Hello, I am asking this question out of curiosity, how do you guys clean your gaming case ? what's the best way you suggest ? I have Cooler Master Storm Sniper case and I regularly clean it in like in a month or so but there are many difficult to reach areas that cannot be cleaned of dust, I am sure others also encounter this and would like to know what's your way to keep it shining like new ? I don't think de-assembling everything just for cleaning is feasible or safe for hardware ?
With this http://www.amazon.com/Metro-Vacuum-ED500-500-Watt-Electric/dp/B001J4ZOAW Next best thing to an air compressor.
I might just invest in that looks a great piece of kit. How powerful is it? I'll watch some YouTube videos later to get an idea
Just as powerful as any can of compressed air if not more powerful. Comes with a few attachments aswell.
Thank you for response everyone I heard mixed opinions about canned air, some say it's expensive and has tendency to form moisture on components and some day it's good, but I'll avoid something that has possibility of forming moisture so that datavac and other vacuum based solutions sound good. But are they enough to remove dust from all areas ? I mean it's easy to clean dry dust but there is caked dust on fan blades too that is quite difficult to clean and reach. It looks absolutely ugly to have a clean case but dust on fan blades so is that vacuum capable to reach those areas and clean effectively ? If so I'll buy one immediately.
I usually use canned air for easy cleaning. Every couple of months, I'll take a damp wipe to non-conductive components that I can reach and exterior surfaces. I also use wipes for fan blades. A stiff-bristle paint brush can sometimes be used to reach into harder areas and knock off built up grime - just watch where it falls. I have the CM HAF XB test-bench case with removable motherboard tray so it's fairly easy to keep everything intact and still clean the insides. (Now if only the intake fan filters were removable on this) As for moisture for cans, as long as you don't bounce the can while you're spraying, and ease into each blast of air, you shouldn't get any moisture out of it.
I dont think that I would bother taking the full PC apart just to clean it! I usually take the side out and blow everything off with canned air. That being said I have case filters and liquid cooling so I dont really have a ton of dust build up.
Compressed air and a vacuum cleaner. I keep the vacuum on (just above the case) while I blow the dust up into it with the compressed air.
I use my Craftsman 160psi 26-gallon air compressor. BUT!!! Never use an air compressor without having a proper air filter for removing oil and water from the air as well as a air dryer canister in your hose system. Every time your compressor is running it accumulates water inside the main tank because that's just what happens when air is compressed which heats it up, then condenses when cooled, leaving water in the tank. It's not humid here in southern California and even so, every couple months i'll hook up my modified drain valve (installed a 90' elbow instead and installed a ball-valve with a barbed hose fitting. Now i just take the short hose that's connected, put it into a plastic jug and slowly open the ball valve. I typically get a quarter to half gallon water in the tank after a couple months. Using the stupid twist valve on most compressors is just a messy way to go. The filter/dryer I use is designed for use with HVLP automotive paint spray guns because any moisture while spraying will ruin a paint job. Also, it is not a good idea to use 99% of vacuums out there. Nylon bristles create static electricity as does the dust traveling through the vacuum hose itself. An extreme example of this was last summer when I had my Rigid 14 gallon 6.5hp shop-vac hooked up to my angle grinder since I was grinding the garage floor with a concrete wheel to smooth it out so I can properly seal the floor. Because I used a water-trap (think of it as bucket made into a big bong where the shop vac sucked air/dust through the water trap, then into my vac. Well the fine dust would generate a MASSIVE electric charge on the bucket. So powerful in fact that I walked by it about 6 inches away and the bucket shot a bolt of static electricity that hit me like a police taser, and even dropped me to the ground. This can happen to a lower extent and fry your components. Any and all brushes should be a natural bore-hair or horse-hair brush. Nylon is bad. oh... and when using a high psi compressor, ALWAYS put a finger into fans while cleaning them. you don't want them to spin too fast and screw up the bearings.
