Last Updated on November 30, 2019 by Christopher G Mendla
The heat of summer is coming soon. Heat is one of the biggest killers of electronics.
Computers tend to pick up a lot of dust over time. The dust finds it’s way into the cooling fins of the CPU and the power supply which causes temperatures to rise.
Granted, many machines are in an air conditioned environment but there are other that are not.
As always you should have a thorough backup before doing anything with a machine.
The first step is to shut down the machine and open the cover.
You can purchase canned ‘air’ at the local office supply store . When you use canned air, it is important to make sure that you don’t tilt the can in a way that allows liquid to spray on the components. The liquid is extremely cold and the temperature stress could cause problems.
The key areas to blow out are the CPU and the power supply. You also want to make sure that any of the vents are cleaned.
While you are at it, take a look at the surge protector. Summer thunderstorms will cause power spikes. Surge protectors can only take a certain level of hits before they fail to protect the systems.