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Hi all

Was wondering what you guys did to maintain the GPUs for optimal performance? I suppose some tasks should be done weekly, and some tasks monthly and then maybe some tasks once a year?

Maybe something like this?

Weekly
General cleaning using air blower
???

Monthly
???

Yearly
Remove fans for thorough cleaning
Oil fan motors
???

It really depends on how dusty your environment is.  If you have your rigs in or near living areas, they will get dusty, as you and your movements and ceiling fans, or AC will blow dust around.  If you have your rigs in areas where there are no fans, or people/animals then your chances of dust are much lower.  Most fans are sealed, so you won't be oiling them.  :D

My advice,

Use an air compressor every 3-6 months or so to clean out the dust.

Don't remove GPUs from risers, oil fans, reapply thermal paste, etc. Only perform that when needed.

Because most likely due to human error you will end up damaging your equipment when it wasn't necessary in the first place.

Risers break very easily.
Fans blades break very easily.
Reapplying thermal paste usually does nothing but risks damaging the GPU ASIC solder mounts
etc

Weekly / Daily
Daily I check if all GPUs are still working (via teamviewer or similar software). I notice often that on some of my rigs one of GPUs stops working. I see it in device manager, but Afterburner and miner just ignore it. After restart everything is back to normal.
Weekly I check temperatures and fans. If fans are spining and temperatures are in the safe zone and your enviroment isn't extra dusty then there is nothing to worry about.

Monthly
No special maintence / same as weekly...

Yearly
While GPUs are in warranty I will only clean dust every 6 months or before if necessary. When GPUs go out of warranty (and if I don't sell them before that) I will remove fans, clean them thoroughly and replace thermal paste.

Everything absolutelly right.
Just one should be added about cleaning up PSU, MoBo, CPU cooler from dust every 6-12 (according to dusty of your mining area)

This is similar to my maintenance plan. If everything is working correctly (i.e. the rig is stable and temperatures are ok) there is no need to go in and mess with your hardware as you have a greater chance of screwing something up yourself. Physical dust build-up, while unsightly doesn't necessarily affect cooling as much as you would think by visually looking at it.

All these components we use are designed to go into a computer case, which often times will not get opened up for over a year. I have seen normal PCs (not mining rigs) that have had a year plus of dirt, hairballs, dust-bunnies, etc., build up inside and when it does get opened, say to upgrade a graphics card you wonder how it even ran. The point is manufacturers know these components will be used in dusty conditions so they are built to some degree to survive in this. I actually think open air frame shave an advantage here as even though they may look dirtier since there is no enclosed case to hold in heat the ventilation (even dirty) is far superior.

With all that said, there comes a time when a simple cleaning is required, but I would say this should be performed no more than once or twice a year.

There's not very many things for maintenance. As you mentioned, using air blower to clean up dust is almost everything for mining rig.
I do it every 3 months.

Me i get a sponge and a bucket of water i take my gpus and thouroughly rinse them with water inside and out then i scrub them with siapy water while i watch jerry apringer.

No seriously i just blow them with a a blower i bought on amazon for electronics once a week or so. I just worry about my cats biting the wires thats all :)

Thanks for all the tips!

Much appreciated.

I am waiting on my GPU after 1 year. I change the thermal grease and lubricate the fans. Blow the dust with a vacuum cleaner 1 every three months. If you use the vacuum cleaner in the suction mode it is a less effective cleaning than if you use the mode of blowing air. I don't even remove the GPU for this procedure.

Hey guys can you recommend some electric dust blower? I want to buy one and use it to clean my mining equipment, but im not really sure if its any good for that job.
I see some in Amazon, but what are the good ones? Any thoughts?

I just bought a can of compressed air, going to try and clean out the dust for the first time today. Miner has been running for 3 months. The one I have is similar to this, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cleaning-Keyboards-Dashboards-Computers-Scanners/dp/B006YT69BU/ , it was €1.50 in local deals shop.

A small air compressor around the rig works for me. Lots of air pressure to effectively blow off dust. Just be careful never to point it too close or directly at the risers. The air pressure will blow them off or can even rip them off the cards. Every 1-2 months should be plenty.

i just use air compressor every 3 months lol nothing more is needed i think, but you can do a better cleaning with a mini brush for the parts that are quite hard to reach

Is a can of compressed air really powerful enough and is 1 can enough for 2 rigs and a pc?