Question Is it safe to vacuum the OUTSIDE of my PC?

[Florian90]

Hey,
I know that it's not recommended to vacuum the inside of a computer.
But what about the outside?
There's obviously no problem with vacuuming the chassis itself. But what about the openings and vents? Those are especially important to clean up. Is it safe to hold the vacuum nozzle directly on the opening vent of a fan? The fan is like 20cm underneath that opening (not directly on the wall). Is it still close enough to damage the fan (from the air spinning it too fast)?
What about the backside of the PC where all the high voltage stuff and slots are? Can I hold the nozzle on there?
And what about static dusters? Is static electricity a problem on the outside (particularly on the backside)?
How do you clean your PC from the outside?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Yes, I vacuum mine all the time. No problems.

 

[Florian90]

Thanks. Just to make sure: You also vacuum over the opening vents and the grid on the background?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Thanks. Just to make sure: You also vacuum over the opening vents and the grid on the background?

Yes, I vacuum all of the openings into the PC and even will vacuum inside on occasion.

 

[Steltek]

I blow mine out with high pressure air using an air nozzle from an air compressor once a year and vacuum in between. Never had a problem .

 

[Florian90]

I blow mine out with high pressure air using an air nozzle from an air compressor once a year and vacuum in between. Never had a problem .

I do that too but I'm specifically wondering about weekly cleaning where I don't disassemble my PC

 

[Steltek]

I do that too but I'm specifically wondering about weekly cleaning where I don't disassemble my PC

I can't think of anything you could do to a computer to damage it by vacuuming the outside of a computer (maybe if you rubbed a vacuuming tool that builds static electricity over an exposed port or something?).

Anyway, I vacuum mine every week or two and have never had a problem with it that wasn't caused by user error.

 

[mindless1]

This seems sort of silly. I just use a paint brush to dust off the outside. Whatever falls by the wayside, gets vac'd when I vac the area.

 

[Fallen Kell]

If the case is built properly, yes, it should be perfectly safe to vacuum the outside. The main case shell should all be properly grounded in a well built system (and/or be non-conductive) so that any kind of static discharge would be safe. Now, if you happened to build the case yourself and did not properly ground it, then no, it might not be safe to vacuum the case.

 

[Florian90]

This seems sort of silly. I just use a paint brush to dust off the outside. Whatever falls by the wayside, gets vac'd when I vac the area.

But when you brush over the vents, you're also pushing dust to the inside. I don't see how vacuuming to suck the dust out would be "silly".

Anyway, I think I got enough answers. Thanks everyone!

 

[mindless1]

^ Whatever dust gets pushed in, is just stopped by the filter.

That brings it a little closer to clogged, but not all that much, as long as there is still enough airflow, it doesn't matter, eventually the filter needs cleaned either way.

Regardless, even if you don't have a filter, you are better off clearing the intake air passage than having it clogged, even if a little of that get inside the case, where it normally just falls to the bottom.

Keeping everything inside spotless doesn't matter much if you don' get air in.

Do whatever you want, I've never had an overheating problem doing it my way.