Dust, Electronic Equipment and Heat

[Christopher Bardin]

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Regarding Michael Havens' question, whether dust in his computer could cause it to overheat:

Curious you should ask.  Where I work, the person whose job is to maintain our computers recently mentioned to me that 90 percent of problems go away when he blows the dust out of a computer.

I've used and sometimes repaired electronic equipment for around 40 years and my feeling, unsupported by any engineering textbook, is that dust is the hidden cause of many problems, including overheating.

Newer computers dissipate so much power that they require forced cooling.  The cheapest cooling solution is to blow ambient air into the computer with a fan, air inevitably containing dust which, for some reason I can't explain, settles out of the air and coats the innards of the computer.  

You could use a computer as a pretty efficient air filter.  I clean the dust out of my computer twice a year, using the exhaust of my vacuum cleaner as a blower, and I'm always amazed by the resulting cloud of dust.  



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<P>Regarding Michael Havens' question, whether dust in his computer could cause it to overheat:</P>
<P>Curious you should ask.&nbsp; Where I work, the person whose job is to maintain our computers recently mentioned to me that 90 percent of problems go away when he blows the dust out of a computer.</P>
<P>I've used and sometimes repaired electronic equipment for around 40 years and my feeling, unsupported by any engineering textbook, is that dust is the hidden cause of many problems, including overheating.</P>
<P>Newer computers dissipate so much power that they require forced cooling.&nbsp;&nbsp;The cheapest cooling solution is to blow ambient air into the computer with a fan,&nbsp;air inevitably containing dust which, for some reason I can't explain, settles out of the air and coats the innards of the computer.&nbsp; </P>
<P>You could use a computer as a pretty efficient air filter.&nbsp; I clean the dust out of my computer twice a year, using the exhaust of my vacuum cleaner as a blower, and I'm always amazed by the resulting cloud of dust.&nbsp; </P><p><br><hr size=1>Do you Yahoo!?<br>
<a href="http://rd.yahoo.com/O=1/I=brandr/vday03/text/flow/*http://shopping.yahoo.com
/shop?d=browse&id=20146735">Yahoo! Shopping</a> - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day
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