than using Compressed air canisters? In my opinion its much easier for me just to vacuum the dust out of PC components rather than "Guide" the dust out with a compressed air canister.

Thanks! :>
 
Solution
synphul
I think the issue with using a vacuum cleaner isn't the motor portion. It's to do with the potential for esd (static electricity) build up potential which can be created from the air being briskly pulled across the plastic. Think of rubbing a balloon on your hair. It's perfectly safe to vacuum the room the pc is located in. The concern comes from having the nozzle or end of the attachment in such close proximity to the internals. When you're only an inch or two (or couple of centimeters for metric folks) from parts with that sort of esd potential, that's where the problem comes in.

You need to be careful with compressed air canisters also, they can only be used in short bursts before the can freezes up and try to make sure the can...
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Great Gordon

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Dec 25, 2014
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I don't pretend to know what I am talking about. But if we are talking about a separate vacuum cleaner such as a Henry; I would for one would not be afraid to use it for cleaning inside a machine. I do so once or twice a decade, and never had a problem!

Only the plastic nozzle on the end of a long plastic pipe goes into the PC. The static generating part is some distance away from the circuits. In fact, the vacuum cleaner would get closer to a PC that lives on the floor when hovering the floor, than it would when cleaning inside the case.


It's only comedy evidence; but I actually got given a bunch of authentic PC cleaning Hoover attachments in the 80's! It said 'as seen on TV' on the box, so it must be fine! ;o)
 
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King Kevain

King Kevain

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Dust filters - just remove them and wash them under a tap - once dry, put them back in.

Just don't put any sort of vacuum anywhere near your PC - period.
 
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King Kevain

King Kevain

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chalk it up to being lucky - a plastic or metal nozzle on a vacuum will create static when rubbed on carpet or hard floors. That's the static that can destroy your system.

Also, the external case is grounded, the Mobo through the PSU, and motherboard risers, but when you take the side of the case off and start prodding the Motherboard, this is where the static can discharge through the vac into the components on its way to ground - that's what you have to be careful off and that's why you don't zap your PC when you vacuum around it.

Vacuuming your PC innards is up there with attaching magnets to the side of the case near your hard drives for things that you should just never do to a PC.
 
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Andy0432

Andy0432

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Apr 9, 2014
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I'm getting really confused now :L, So I know now that I can't clean the INSIDE of my pc with a vacuum but does that also mean I shouldn't clean the room my pc is in with a vacuum too?
 
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synphul

synphul

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Mar 11, 2011
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I think the issue with using a vacuum cleaner isn't the motor portion. It's to do with the potential for esd (static electricity) build up potential which can be created from the air being briskly pulled across the plastic. Think of rubbing a balloon on your hair. It's perfectly safe to vacuum the room the pc is located in. The concern comes from having the nozzle or end of the attachment in such close proximity to the internals. When you're only an inch or two (or couple of centimeters for metric folks) from parts with that sort of esd potential, that's where the problem comes in.

You need to be careful with compressed air canisters also, they can only be used in short bursts before the can freezes up and try to make sure the can stays upright. It's easy to turn the can (and your hand) trying to clean a hard to reach area only to get water misting out of the can. That's one of the reasons for blowing out dust with the pc turned off. Good rule of thumb for dusting fans is to gently hold onto the blades to prevent it from spinning. Soon as air hits a fan the airflow has a tendency to make the fan start moving and can cause bearing damage (since it can spin fans far faster than they were designed to be). If in doubt, try it some time with a fan removed, a fairly limited but sustained air blast and hear it whine like crazy.

If you'd like to use a vacuum, there are esd safe varieties by companies like datavac. Never used one, have no idea how they manage to remain esd free/safe (but that's what they say) and no clue how well they work. There are a lot of reviews that say they're underwhelming on performance and they usually cost quite a bit. Hope this helps.
 
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Andy0432

Andy0432

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Apr 9, 2014
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Thanks for your detailed anwser! I think I will just used compressed air now however they cost quite a bit for just compressed air is there any life hacks out there that will let me refill them?
 
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