Which Blower to clean PC?

I will recommend against Vacuum Cleaners. It's not recommended to touch circuits with that. I just block the fan blades via piece of paper/tape and put the iBell blower to max setting and blow the hell out of my PC. Any latent dust is not worth it to risk damaging your PC. If something still bothers me microfiber cloth with IPA does the trick.
 
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Just kidding.
 
sriharsha_m said:
I just use my portable car tyre inflator with the narrow nozzle balloon attachment or the needle attachment.
It's gentle enough as to not blow away components, strong enough to blow dust off.
For those areas with stubborn dust, I just use small paint brushes to loosen the dust and then blow it off again.
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This sounds like a good idea to me. Kindly share recommendations or specs to look for. Thanks!
 
Ssreek said:
But some vacuum cleaners come with a blower function; like just point and shoot the air at the dust. Will it not function same as blower in that case?
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That's what I have been using all these years on my PC - The blow function of my Karcher vacuum. Hasn't caused any problems (fingers crossed)!
 
I bought one from the local electrical shop, it kinda looks like this (of course off brand but you get the idea):

I'd say go with any cheap blower, make sure to take care of your fans and do the blowing on an open space (don't do it in your hall unless you want all the dust to spread and cause more chaos)
 
JMP said:
+1, I have been using blower on a vacuum cleaner for many years as well. No problems so far. LINK
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I bought this exact model and now the vaccum cleaner has more dust than my pc. It's garbage in my experience.
Sucking dust - 3/10
For carpets - 7/10
Cat/human hair - 6/10
 
sriharsha_m said:
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This is what I use, but almost all portable battery based models come with similar attachments.
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So how do you dust your PC chassis with this? Aim the nozzle and turn the thing on and it blows air onto the dusty surface? How powerful is the flow of air this produces?
 
Black_Hawk said:
How powerful is the flow of air this produces?
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Flow rate must be lower than regular blowers even at lowest pressure setting. It is designed to deliver high(er than atmospheric) pressured air, which takes time; whereas blower just pushes the air behind through it. If the intended use is blowing dust alone, this is not the best idea. It is just versatile, if you want an inflator as well.

For instance, I have one of these spray pumps, which I use to clean my motorcycle. If I could retro-fit a nozzle on this, I'd be able inflate this with the tyre inflator and use it as a dust blower and a regular spray pump (wihout having to manually pump it).

So, it's better only in terms of versatility.
 
Black_Hawk said:
So how do you dust your PC chassis with this? Aim the nozzle and turn the thing on and it blows air onto the dusty surface? How powerful is the flow of air this produces?
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Like I had mentioned in my earlier post, this is useful only for spot dusting the individual components, don't think it can be used to clean the PC chassis as such in one go.
The other blower mentioned in the thread is technically a leaf blower and is much more powerful, and IMO too powerful for dusting off PC's.
Rather the vacuum cleaner blower attachments usually have a flow control nozzle, so you can vary the throw on the fly, which in a way is more safer than the powerful blowers.
 
dvader said:
If something still bothers me microfiber cloth with IPA does the trick.
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After blowing off most of the dust inside the computer, I suggest mopping the innards with a small disposable piece of cloth, dipped in Isopropyl Alcohol. This is because most blowers and vacuum cleaners are not powerful enough to remove the last layer of dust stuck on the components.
 
Tarantula said:
After blowing off most of the dust inside the computer, I suggest mopping the innards with a small disposable piece of cloth, dipped in Isopropyl Alcohol. This is because most blowers and vacuum cleaners are not powerful enough to remove the last layer of dust stuck on the components.
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There's really no need to do that since that first layer will form again in a couple of days. And it has zero effect on your components.

Isopropyl Alcohol is a solvent - it will dissolve paint. It should only be used if for deep cleaning, e.g. if you spilled something on your PC and want to remove all remnants. IPA is not a magical "clean anything with no side-effects" liquid. Use it responsibly, it is not safe on a lot of surfaces.
 
n1r0 said:
Isopropyl Alcohol is a solvent - it will dissolve paint.
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Except for the cabinet, what other parts inside a computer have paint on them? I have done this kind of deep cleaning over the past several years, on desktops and laptops. No problems developed because of it. I am yet to see any paint being dissolved during the process.
 
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