Fubar512 1,350 Posted October 19, 2016 Informative video from JayzToCents. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Gunrunner 314 Posted October 19, 2016 (edited) Suspects a problem with conductive dusts shorting something; Proceeds to blow the dust around. Utterly brilliant. Oh, I forgot, suspects the problem is with the PSU, but doesn't remove and clean it... The way it's mounted, it's sucking air from below, with pets it's a recipe for disaster, at the very least the filter needs to be cleaned, at worst it's not filtered and the PSU needs to be cleaned. Edited October 19, 2016 by Gunrunner Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fubar512 1,350 Posted October 20, 2016 In my experience, that's mostly bullshit. I once managed a team of PC techs that "recycled" PCs from various clients, which we'd often receive by the pallet-load. The previous manager had them spend considerable time brushing away dust. I went out and purchased an electric leaf blower, which did a bang up job of clearing dust from every nook and cranny, even the power supplies. I cannot recall any of them failing because of this, though in all honesty, we only kept the 486 DX/2s and higher, because they were deemed to be the entry-level systems at the time (1998). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Gunrunner 314 Posted October 20, 2016 (edited) Yes, "conductive" dust is mostly bullshit but in my experience that happens under two conditions : - Industrial / workshop environments, but even then I've seen it only twice in over twenty years. - In homes where people both smoke and have pets, but not because the dust is conductive per se, but because the combination of cigarette smoke and pet hairs make it clump and stick and acquire enough static electricity charge under some circumstances, if that happens in the right place, it can do damage. My sister used to kill a motherboard a year that way (that one was fun to figure out and led to my practice of favouring multiple low-power fans over single high power fans). By the way, the later is the only case of damage by static electricity I've had; In my experience, unless you go out of your way to demonstrate it or are very careless, it doesn't happen in the real world and grounding yourself is mostly a ritual inherited from when you dealt with individual electronic components rather than complex hardware. I favour low-power vacuum cleaning with a plastic end and brush not building up static electricity myself (just in case, because there is potential for real damage... get it, potential), it removes the dust just as well and doesn't send it flying to make everything else dusty and it takes barely longer for a much cleaner overall job. Edited October 20, 2016 by Gunrunner Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fubar512 1,350 Posted October 21, 2016 The only case of conductive dust that I experienced first hand, was on a PC that was in an automobile repair shop, sitting a few feet away from a brake lathe and a bench grinder. Despite being under a nylon cover, years of exposure had allowed a fine layer of metallic dust to coat the motherboard and PSU. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JediMaster 451 Posted October 24, 2016 I refused to touch a PC from a smoking pet owner. They sabotaged them, they can deal with them. Almost as bad were smokers who lived in a dirty place and didn't clean up. That yellow sticky slime dust was so gross... No, you can't keep your ashtray in front of your PC sucking up the smoke and expect it to last. No, you can't keep your PC on your beachside patio so you can enjoy the fresh salty air while you surf the net and expect it to last. No, you can't let your cat sleep on the stupid PC and expect it to last. No, you can't expect me to have any sympathy for you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fubar512 1,350 Posted October 24, 2016 I refused to touch a PC from a smoking pet owner. They sabotaged them, they can deal with them. Almost as bad were smokers who lived in a dirty place and didn't clean up. That yellow sticky slime dust was so gross... No, you can't keep your ashtray in front of your PC sucking up the smoke and expect it to last. No, you can't keep your PC on your beachside patio so you can enjoy the fresh salty air while you surf the net and expect it to last. No, you can't let your cat sleep on the stupid PC and expect it to last. No, you can't expect me to have any sympathy for you. One client of mine used to smoke pipe tobacco, and raised Corgis. Despite this, he and his wife used to keep their home as immaculate as an operating room, and I never recall ever catching even the faintest whiff of tobacco whenever I visited. Except for one instance, when he asked me to upgrade the HDD on his PC. As soon as the case was cracked open, the "sweet" smell of pipe tobacco filled the air, and as JediMaster stated, all the expansion cards and motherboard had a somewhat sticky yellowish film on them. When the task was completed, and I had powered up the PC to began formatting the new drive, I again caught a whiff of pipe tobacco, courtesy of the power supply fan. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
