Guest guest Posted February 3, 2007 Report Share Posted February 3, 2007 Hi, I can't clean the ventilator of my PC, cause it's not possible to unscrew the ventilator case (it was possible to do it on my older PC). I think it is responsible for lot's of lung irritation and maybe bronchitis like right now. Any information or idea (so far I've stuck a piece of filtering material on the oustide of the box, at the exit stream of the ventilator). john. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 3, 2007 Report Share Posted February 3, 2007 You need to open your PC, dissassemble it, and ****wearing gloves****, clean *every* part of it with cotton balls and 91% rubbing alcohol.. being careful to get all the black gunk out and thrown away on the cotton balls. Pay extra attention to the fins on the CPU and the fan blades.. those are the dirtiest parts. Dry it off well before putting it back together (putting it in direct sunlight will help) After doing that two or three times, your computer might start to be useable again. DON'T block the fan holes with anything besides open cell filter foam.. (which you can clean with soap and water periodically) you could start a fire.. Computers need an unimpeded air flow through the case.. One way you might be able to get away with turning off your fan unless the CPU gets very hot (over 70C) is by 'underclocking' your PC's CPU in the BIOS. That runs your computer at a slower speed than it is designed for which can mean that you don't need a fan most of the time. But its also slower.. Ask an engineer or good PC tech... don't do this yourself if you don't know much about computers.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 3, 2007 Report Share Posted February 3, 2007 new computers burn off potentually toxic particles,a lot of plastic coated parts inside. the hotter it runs the more this burn off increases. I wouldn't put any type of filter on the outside as it may make it even hotter inside. you may need to add another fan if there is a spot for it. if you can put it close to a window for a while and have a fan blowing out in the window while you use it,it may help. also shut it down when not useing. this is mainly the reason I just keep my old one and replace parts from other used computers. theres not a lot you can do. it decreases with time. the best way to deal with it would be to somehow pull around your computer out the window. > > Hi, > > I can't clean the ventilator of my PC, cause it's not possible to > unscrew the ventilator case (it was possible to do it on my older PC). > I think it is responsible for lot's of lung irritation and maybe > bronchitis like right now. > > Any information or idea (so far I've stuck a piece of filtering > material on the oustide of the box, at the exit stream of the > ventilator). > > john. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 --- In , LiveSimply <quackadillian@...> wrote: > > You need to open your PC, dissassemble it, and ****wearing gloves****, clean > *every* part of it with cotton balls and 91% rubbing alcohol.. being careful > to get all the black gunk out and thrown away on the cotton balls. Pay extra > attention to the fins on the CPU and the fan blades.. those are the dirtiest > parts. Dry it off well before putting it back together (putting it in direct > sunlight will help) > > After doing that two or three times, your computer might start to be useable > again. Thanks for the answer. I'm gonna try to clean it inside. But to clean the whole board seems a lot of work. And yes you're right, the dirtiest part is the ventilator blades and around. I did clean that a few years ago, for an older PC, it was thick with dirt. But the one I have now, I have not been able to acces the ventilator blades, it is not possible to unscrew the ventilator case. The PC is not new, I've used it for already a few years, and it was second hand already. I sense it's a chronic poisoning of the lungs, right now i have a bronchitis so eventually I'm willing to do something. But I don't have the money to ask a PC technician. And not enough right now even for a replacement by one where the ventilator case can be unscrewed. Also to run it at a lower speed, it's already an antiquity ! john > > DON'T block the fan holes with anything besides open cell filter foam.. > (which you can clean with soap and water periodically) > > you could start a fire.. Computers need an unimpeded air flow through the > case.. > > One way you might be able to get away with turning off your fan unless the > CPU gets very hot (over 70C) is by 'underclocking' your PC's CPU in the > BIOS. > > That runs your computer at a slower speed than it is designed for which can > mean that you don't need a fan most of the time. But its also slower.. > > Ask an engineer or good PC tech... don't do this yourself if you don't know > much about computers.. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 > > new computers burn off potentually toxic particles,a lot of plastic > coated parts inside. the hotter it runs the more this burn off > increases. I wouldn't put any type of filter on the outside as it may > make it even hotter inside. you may need to add another fan if there > is a spot for it. if you can put it close to a window for a while and > have a fan blowing out in the window while you use it,it may help. > also shut it down when not useing. this is mainly the reason I just > keep my old one and replace parts from other used computers. theres > not a lot you can do. it decreases with time. the best way to deal > with it would be to somehow pull around your computer out the window. It's an old computer already. So I think the problem is definitely from the ventilator. I just don't know what to do, yes to put it close to an open window, if possible. (no, very difficult to do, will try). Maybe I should just spray alcohol inside the ventilator case. john. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 Don't spray alcohol! Unless it is on a flat surface and you are going to wipe it off right away. The alcohol doesn't do anything to the toxins, it just acts as a degreaser and vehicle for their removal. You need to then, use cotton balls or rags to remove by wiping the GUNK. Don't be lazy. Moisten the cotton balls with alcohol - not water - then apply them to the circuit boards, insides of the fans, fins, etc, with a wiping motion, so that they become black with dirt. Then throw away the black dirty balls and use new clean ones or swabs (QTips.. etc.) to clean some more. You may need to dissassemble the computer to do this. Make sure you do this carefully, and dry it out thoroughly before reassembly. Also be careful for static electricity. If you don't know what solvent means then maybe best to just buy another one.. computer hardware is cheap now compared to what it used to cost.. This job can easily take a whole day.. Don't get the wet, toxin laden gunk on your hands.. it could cause serious damage because the alcohol dissolves the toxins and it can help them go through your skin. So use ventilation - a fan blowing out - not just an open window - and gloves- and throw all the dirty cotton balls and swabs away immediately.. You should end up with a big bag of dirty cotton balls and swabs and dirty gloves and a semi clean computer.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 If you look around you can find deals like one I just saw at TigerDirect where you can get a refurbished HP 2.66 GHz P4 with 512 MB DDR RAM and a 40 GB HD for $199... Computer hardware is cheap.. just like bandwidth these days.. moving towards zero cost as Bill Gates puts it.. its people's time.. like your own.. that is expensive.. You can probably buy new hardware and then put your old hard drives in it and basically have your old machine with a new lease on life, speed wise.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 If keeping it cool is important and it is a laptop, you can buy a platform to put laptop on that keeps it cool. > > Hi, > > I can't clean the ventilator of my PC, cause it's not possible to > unscrew the ventilator case (it was possible to do it on my older PC). > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 it also helps to put your harddrive as far away from you and your monitor as your cords will allow. > > If you look around you can find deals like one I just saw at > TigerDirect where you can get a refurbished HP 2.66 GHz P4 with 512 MB > DDR RAM and a 40 GB HD for $199... > > Computer hardware is cheap.. just like bandwidth these days.. moving > towards zero cost as Bill Gates puts it.. > > its people's time.. like your own.. that is expensive.. You can > probably buy new hardware and then put your old hard drives in it and > basically have your old machine with a new lease on life, speed wise.. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 I'm sure there are already tons of [maybe toxic] dirt[/mold] in the ventilator case I cannot access. So yes altogether i'll wait until I have 150 to spend on ebay for a tower with ventilator case accessible. Right now I have open the window large in the room. It's better for air exchange. My lungs know it's something irritating from the ventilator. Thanks for the explanation for cleaning the boards, but I don't feel like doing it right now. But maybe you're right cause I remember also another computer, when I opened it, the boards were really looking full of grey dirt. john --- In , LiveSimply <quackadillian@...> wrote: > > Don't spray alcohol! Unless it is on a flat surface and you are going to > wipe it off right away. The alcohol doesn't do anything to the toxins, it > just acts as a degreaser and vehicle for their removal. You need to then, > use cotton balls or rags to remove by wiping the GUNK. Don't be lazy. > > Moisten the cotton balls with alcohol - not water - then apply them to the > circuit boards, insides of the fans, fins, etc, with a wiping motion, so > that they become black with dirt. Then throw away the black dirty balls and > use new clean ones or swabs (QTips.. etc.) to clean some more. > > You may need to dissassemble the computer to do this. Make sure you do this > carefully, and dry it out thoroughly before reassembly. Also be careful for > static electricity. > > If you don't know what solvent means then maybe best to just buy another > one.. computer hardware is cheap now compared to what it used to cost.. This > job can easily take a whole day.. > > Don't get the wet, toxin laden gunk on your hands.. it could cause serious > damage because the alcohol dissolves the toxins and it can help them go > through your skin. So use ventilation - a fan blowing out - not just an open > window - and gloves- and throw all the dirty cotton balls and swabs away > immediately.. > > You should end up with a big bag of dirty cotton balls and swabs and dirty > gloves and a semi clean computer.. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 > > it also helps to put your harddrive as far away from you and your > monitor as your cords will allow.--- That is not very far away ! There's the screen cable, mouse, etc. not very long ! I made a device on the exit of the ventilator with a piece of filter (used for air contidionner) but it seems not to be efficient. john. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 If you could get a few gallons of DISTILLED (not tap) water you might be able to do it by immersion of the circuit boards and then gentle but prolonged agitation and then careful drying...over a long time so that all of the water was really gone before you applied power again... and NO SOAP... Make sure to clean the vessel you are using to clean them too thoroughly, first, because you don't want ANY dissolved salts in the water.. make sure to use distilled water.. Then use a hair dryer to dry it.. Take out the hard drives and the small button lithium batteries first. There might be other important parts you would need to remove too.. (you don't want to get water into your hard drives, I am sure of that..) This is what pros do to recover computers that have been water damaged.. the trick is to use distilled water and to clean it all out and dry the whole thing completely... If this sounds like a lot of work.. it is.. I don't think that most older computers are worth it.. But you end up with a completely clean computer if you do it right.. The MONITORS are another BIG problem area..as we all know... By 'ventilator' do you mean 'fan' ? Are you British? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 I'm sure the problem comes from the fan/ventilator case at the rear of the tower. Maybe some mold inside. I've eventually decided to do something, even buying another very cheap PC tower. But I have no money at all to do that at the moment. john (jean in french). --- In , LiveSimply <quackadillian@...> wrote: > > If you could get a few gallons of DISTILLED (not tap) water you might be > able to do it by immersion of the circuit boards and then gentle but > prolonged agitation and then careful drying...over a long time so that all > of the water was really gone before you applied power again... and NO > SOAP... Make sure to clean the vessel you are using to clean them too > thoroughly, first, because you don't want ANY dissolved salts in the water.. > make sure to use distilled water.. Then use a hair dryer to dry it.. > > Take out the hard drives and the small button lithium batteries first. There > might be other important parts you would need to remove too.. (you don't > want to get water into your hard drives, I am sure of that..) > > This is what pros do to recover computers that have been water damaged.. the > trick is to use distilled water and to clean it all out and dry the whole > thing completely... > > If this sounds like a lot of work.. it is.. I don't think that most older > computers are worth it.. But you end up with a completely clean computer if > you do it right.. > > The MONITORS are another BIG problem area..as we all know... > > By 'ventilator' do you mean 'fan' ? Are you British? > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Have you tried opening the computer and brushing the fan and heatsink fins with a brush, then vacumning it out with a strong vacumn cleaner? Or blowing the dust off, outside your house.. (better!) That didn't do it for me, as far as preventing me from getting sick, but its good preventative maintenance to prevent computers from getting too hot if the cooling becomes inefficient. Sometimes they get very very dusty if they are in a dusty environment and don't have filters of some kind on the air intake.. (not uncommon) On 2/5/07, jean <tdx244@...> wrote: > > I'm sure the problem comes from the fan/ventilator case at the rear > of the tower. Maybe some mold inside. > > I've eventually decided to do something, even buying another very > cheap PC tower. But I have no money at all to do that at the moment. > > john (jean in french). > > > > > > If you could get a few gallons of DISTILLED (not tap) water you > might be > > able to do it by immersion of the circuit boards and then gentle but > > prolonged agitation and then careful drying...over a long time so > that all > > of the water was really gone before you applied power again... and > NO > > SOAP... Make sure to clean the vessel you are using to clean them > too > > thoroughly, first, because you don't want ANY dissolved salts in > the water.. > > make sure to use distilled water.. Then use a hair dryer to dry it.. > > > > Take out the hard drives and the small button lithium batteries > first. There > > might be other important parts you would need to remove too.. (you > don't > > want to get water into your hard drives, I am sure of that..) > > > > This is what pros do to recover computers that have been water > damaged.. the > > trick is to use distilled water and to clean it all out and dry the > whole > > thing completely... > > > > If this sounds like a lot of work.. it is.. I don't think that most > older > > computers are worth it.. But you end up with a completely clean > computer if > > you do it right.. > > > > The MONITORS are another BIG problem area..as we all know... > > > > By 'ventilator' do you mean 'fan' ? Are you British? > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 The fan case is not accessible. I cannot have access to the fan blades. I remember a previous PC, it was possible to unscrew the case, but not on this one. I'm fed up of this dust (mainly my lungs). As soon as I have 100 or so, I'll buy another one second hand. So far no other solution. john. --- In , LiveSimply <quackadillian@...> wrote: > > Have you tried opening the computer and brushing the fan and heatsink fins > with a brush, then vacumning it out with a strong vacumn cleaner? Or blowing > the dust off, outside your house.. (better!) > > That didn't do it for me, as far as preventing me from getting sick, but its > good preventative maintenance to prevent computers from getting too hot if > the cooling becomes inefficient. Sometimes they get very very dusty if they > are in a dusty environment and don't have filters of some kind on the air > intake.. (not uncommon) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 If you look hard enough, you'll figure out how to open it up. Its yours, you can do whatever you want with it. Including open it up in any way you need to. If you send me a photo (or a few photos) of it in private email, I might be able to suggest how to open it.. I've built my share of PCs in the past.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 I eventually opened the tower box this night at 2 in the morning. Cause I'm sick with ashtma bronchitis at the moment. And I could see the inside is dusty. On some part it is very dusty. Like the pentium 2 black box. Also I realized that there's another fan exit specific for the processor. What I did is stick another piece of filter (just cut with scisor 10x10 cm piece of air conditioner foam like filter) in the outside of the tower. This time I taped it real good, and then this morning I immediately sensed it's less harmful. Will still have to figure out how to clean the inside, the boards. I'm afraid to put water on the circuits, etc. john. --- In , LiveSimply <quackadillian@...> wrote: > > Have you tried opening the computer and brushing the fan and heatsink fins > with a brush, then vacumning it out with a strong vacumn cleaner? Or blowing > the dust off, outside your house.. (better!) > > That didn't do it for me, as far as preventing me from getting sick, but its > good preventative maintenance to prevent computers from getting too hot if > the cooling becomes inefficient. Sometimes they get very very dusty if they > are in a dusty environment and don't have filters of some kind on the air > intake.. (not uncommon) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 What about taking the computer outside on a dry day, opening it up, and blowing the **** out of it with a LEAF BLOWER or similar thing? That would blast all the loose dust out and then you could use 91% alcohol to much better effect.. USING GLOVES.. because otherwise the toxins in the greasy gunk will absorb through your skin and hurt you. They can be very strong, and they concentrate on things like computer parts.. If you use water, you NEED to use distilled water and then, only on the circuit boards and individual parts each removed and soaked individually. And this is best done after the first level of cleaning.. ie degunking... You can buy replacement fans for just a few dollars.. perhaps thats a better alternative.. What I described with the water is a LOT of work.. its not something to undertake lightly... Putting a filter on the INTAKE is for afterward.. its not going to help you much now that the toxic dust is ALREADY inside of the stupid thing.. Am I making sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 I'm sorry.. I was being bitchy.. Didn't mean to. Please don't take it personally.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 Hey, look what I just found.. http://www.computerhope.com/cleaning.htm Love the name.. " computer hope " .. like there is hope in this world... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 I'm listening to this description. I'm getting it. The glove part, etc. Now, as you say it's not easy to do. The leaf blower thing, I don't own one. An air compressor is also at least a 100. But I'm getting at what you explain. I don't want my PC down. So I'll proceed very cautiously. john. --- In , LiveSimply <quackadillian@...> wrote: > > What about taking the computer outside on a dry day, opening it up, and > blowing the **** out of it with a LEAF BLOWER or similar thing? That would > blast all the loose dust out and then you could use 91% alcohol to much > better effect.. USING GLOVES.. because otherwise the toxins in the greasy > gunk will absorb through your skin and hurt you. They can be very strong, > and they concentrate on things like computer parts.. > > If you use water, you NEED to use distilled water and then, only on the > circuit boards and individual parts each removed and soaked individually. > And this is best done after the first level of cleaning.. ie degunking... > > You can buy replacement fans for just a few dollars.. perhaps thats a better > alternative.. > > What I described with the water is a LOT of work.. its not something to > undertake lightly... Putting a filter on the INTAKE is for afterward.. its > not going to help you much now that the toxic dust is ALREADY inside of the > stupid thing.. > > Am I making sense? > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 No problem, you're perfectly correct in what you explain. john. --- In , LiveSimply <quackadillian@...> wrote: > > I'm sorry.. I was being bitchy.. Didn't mean to. Please don't take it > personally.. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 The idea also occured to me, I'm getting some nerve. Yeah if I really want to access the fan blades, I can do it the hard way. The metal of the case is not that thick. I think I have a small iron to weld somewhere, also something to cut the metal. I don't mind breaking down the tower case !!! I'll make pics. Also I'll show you how I put a filter. I also have the reference of the PC. john. --- In , LiveSimply <quackadillian@...> wrote: > > If you look hard enough, you'll figure out how to open it up. > > Its yours, you can do whatever you want with it. Including open it up in any > way you need to. If you send me a photo (or a few photos) of it in private > email, I might be able to suggest how to open it.. I've built my share of > PCs in the past.. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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