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After mining for a little over 2 months....I'm starting to have a hard time of ridding my cased rigs of dust. I know I can't be the only person on this forum that mines 24/7 that looks and their rig and says something along the lines of holy $^#& that thing is dirty after several weeks of it sucking and blowing air. I blame my two dogs for all the dust and dander either way, It's becoming a problem for me. My fan grills are the biggest problem which generally can be cleared out by a vacuum on reverse. However, I have to unscrew and dismantle parts of the case to get the dust out of these grills completely. VERY inconvenient....

The hardest part is the components which end up in a VERY thing layer of dust. Very visible yet very hard to remove with just blowing air.

Out of curiosity how do you clean you rigs, if applicable. Really just interested in seeing if someone has an easier method lol.

80+ views in less then an hour yet no responses, cmon guys....

I use canned air, because it has high pressure. Use something to hold the fans when you clean them. Hope this helps.

Canned air / duster works very good for me for generally cleaning computer parts. You could also be preventive and install filters on your intake fans.

EDIT: When I wrote "duster" i meant it as a synonym for canned air. Something like this:
http://images.highspeedbackbone.net/skuimages/large/32028021.jpg

dust filter on front, watercooling. no dust inside my case after about 6 months of 24/7. :) good investment.

Canned air can be costly if you have multiple rigs to take care of. I imagine something like a duster would work decently but it doesn't fix fan grills, still involves dismantling etc, on my cases anyways.

I'm kind of a noob when it comes to computer parts. Is it safe to rub something like say, a feather dust all over the components to remove dust, IE no static damage etc.

I remember a long time ago someone posted about a very small powerful vacuum on OCN forums for being amazing for cleaning computers with real good feedback on the thread as well. Never really thought twice about it till now. Wish I remember what it was.

go rent an air compressor.  Or find a friend who has one. 

I rinse my rig once a month.



side note: mining rigs don't last very long, most of my components breaks after a month or so  ::)

Maybe if you overclock to ridiculous levels and push the voltage 30% higher than normal & have no ventilation at all.

I have cards from 2010 (5850's, 5770's, 5970, 5830) mining just fine today at 5% overclocks and no changes made to voltage.
All fans work fine as well.

If you run the cards at fairly cool temperatures (60-72c) and the VRM is not choked by hot air, there is no reason why they would break in a month.

ive used air compressors for years without problems

I use a household vacuum cleaner and a small paint brush to agitate the dust.

Don't need to keep it 100% dust free, just try to clear as much as you can and it should be fine.

Just get a case that has easy accessible filters. You could run an air purifier in your room, it should pick up a lot of dust as well. I use one with a charcoal filter I can cut and replace as needed. Saves on having to replace the main filter.

shop vac running in reverse works nicely to clearing out my case.

as for keeping dust out, dry swiffer cloths (or generic alternative) make great filters.  just remember to change them regularly or they'll get clogged, gimp your cooling, and cause your rig to overheat.

Dont use canned air it is weak expensive and can taint the air with a bad taste :)

Buy a cheap little air compressor if you dont have one, you will never go back to canned air again

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-gallon-100-psi-oilless-pancake-air-compressor-95275.html

I usually hose mine down. Its easier.

clean with pledge, it has  properties that help the dust from landing and sticking a bit..

Plus your card will be lemon fresh!

Removable fan filters are nice, mine came with plastic grilles you can snap the filters on and off of. They don't slow down my airflow at all, unless they get clogged. I just run em under hot water and dry them really well once a week. I use canned air to clean off the inside if it seems to be getting dusty.

12 years of PC service here, the best solution I've found is pantyhose over the intake.. sounds crazy, but its cheap and works really well  ;D

You called?

Good idea.. doesn't seem too bad of a price when you compare it to buying cans of air.

Yea, a portable compressor works great. I use an inline water separator with a long-tipped air gun to get in and under heatsinks, etc.

I have a lot of computers, I use a small compressor that I added a desiccant filter to in order to remove any moisture in the compressed air. 120 PSI FTW...

Reminds me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1zzJIWKCMw&feature=related

 :P

You sir just earned yourself some coin.