Solved PSU full of dust

zebal · Nov 14, 2023

I regularly clean my PC of dust, it's very clean and cool, however I can't clean my PSU easily because it's a box that is closed and the fan in PSU is very dusty, it's so dusty it's pretty loud, also entire PSU box is pretty dusty too.

What can go wrong?

pparks1 · Nov 14, 2023

Well, a power supply failure could take out all of the components it's connected to. If it's so dirty it's making noise now, I would seriously consider replacing it, if you cannot just blow it out with compressed air.

Berton · Nov 14, 2023

As @pparks1 said. But use canned air, some air compressers have lubricants and don't want that on electronics.

zebal · Nov 14, 2023

pparks1 said:
a power supply failure could take out all of the components it's connected to

Do you mean by this that other components could become faulty? or just that the PC would shut off?

bobkn · Nov 14, 2023

zebal said:
Do you mean by this that other components could become faulty? or just that the PC would shut off?

A PSU failure could damage other components.

Many years ago, I handed down a Dell PC to my nephew. The PSU blew. The repair shop re-used the RAM and graphics card. The motherboard and CPU were damaged.

If you disassemble the PSU to clean it, be careful. I've read that high voltages can be present, and may last for some time after disconnecting it from the mains.

Ghot · Nov 14, 2023

zebal said:
I regularly clean my PC of dust, it's very clean and cool, however I can't clean my PSU easily because it's a box that is closed and the fan in PSU is very dusty, it's so dusty it's pretty loud, also entire PSU box is pretty dusty too.

What can go wrong?

If the PSU is past warranty, you can also open it up and blow the dust out.
Remember, that there is either 110v or 240v in the PSU on the primary side.
That's enough voltage (and amperage), to use dust as a conductor.

Too much dust in the PSU can kill other components, and can catch on fire as well.
If the PSU "only" overheats and dies... you'll be... lucky.

If you do decide to open the PSU, remember to discharge the capacitors first...

1. Turn off the computer and turn off the PSU, but leave it hooked to the wall outlet.
2. Hold the power switch on the case down for about 20 seconds. This will discharge the capacitors.
3. Then, unplug the PSU from the wall out let and open it up.
4. I still wouldn't touch anything in there.... just blow it out.

P.S. These are U.S. instructions. The EU does weird things with electricity.

(@Try3)

zebal · Nov 14, 2023

Thank you very much guys, very useful info!

I'm lazy and though of ignoring it, but you convinced me and I'll buy a new PSU.

Ghot · Nov 14, 2023

zebal said:
Thank you very much guys, very useful info!

I'm lazy and though of ignoring it, but you convinced me and I'll buy a new PSU.

They are getting impossible to find, but if you can find a PSU with horizontal air flow... they are easier to keep dust free.

This is my PSU. It's an old PC Power & Cooling 750w Silencer power supply from about 15 years ago.
I can just blow the dust out (front to back).

I guess if the case you use has a power supply vent on the bottom, you can just blow the dust out that way. (top to bottom).

glasskuter · Nov 14, 2023

Ghot said:
you can also open it up and blow the dust out.

Yep. I've had to open up a PSU a number of times with systems that were REALLY dirty. I don't except as a last resort though. Otherwise canned air through the fan is your best bet. I too have found that newer proprietary PSUs (ie Dell) are brazed so that I can't open them up. Such a stupid design.

Ghot · Nov 14, 2023

glasskuter said:
I too have found that newer proprietary PSUs (ie Dell) are brazed so that I can't open them up

That's what Sawz-Alls are for.

Not Myself · Nov 14, 2023

Ghot said:
If the PSU is past warranty, you can also open it up and blow the dust out.
Remember, that there is either 110v or 240v in the PSU on the primary side.
That's enough voltage (and amperage), to use dust as a conductor.

Too much dust in the PSU can kill other components, and can catch on fire as well.
If the PSU "only" overheats and dies... you'll be... lucky.

If you do decide to open the PSU, remember to discharge the capacitors first...

1. Turn off the computer and turn off the PSU, but leave it hooked to the wall outlet.
2. Hold the power switch on the case down for about 20 seconds. This will discharge the capacitors.
3. Then, unplug the PSU from the wall out let and open it up.
4. I still wouldn't touch anything in there.... just blow it out.

P.S. These are U.S. instructions. The EU does weird things with electricity. (@Try3)

As a retired fire chief in the U.S., please allow me to comment that electricity in this country most assuredly "...does weird things..." as well.

Ghot · Nov 14, 2023

Not Myself said:
As a retired fire chief in the U.S., please allow me to comment that electricity in this country most assuredly "...does weird things..." as well.

I'm gonna watch some X-Files and see if that's true.

SIW2 · Nov 14, 2023

Intel i3 8100 @3.6Ghz
MotherboardH310M PRO-VDH (MS-7B29)
Memory1 x 16GB DDR4 @2400 MHz
Graphics Card(s)Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 2GB SDDR4

another stick of ram should bring a noticeable improvement.
Very cheap nowadays.
A 16gb stick is about £15 at cex. If it was my system I would trade in the 16gb stick for £10 and buy 2x8gb for £12 (if you are sticking with 2400mhz). That £2 investment well worth it to benefit from dual channel.

I would probably be tempted to get a faster 2x8gb which will work fine with the i3 and will suit i5 in case you want to upgrade the cpu at any stage. That would work out about £16-£10 (trade in for the 16gbstick) = £6

You are using a graphics card so you wont be able to use nvme disk with that x16 pcie slot.

I had a couple of h310 mobos. The only real limitation is having to choose between graphics card and nvme. For many people, it doesnt matter.

Some of the slightly less cheap h310 had an m.2 slot but because of the limited number of lanes they run at pcie 2.0 x2.

antspants · Nov 14, 2023

Like the PSU photo in Ghots post above, I unplug the PSU, remove it from the PC and then remove the top casing and blow it with a can of air. I WOULD NOT recommend this unless you are a capable person. Also, it would void the warranty and could kill you if you tried this whilst connected to power, could blow your PC if connected to your PC

I’ve had the same PSU (Silverstone 1500) since 2014.

JAM83 · Nov 14, 2023

zebal said:
I regularly clean my PC of dust, it's very clean and cool, however I can't clean my PSU easily because it's a box that is closed and the fan in PSU is very dusty, it's so dusty it's pretty loud, also entire PSU box is pretty dusty too.

What can go wrong?

There's a lot that can go wrong, bud. It could overheat and cause damage to other components, as someone else already said. It could blow a capacitor and spark and cause a fire. . . That'd be bad. . . You definitely need to find a way to clean it. Or get you another PSU man.

zebal · Nov 17, 2023

Hey guys, I would like to report back what I did, according to suggestions of some folks here.

I called a bunch of vulcanizers in my city whom I found over google maps, I called them and asked to please borrow me compressor to blow out dust of my computer.
4/5 of them refused with various excuses such as they don't have time for this or that their boss would fire them lol.

One of them was the actual boss lol and told me to come by, he gave me the compressor, I did the job and paid him 5 euros for beer haha.

Now my PSU is like brand new :)
However I can still hear the fan spinning louder than usual, so I guess it's some other mechanical error with the fan but it otherwise works just fine, temps are OK.

pparks1 · Nov 17, 2023

zebal said:
However I can still hear the fan spinning louder than usual, so I guess it's some other mechanical error with the fan but it otherwise works just fine, temps are OK.

most likely the bearings going on the fans. That's almost always the reason for the increased noise levels.

johnlgalt · Nov 17, 2023

On first blush I would have simply thought the fan is running more because the components are old and have been, for all intents and purposes, abused as they were.

But I agree, there is more than one type of definition of 'louder'. Lol.

zebal · Nov 17, 2023

pparks1 said:
most likely the bearings going on the fans. That's almost always the reason for the increased noise levels.

Is it possible to fix it yourself? or is it better to go for new PSU?

johnlgalt · Nov 17, 2023

If you're a certified electrician, and know what you're doing, sure, you can fix it yourself.

(That means 99% of the people in the world cannot fix it themselves).

Give it a couple of days and see how it works, it may be remnants of dust, or blade imbalance, that could also be causing the issue.

Otherwise, get it checked with a PSU tester - or, if you have the funds, replace it.

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