cleaning

face

Hi all.

Im a bit concerned about something. every time I switch on my pc there is a groaning sound coming from it when it loads up, im thinking it might be the fan im not certain though?

I haven’t cleaned the inside of the base unit since I got it which is a year ago lol. What ever the problem is? I need to get inside and clean whatever dust has accumulated there. Now…I don’t have the necessary equipment to clean it, like a wrist strap and so on. But I was thinking of going ahead and doing it carefully without trying to electrocuting myself lol. I heard that even when the pc is switched of it stills stores power and that’s my main concern. that’s why ive put off cleaning it.

Do I really need specialized tools to clean it or am I save to go ahead and see for myself lol. Has anyone got advise before I do the cleaning that I should be aware of? Shortly I will be adding more memory so I will have to get inside anyways.

Thanks for your help.

All the best

Face.

Hobart

Open the PC up with the power cable out. Capacitors do store residual power, just don't touch anything on the inside. When you have the pc opened bring it outside and use a hoover to suck the dust out (if you have a hoover that blows aswell as sucks blow the dist out). There are normally 2 fans in a home PC. One on the power supply and one on the CPU. A good hoover should sort both out. Don't drop the PC and be very careful when handling it.

face

thanks hobart

i have a hoover but it dosent blow lol. maybe my girlfriend can accomodate me there lol.

seriously......i will give it ago. i cant leave it any longer the worst it will be getting. i will be carefull though :eek: maybe then the noise will go? but thats another story.

thanks again hobart.

all the best

face

Zapho

Hi, there's not need to worry about electrocuting yourself. When the power cable is plugged out, there should be no current going through the system. Also the power supply will only be giving a max of 5V to each component (except the disk drives, but they are in their own cases anyway!) So go ahead, clean out the dust and give the boards a VERY gental clean with an anti-static cloth.
Those wrist straps aren't for your protection against a shock, they're actually to stop any static that may have built up on your body from damaging components (usually RAM) but thats also rare enough, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Its never happened to me!
The noise could also be something caught in your fan like a small piece of metal or something so if a hoover doesnt fix it, just get a screw driver to it, except if the problem is with the power supple. Don't open that!

face

thanks zapho/hobart

i took the plunge and cleaned it out, surprisingly there wasnt much dust just a little. as for the noise its still there. it lasts for about a minute then gets quite again. i looked at the fans but couldnt see anything unusaul that would cause the noise

maybe i need a new one? if only i knew which one it was. then again it could be something other than the fan?

thanks again lads for your help

all the best

face

galwaydude18

your hard drive maybe on its last legs!!!! try a different one and see if the noise goes away!

face

hi galwaydude18.

i was thinking that the other day, but wasnt sure? i knew my pc needed cleaning, so i thought that dust might have accumalated on one of the fans which is why there was noise.

if its the harddrive? is it top priority to get it sorted as soon as possible? or can i relax for awhile?

all the best

face.

Capt'n Midnight

face wrote:

hi galwaydude18.

i was thinking that the other day, but wasnt sure? i knew my pc needed cleaning, so i thought that dust might have accumalated on one of the fans which is why there was noise.

if its the harddrive? is it top priority to get it sorted as soon as possible? or can i relax for awhile?

all the best

face.

If you suspect the HDD backup everything immediatley - if it's heading for a head crash then it will get progressivley worse and worse till it don't boot up no more, ever, even if you replace the controller card. By progressively I mean you may already be on the last boot , not that you have the luxury of waiting for errors to appear on the screen...

If it is on then backup before you turn it off !

Cover the fan for a second or two (as in less than 3 seconds) with a towel to see if the noise is from it - if so the relax - your data isn't stored on them.

NotMe

Try turning on the PC with the case cover off and listen carefully for where the sound is coming from (hard drive, dvd drive, fans...). You should be able to identify where the problem is. Just don't touch anything hehe

galwaydude18

hey i definetly susspect its the hard drive. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU BACK UP ALL YOUR FILES IMMEDIATLY WITHOUT ANY FURTHER DELAY. when you have that done try a different hard drive and see if the noise goes away. if it is your hard drive dying it will get progressivley worse and worse till it don't boot up no more, ever, even if you replace the controller card as capt't midnight has said in his post!

Lump

Talk about sensationalism....

Don't stick anything into the grills of the PSU... as Hobart says, they will store a bog charge.... as they convert from 240 Volt to the various voltages used in the PC.

John

Duffman

Is there a small fan on your gfx card? When my PC started to sound like a lawnmower that was the problem. Use your finger to stop it and see if the noise stops..

center15

I'm having the same noise problem at startup and it's the gfx card fan. I've tried cleaning it but there's no difference, my card's a Nvidia 5700 ultra. Anyone found a solution?