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Dust/internal cleaning?

Montymitch

Montymitch

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 16, 2009
218
15
I just installed some more ram in my 27" 2012 iMac, and when I opened the little door on the back I noticed it was flecked with dust. No biggie.
I had it facing screen down on my bed and grabbed the bulb duster I use for my camera and started puffing. I was a little shocked by how much dust came out of the vents on the bottom of the monitor. TONS of dust. I'm talking I had to explain to my wife why we have to wash the comforter now. I've only had this for about 8 months--is this normal? Besides blowing the dust out, is there any other method?
I guess I'm going to have to add something to my computer maintenance routine.
 
Thanks for reminding me to clean the back of mine! I haven't cleaned mine since I bought it, I'm sure it's going to be filthy.
 
Montymitch said:
I just installed some more ram in my 27" 2012 iMac, and when I opened the little door on the back I noticed it was flecked with dust. No biggie.
I had it facing screen down on my bed and grabbed the bulb duster I use for my camera and started puffing. I was a little shocked by how much dust came out of the vents on the bottom of the monitor. TONS of dust. I'm talking I had to explain to my wife why we have to wash the comforter now. I've only had this for about 8 months--is this normal? Besides blowing the dust out, is there any other method?
I guess I'm going to have to add something to my computer maintenance routine.
Click to expand...

Although not as effective as manual cleaning, you can install SMC Fan Control and ramp the fans up to absolute maximum now and again. It won't get all of it out but will shift some of the dust.
 
Hadn't thought of that. This machine definitely runs cooler than my last iMac, so the fans don't see much action. I went with Macs Fan Control and ramped up the fan. Thanks for the idea.
 
I try to wipe my desk down at least once a week to cut down on the amount of dust that could potentially get sucked into the machine.

I also use to be a "leave it on 24/7" type, never sleeping or shutting down, just sleeping the display. I did this mainly as I am a believer that an hdd constantly running is better for it than unnecessary on/off cycles - think when things generally break, when they just turn on or just turn off, not usually while they're running.

Now that I upgraded to a 2013 with all flash, sleep has become my best friend and the computer spends most of its day (Monday through Friday at least while I am at work) in sleep mode. This will cut down on potential dust intake too.
 
iMacs suck up dust like dogs suck up food when it drops on the floor.
Just make sure the surroundings are always clean (and the back & bottom of the computer too).
In order to completely blow out the dust in your iMac, I would suggest taking out the display and using a blower, though it's pretty dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.
 
I was messing around with iStats the other day.

I inadvertently adjusted the slider for the fan speed from its default 1200 rpm to 2640 rpm. I've only had my iMac since January 2013, but the amount of dust that got blew out when I sped the fans up was very surprising. So cranking the fans up to maximum for a short time is a good way to clear fluff, dust out of the rear vents.

I've yet to hear the fans ramp up, so this explains why there was so much dust sitting in the vents.

I have a can of compressed air which I normally use to give the vents another going over. But I'm a bit dubious about using it in case some of the propellant comes out. In light of that I've now ordered the Giottos blower that's mentioned earlier in the thread.
 
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