Keeping your Computer Cool

Keeping your computer cool is vital. We live in a beautiful part of the world. It is for many of us a rural retreat but being rural can be a problem for computers. There is a lot of dust about! If you ever see a tractor ploughing in the paddocks you will see clouds of red dust following it. There are many dirt roads and just ordinary household dust. Dust will find its way into your computer and can cause problems but with a bit of housekeeping you can prevent serious damage.

Overheating

The fan in your computer is there to keep the Central Processing Unit (CPU) from overheating. However the fan seems to attract the dust. If there is too much dust on the fan it will not do its job properly. When the CPU gets too hot, you may get a warning message or the machine may just shut down. If the CPU is continually overheating it could become useless and will need to be replaced. Therefore to avoid a costly replacement keep your fan clear of dust.

Sample of what your fan may look like

This is a machine I had in last week. After removing the cover you can see the fan and dust quite clearly.

To remove the dust you can use a can of compressed air or a small paintbrush will work. DO NOT USE YOUR VACUUM CLEANER!

Fan after cleaning

Laptops

Your laptop also has a fan which should be kept clean. It is a good idea to use canned air. Although known as canned air it is actually canned gas and it also called a gas duster.  Canned air can be used for cleaning dust off surfaces such as keyboards as well as sensitive electronics where moisture is not desired.

With a laptop use the canned air by spraying through the ventilation holes near where the fan is located.

The holes nearest the fan are circled on the photo of the underside of a laptop below. You could clean the other holes as well.

A little housekeeping can save you time and money later. If you need more advice contact Cath.