Windows 10: Can the liquid from a compressed air damage the fan of the heatsink?

Hey,

I was cleaning my PC today with a can of compressed air and I didn't know that I'm not supposed to shake it, and some liquid came out on the CPU fan. It even left a stain on one of the blades of the fan. Did I damage something? Can I somehow remove the stain?

:)

 

What would be the best way to clear out this dust.

Compressed air blower/canister, sprayed into the fan or if you can access the fans by removing a cover use a cotton bud to remove any dust &/or compressed air.

 

Computer fan won't stop running

It may be just a simple case of the fans requiring a clean, check for dust & fluff & use a can of compressed air to clear the fans.

 

I've had that happen to me a few times and it didn't cause any problems. It evaporates very quickly.

 

So far there isn't a problem. I'm gonna try to run some heavy games just to test it.

What about the stain, though? Can I clean it somehow? It's a big one and it kinda bothers me.

 

Plus it's out of non (electrically)conductive liquid, if you're worried about a short or something.
Best way to clean:

• Always shut down your PC before cleaning,
• hit the power switch in the back, or unplug it,
• push the power button a few to 10 seconds to drain the last bit of electricity from the system,
• allow the PC to cool totally down, not only because gas is flammable, but it or the CO2 variant are extremely cold and warm to ice cold in an instant can damage components, weld points, or circuitry,
• touch the PSU with your bare hand to rid your self of any static charge(the PSU is grounded),
• use an anti-static(ESD) electric component brush to get rid of the heavy dust first,
• then use the compressed "air"(usually very flammable(that's why you need to touch the PSU and ground yourself) butane, but there is also the more expensive, harder to find, CO2 cans also) to get into the nooks and crannies,
• then brush and wipe up what's left.

 

As long as the system is not switched on liquid doesnt damage anything ! Use a wet cloth to remove the stain with the system switched off.
I have washed whole motherboards with everything removed and dried them in sun. It made em brand new shiny and they worked flawless. Though it isnt recommended *Biggrin

 

isopropyl alcohol on a Q-tip. Biggest thing with the can of compressed air is to keep it upright when using it so the liquid stays in the bottom. Shaking it will increase the pressure some but only until the can itself gets cold and then shaking the can will have minimal effect. And you don't want to shake and spray at the same time. The pressure comes from the evaporation of the gas compressed to a liquid form and that evaporation causes the can to become cold. Shaking the can increases the evaporation rate - which also increases the rate of heat transfer due to the evaporation and makes the can cold quicker. The colder the can (and atmosphere inside the can) becomes, the lower the rate of evaporation becomes and that lowers the pressure inside the can. So you really end up with a trade-off by shaking it. Higher pressure for a shorter period of time. Run the can under hot water to warm it up again.

 

Thanks for the replies. The PC has been running for a few hours without problems while playing games, even getting pretty loud. I guess, everything is alright. At least now I know how to use it properly - without shaking and keeping it upright. *Biggrin