PSA: Stop using compressed air to clean power supply boards

I used to blow out PSUs with a can of air, but after I zapped a board last winter I switched to a soft brush and isopropyl alcohol. A friend told me compressed air can create static and push crap deeper into the fan bearings. Has anyone else seen a power supply fail right after a compressed air cleaning?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix_grant3425d agoTop Commenter

Had a buddy who fried his gaming rig's PSU doing exactly this, canned air made the fan spin crazy fast and it just died mid game. He never gets why I call it "compressed death" now (he learned the hard way).

emery_black25d ago

You said "compressed death" and honestly that's the perfect name for it. But here's what I don't get - if the fan bearings get wrecked from spinning too fast, wouldn't you hear that grinding noise right away before the whole unit dies? Or does it just quietly fry itself from the inside?

adamr1425d ago

Brushed my own PSU with compressed air before I knew better. Yeah you'd think you'd hear it, but nope. The bearings just quietly get wrecked, next thing you know your computer is dead mid match with no warning.