Best way to clean a system out

[dangel]

I guess you could go all out and put a fine metal mesh in the vacuum tube and ground it to be really careful or even spend a wodge of cash on an ionizer If you've got a cleaner that creates great big arcs of static (presumably made by Van der Graaf) then yes, don't use it. If, however, you've decided not to place the vacuum unit ontop of the pc and left it said pc plugged in i can't see static being an issue..

[autopilot]

Might be worth a mention too that excessive dust build up is also indicative of poor air flow, so thats worth a look also.

[Mutley]

Use a hoover....

no, seriously...! Keep the psu plugged in, but switched off so you maintain an earth. Make sure you have yourself earthed on the PC chasis. Then GENTLY vacuum inside. Some bits will need compressed air, and a tooth brush. I tend to complelely disassemble my PC, and clean the parts individually though.

[Kev32]

I've never actually heard of a hoover being the cause of any static reated incidents...

I've only ever heard of a hair dryer being dangerous

I seem to update my PC faster than it becomes dirty....so I've never really needed to do any major cleaning. For my brothers PC however, which is about 4 years old now, I just took apart and cleaned manually using a toothbrush for the fans and hard to reach places and a non-lint cloth. Probably would have been easier to clean the heatsink using compressed air but I used my own breath instead

[dangel]

I tend to complelely disassemble my PC, and clean the parts individually though.

Not to labour the point but if you're doing that, then the part in question presumably isn't grounded!

[dangel]

I've never actually heard of a hoover being the cause of any static reated incidents...

I've only ever heard of a hair dryer being dangerous

Well, with a hair dryer your much more likely to be putting the electric motor next to things (and as has been pointed out) which is a bad thing to do anyway

[Mutley]

Not to labour the point but if you're doing that, then the part in question presumably isn't grounded!

What I meant is that if I'm having a major clear out, I take the parts out and clean them by hand. If I'm leaving the parts in the case, I hoover them. Although some parts don't matter - such as the CPU heatsink, which is a Zalman Flower - one great big dust trap.

[dangel]

What I meant is that if I'm having a major clear out, I take the parts out and clean them by hand. If I'm leaving the parts in the case, I hoover them. Although some parts don't matter - such as the CPU heatsink, which is a Zalman Flower - one great big dust trap.

Lol yeah - i've seen a m8's Zflower and i've _never_ seen such a dirty heatsink in my life

[nvening]

You dont need to ground the case, you just need to be at the same charge as the pc so there is no reason for the static electricity to flow!

Just touch the case before you work and every now and then to prevent a charge difference being created

[Rack]

You dont need to ground the case, you just need to be at the same charge as the pc so there is no reason for the static electricity to flow!

Just touch the case before you work and every now and then to prevent a charge difference being created

Not true, as if you and your case are at 8000V (a typical ESD voltage), your computer components will not be, ie all the little things on the motherboard, including your CPU will happily take that charge and try and get rid of it in the power supply caps, etc.

If you touch a grounded item like your PC case with the cable in, you will discharge constantly and never rise above ground potential. Assuming the 0V is referenced to ground in the PSU, or not far off, you will never build up that voltage differential.

[Veles]

Take a deep breath and blow, obviously try not to spit all over your PC at the same time

[Kumagoro]

I recommend longs air duster,

http://www.longs.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000...ES1520#aES1520
I use the green one you can have a lot of fun with these things when you use them
upside down. It can freeze water very quickly and evaporated & expands very fast.

Lots of fun with PET bottles.