BUTTERFLY TECHNICAL SERVICES logo

BUTTERFLY TECHNICAL SERVICES
Brooklyn, New York

The Consultant's Scrapbook
Why all your computers deserve routine technical service.

Modern air-cooled room temperature CPU's are truly a technical wonder. It was not that long ago that all computers required expensive cooling systems. Yet air-cooled CPU's, and specifically recent models which require cooling fans attached to their heatsinks, all have a common flaw... they create ionized dust which clings to surfaces and if left unchecked can clog the heatsink's cooling fins causing higher CPU operating temperature, higher fan speeds and increased noise on some motherboards, and in extreme cases CPU or motherboard failure.

Take as an example the motherboard pictured below. The heatsink is clogged, the fan's blade edges are covered in dust reducing the flow of air even further. In the second photo (with the cooler assembly removed) you can see that dirt is starting to cling to the motherboard surrounding the CPU. Not exactly the best set of operating conditions.


When the heatsink/fan assembly is disassembled for cleaning the true magnitude of the problem is much easier to see.


Dust covering the underside of the heatsink fan. 		 
Closeup of the dust clogged CPU heatsink.


In the final pictures below the heatsink has been cleaned [left]. The now clean and re-assembled
cooling assembly is shown ready to be replaced onto the motherboard once it too has been cleaned.


Closeup of the cleaned CPU heatsink. 		 
Cooler assembly clean and ready to go.


The problem is even worse in dirty industrial and office environments, but even in the cleanest of homes, after a year or two, dust will do it's part.. clogging up air-passages, covering wires, raising the temperature, increasing the strain on components and ultimately the chance of a catastrophic system failure, which we all know will certainly happen just when you need your computer the most.

EASY SELF-HELP TIP FOR THE END USER:
 Opening the case and blasting the cooler/fan assembly with pressurized, filered air can slow the process and may extend the time between maintanence visits.

Not convinced? Want to see more dirty computers? You can find some extreme examples here.

Butterfly Tech provides custom built systems with built-in air-filters which can help to keep your system internals from collecting dust and pet-hair in household or office environments, as well as sealed industrial-strength computers, monitors and keyboards suitable for extremely dirty or hazardous locations.


It's our business.
Supporting the technology that supports you.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, please contact us.



HomePage