Best Way To Remove Dust Off MoBo

Urzu1000 · Aug 25, 2015

I'm about to pull a motherboard, processor, and some RAM out of an older computer we have in the house, and move it to a new case.

The issue I'm facing though, is that this computer is pretty old now, and it's had years and years of dust. Since I'm going through the trouble to disassemble the whole thing anyway, I want to clean it up and make it nice looking again.

Does anyone have any good ways to really clean a motherboard properly? Canned air is pricey, but it isn't as if I could wipe it either, as a MoBo would tear up any cloth I have that's sufficiently non-static enough to wipe it with.

WildCard999 · Aug 25, 2015

If you possibly have one or access to a oil-less air-compressor (liquid free) that would be your best bet. Just carefully and lightly blow out all the components in a sweeping motion then use Q-tips to clean those hard to reach spots.

Archaic59 · Aug 25, 2015

Get a can of compressed air from walmart, office depot etc..They sell it for exactly this reason, to clean electrical components. Works great on printers and other things too. When spraying don't tilt the can too much or it'll spray freezing liquid on the parts. Hold system fans with something non-metallic (don't use your fingers) so they don't spin. It could ruin the bearings if you spin them a million rpm.

synphul · Aug 25, 2015

Canned air is about your best bet. If there's stuck dust in places around the mobo I've used qtips dampened with a little isopropyl alcohol. The small soldered areas and edges of microchips really snag though so a qtip doesn't go too far before it's shredded. Can be fun removing all the shredded fibers if that happens but any canned air will only go so far and won't remove the film of dust directly on the pcb of the motherboard.

Similar to a car wash, you can run a car through a touchless automated car wash where it just gets sprayed with water. After it's been washed, rinsed etc and is still damp wipe it with a soft cloth and watch all the grime come off that the high pressure sprayers didn't touch. Not too fond of air compressors, most I've ever used are prone to condensation and invariably spray moisture with the air (fine for inflating things). Canned air will do the same if you tip the can sideways or spray too long (can ices up). Best to use short bursts from the can.

If it's more of a random type task, canned air would be the way to go. If it's something you'll be doing frequently at all it might be worth looking into something like a datavac. Electronics vacuum/blowers still suffer the same issue as canned air, won't get the film of dust/dirt off pcb's. Pays for itself in the long run though if you use it often.

Urzu1000 · Aug 25, 2015

synphul :

Canned air is about your best bet. If there's stuck dust in places around the mobo I've used qtips dampened with a little isopropyl alcohol. The small soldered areas and edges of microchips really snag though so a qtip doesn't go too far before it's shredded. Can be fun removing all the shredded fibers if that happens but any canned air will only go so far and won't remove the film of dust directly on the pcb of the motherboard.

Similar to a car wash, you can run a car through a touchless automated car wash where it just gets sprayed with water. After it's been washed, rinsed etc and is still damp wipe it with a soft cloth and watch all the grime come off that the high pressure sprayers didn't touch. Not too fond of air compressors, most I've ever used are prone to condensation and invariably spray moisture with the air (fine for inflating things). Canned air will do the same if you tip the can sideways or spray too long (can ices up). Best to use short bursts from the can.

If it's more of a random type task, canned air would be the way to go. If it's something you'll be doing frequently at all it might be worth looking into something like a datavac. Electronics vacuum/blowers still suffer the same issue as canned air, won't get the film of dust/dirt off pcb's. Pays for itself in the long run though if you use it often.

I think my father-in-law has a pretty serious dry air compressor, so I'll give that a shot, and then get the Q-Tips out and the isopropyl. Thanks for the tips!

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