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Heartborne
08-03-2008, 03:46 PM
Hello all!

I am sure some of you have worked with pcs that have acquired a bit of that nasty brown fur that is caused by a combined buildup of dust and nicotine. I've just moved out of my parents' place to a smoke-free house, which is a godsend for a number of reasons, but one reason in particular is that my computer, which is less than six months old, will no longer be subjected to such buildup.

The downside of course is that it already has suffered some consequences of said buidup, mostly with respect to the fans, vents and even *gasp* the cpu heatsink!

This all, of course, helps to explain my significantly higher than average temperatures, although the heat in the room does not help.

While these temp increases are not catastrophic, they are not comfortable, either. The smell that plastic makes when it gets too hot is a warning sign that while 55 degrees c may not ruin my hardware, it certainly isn't any good for it.

In any event, compressed air doesn't seem to be doing it. Even a nice, healthy blast leaves fans spinning, but the nicotine fur hangs on for dear life.

Do any of you have a way of dealing with this stuff that may be a bit more effective? The pc isn't particularly dusty by any stretch of the imagination, but a bit of this fur doesn't help!

Ah, for those interested: my gpu, remarkably, has stayed at an average 60c regardless of increases in temperature elsewhere, partially because EVGA has good cooling and partially because I have a pci-slot GPU cooler installed.

In any case, I am happy to report that a quick dusting did in fact help my temps return to the normal threshold, with the system temp staying around 42, and the cpu core temps around the same... a more than 10 degrees c drop since I last posted.

saphalline
08-03-2008, 04:07 PM
Pipe cleaners and Q-tips.

mjc
08-03-2008, 04:47 PM
For any of the heatsinks or other non-electrical parts...the dishwasher, or just scrubbing them in hot, soapy water...

mxer394
08-13-2008, 07:05 PM
Pressure washer...;)

But pipe cleaners and a very careful fingernail here and there get rid of it for me...

My entire family (besides me) smokes, and I have to clean it every two weeks. It gets really disgusting at times, but oh well.

jerkto
08-14-2008, 02:19 AM
My entire family (besides me) smokes

Then don't get me wrong, but I'm glad for you that you moved. Second hand smoke is no joke.