Cleaning The Dust in My PC

Keeping your computer dust free is something not many people seem to consider until problems arise, yet dust removal can prevent quite a few problems. In particular, dust removal can make your computer quieter and make your computer more efficient.

Making Your Computer More Efficient

In the usual computer setup, a fan sucks in air at the front or front-side of the computer case, moves the air over the computer components, and then blows the air out the back of the computer. So if the air being sucked in has any dust at all (and it always does have) then a layer of dust is gradually deposited over every component of your PC.

If this dust gets damp, then it can cause the computer to fail due to a shorting of components.

Why is this? Simply due to condensation.

Hot air holds more moisture than cold air, so when warm air becomes cold it is forced to release the moisture it holds. That’s what causes condensation on windows overnight. The warm air in the room hits the cold glass of the window, and it’s forced to release the moisture it holds.

The same thing happens within your computer. Your computer becomes warm whilst you are using it and sucks in air that is holding moisture. Once you turn off your computer, the air inside your computer cools down and releases the moisture it’s holding. If your computer is full of dust, then the dust becomes damp.

Next time you turn your computer on, the damp dust may affect the efficiency of your computer, and in the worst case scenario it may cause a short circuit.

Making Your Computer Quieter

The dust being sucked through your computer sticks everywhere, but most noticeably on the air vents and on the fan itself. Both these make the fan less effective which means it has to work longer to get the same cooling effect.

A second consideration is that the air doesn’t always stick to the blades of the fan in a uniformed manner. Sometimes one blade will end up with more dust on it than the other blades. This can cause the fan to be unbalanced, again causing further noise and inefficiency.