Vacuum cleaners vs. PCs and peripherals

[rd369151]

A tangent of the 'how to clean a PC' topic is whether or not using household vacuum cleaners is safe. The first scenario is the rushing air in the tubes creating static via the “triboelectric effect.” The other is if the electrical motors powering them create a danger by their fields.

(I’m aware that blowers, e.g., the Metro DataVac Electric Duster I’ve had for over a decade, are preferred.)

Anecdotal accounts of damages and mitigations are mixed.

Summarizing the general Internet advice I've seen, for my own vacuum cleaner, the metal wand could be made safer by attaching the usual grounded anti-static wrist strap around the tube, and for the plastic tube, having a grounded bare copper wire folded into the air flow would dissipate the static.

Assume that either tube never reaches inside the PC case. (With the PC off, and grounded, while cleaning.)

And let's say there was an external moving platter hard disk sitting on top of the PC, with a thumb drive inserted into the front USB port.

What would be the risk to any of the equipment if the vacuum's wands were aimed beyond them to clean the dust over the cords along the wall?
Even from just the motor being close to the equipment?

 

[cschuber]

Using a vacuum cleaner is the only way to thoroughly clean the bit bucket, implemented in UNIX as /dev/null and in Windows as NUL. It eventually fills up with one bits -- the zero bits take up no space in the bit bucket.

Once the bit bucket in the machine is full one must open the case to remove the bit bucket contents. Some bits, like the UNIX sticky bit, cannot be emptied by simply dumping the bit bucket. One must use a vacuum cleaner.

 

[PHolder]

There's many e-blower products, and while cheap, unsure how many are also really any good. You could splurge for the "Metrovac DataVac ED-500 Electric Duster Kit" but make sure you also get hearing protection for you and everyone nearby. While it's highly rated and very durable, and will likely outlast you, it is also VERY VERY LOUD.

 

[rd369151]

There's many e-blower products, and while cheap, unsure how many are also really any good. You could splurge for the "Metrovac DataVac ED-500 Electric Duster Kit" but make sure you also get hearing protection for you and everyone nearby. While it's highly rated and very durable, and will likely outlast you, it is also VERY VERY LOUD.

My initial post explained that I DO have that Metrovac, but it doesn't help with the dust on the floor behind the computer.