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How can having a nozzle too close to the board damage it? I would like to know so I can be careful next time.
I actually didn't use a nozzle, just pushed some air through the side with a reasonable distance, but the air this thing puts out is pretty strong.. but I didn't pushed a nozzle or something inside.
If you have a need to clean an entire GPU card, get yourself some GREEN CLEAN and a couple spare horse-hair paint brushes that have no plastics or magnetic metals inside or on them anywhere. Then you could remove the GPU cooler and paste, and gently remove thermal pads (if any) and sit those aside on wax paper. Then spray down the entire gpu with the green-clean. then use brush to move the liquid around if needed, but keep a dry brush aside and at the ready. Use hand-held air blower to blow-dry the card. If needed take a break from the drying process and use your dry brush to get into tight spaces and such, then continue the blow-drying process.
I've been doing such electronic pcb cleaning since the days of Apple-II and have yet to have an issue. It's a very effective method if such a deep clean is needed.
If you have any audio port or usb port issues you can use an electronics-safe contact cleaner spray and allow it to sit for a minute or so on the metal areas of such ports, then blow-dry them to get out any excess builld ups.
If needed to do ports cleaning though you will want to ensure the PSU power is disconnected from Motherboard and the Wall Power, and wait 5 minutes before you start the cleaning process.
When I look between the PCB and the backplate I can see some thermal pads, Maybe it's not a good idea to blow high pressure air on them? again.. I really don't know that's why I am asking just to make sure.
However it's best to avoid a compressed air system such as you'd use at an automotive shop as these are known to split out water which you never want to bave happen with your PC cleaning.
I used an electronic air duster which is suited to use with PC's and electronics.
It a small one that you can hold in your hand, and it blows high pressure air.
For example I have cleaned some people's PC who are in-door smokers. This gets inside the PC and creates a thick layer of "goo" which won't just wipe off and it makes a thick layer of caked filth for dust to stick to and build up onto over time.
Some people who live in high humidity areas may also develop a dirt layer on all your internal components that doesn't simply blow off or wipe off. I have even cleaned people's PCs where it was obvious that cat litter dust got inside the PC over time. This kind of dust is extremely fine soot and just using blower wasn't enough but required me to remove some parts and actually go over them several times with a brush to get the layers of fine dust to break away from the surfaces then air blow clean.
In those dirtier types of scenarios a scrubbing is usually required which I described earlier in Post #4
I was carefull on the fans, I hold them as I blowed air on them.
Too much air pressure directed at a certain angle could still snap off fan blades. Especially on GPUs as those tend to be smaller, thinner
But outside of the fans, do you thing that other component on the side of the card (where the heatsink is) can be damaged by blowing air on them? I cansee some electrical components inside but I guess they are all soldered to the pcb. What about the thermal pads inside?
The thermal pads for example can't come out as they are under pressure from the GPU cooler
I appreciate it.
A lot of people are not aware that air dusters, vacuum cleaners and blowers can damage your PC. There were many posts on reddit about that.
Here is one of many videos showing what can go wrong.
https://youtu.be/uLMzGwvoOuc?si=SqYe3-0ovFWntTeq
I’m on the same boat. I’ve got a blower and some anti static brushes and I know I need to be careful.
Not letting the fans to turn is a common advice. Some people say it may send some current back to capacitors and fry them. Not sure if true but better safe than sorry.