# Cleaning Computer Using Car Air Compressor



## mihir

For a long time now I have been cleaning my computer using different different things.
I was just going through air-compressors on ebay and the cheapest ones available were car air compressors.
I don't know the functioning of that car air compressor.Like the pipe which spits the air out,only works when you plug it into the tire valve???
So I wanted to know how can I use it for cleaning my computer?
What modifications would I have to do to make it workable with my computer to clear the dust.


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## Twist86

LOL I love the people in India....always looking 2 miles outside of the box for the neatest solution to a problem. I myself have no clue what exactly you would need BUT I imagine a car battery and a way to "start" it is all that would be needed. Don't take me on my word but based off what I saw that is all it looks to be.


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## mihir

Twist86 said:


> *LOL I love the people in India*....always looking 2 miles outside of the box for the neatest solution to a problem. I myself have no clue what exactly you would need BUT I imagine a car battery and a way to "start" it is all that would be needed. Don't take me on my word but based off what I saw that is all it looks to be.



HAHA

I have a way to power it.
My uncle owns a car accessories shop I have the car charger adapter for the normal 220V socket.


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## Twist86

Well any chance you have the part you can test it without having to buy it? BTW you can cut the valve off if it causes that problem and tac a air gun to it as well. I myself just bought a $40 compressor off craigslist


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## mihir

Twist86 said:


> *Well any chance you have the part you can test it without having to buy it?* BTW you can cut the valve off if it causes that problem and tac a air gun to it as well. I myself just bought a $40 compressor off craigslist



This is the kind of thing which the indian sellers don't understand.  



Twist86 said:


> Well any chance you have the part you can test it without having to buy it? _BTW you can cut the valve off if it causes that problem and tac a air gun to it as well._ I myself just bought a $40 compressor off craigslist



That is what I was planning to do.Except the air gun.What kind of air gun are we looking at and is it easily available as an extension.



Twist86 said:


> Well any chance you have the part you can test it without having to buy it? BTW you can cut the valve off if it causes that problem and tac a air gun to it as well. I myself just bought a $40 compressor off craigslist



Damn $40 bucks is a lot.I am getting mine for $8.


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## tremmor

thats about what i have. A Data Vac Duster. I spent about $40.00 ebay. On the lighter side i would goto office supply and buy a 4 can pack of air and cost $20.00.
this had all kind of attachments for it. twice the pressure of a can of air or i can reduce with the attachments. ya can't blow a tire up with it. but i have a different compress.


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## mihir

tremmor said:


> thats about what i have. A Data Vac Duster. I spent about $40.00 ebay. On the lighter side i would goto office supply and buy a 4 can pack of air and cost $20.00.
> this had all kind of attachments for it. twice the pressure of a can of air or i can reduce with the attachments. ya can't blow a tire up with it. but i have a different compress.



Sir,
Do you also use a car compressor or a car vaccum?
Also I chucked the idea of Compressed-Air in a can since it would be really expensive for me since those are pretty expensive here, and also I don't want to buy a can everytime I decide to clean my computer.I would like something unlimited like the compressor.
Can you tell me what kind of extensions would I need or  also would I even need an extension or just use cut of the default extension and use the pipe directly?


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## tremmor

post a picture. don't know what ya have to adapt.


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## Benny Boy

I don't think one of those tire pumper uppers are going to work very well for that. They are slow to air up a tire because they don't put out much air at once. Why not just a small air tank and fill it up now and then.


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## mihir

http://cgi.ebay.in/Car-Air-Compress...tDomain_203&hash=item33663db266#ht_3338wt_802

The car charger to the Power socket adapter is full proof and will power the Air Compressor I am not worried about that.Since I have used it a lot of times.

I am worried about the extension at the end of the pipe





Benny Boy said:


> I don't think one of those tire pumper uppers are going to work very well for that. They are slow to air up a tire because they don't put out much air at once. *Why not just a small air tank and fill it up now and then.*


Can you please elaborate.I do not know how to use that.And what all to buy for doing that.If its better than the air compressor then I will sure look into it.



Benny Boy said:


> I don't think one of those tire pumper uppers are going to work very well for that. They are slow to air up a tire because they don't put out much air at once.Why not just a small air tank and fill it up now and then.


I have seen them work thought they were pretty powerful.Do you think they won't be able to get the dust of the fans and the case.If no then I will research more about it.


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## Benny Boy

When the air comes out of that it's like puffs, not a stream. And also it does not, would you want, a very hard stream of air, that ^ type compressor would be like going puhhpuhhpuhh, basically. Look for a used one from the painting industry. They use small ones for hlvp and such that have no tank, very prtable, small, and make an adjustable stream of air. You wont find one for $8 but there may be a deal somewhere.


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## mihir

Benny Boy said:


> When the air comes out of that it's like puffs, not a stream. And also it does not, would you want, a very hard stream of air, that ^ type compressor would be like going puhhpuhhpuhh, basically. Look for a used one from the painting industry. They use small ones for hlvp and such that have no tank, very prtable, small, and make an adjustable stream of air. You wont find one for $8 but there may be a deal somewhere.



Ok will check them out.
Are you sure about the car air compressor?
I will check some more out and also ask my uncle about it.


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## tremmor

this is what i bought. $40.00 ebay and new.
http://www.all-spec.com/products/ed-500.html?gclid=CNrFvKCTtKgCFQbCKgodhmF1AQ


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## mihir

That thing is $145 in India.
I would see what my alternate options are.Any suggestions?
All the big air compressors which you are talking about are pretty expensive.
Also what specs should I look for in an Air Compressor.


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## Twist86

mihir said:


> Damn $40 bucks is a lot.I am getting mine for $8.



Well mine ranges at 1800 PSI which is considered "middle ground" for compressors. The one on ebay is only 260 PSI which I imagine is not as good as a can of air. I would say mine shoots about 4 cans of air at once   So all in all that is not a bad $40 deal when you consider I used 4 cans of air a year.


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## tremmor

I don't know. but i do understand your concern about price. there must be a back door for buying this stuff. 
Good luck.


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## mihir

Twist86 said:


> Well mine ranges at 1800 PSI which is considered "middle ground" for compressors. The one on ebay is only 260 PSI which I imagine is not as good as a can of air. I would say mine shoots about 4 cans of air at once   So all in all that is not a bad $40 deal when you consider I used 4 cans of air a year.



What all should I look in an air compressors like I am talking about specs.
Like PSI should be in what range for it to do the job.



Twist86 said:


> Well mine ranges at 1800 PSI which is considered "middle ground" for compressors. *The one on ebay is only 260 PSI which I imagine is not as good as a can of air. I would say mine shoots about 4 cans of air at once*   So all in all that is not a bad $40 deal when you consider I used 4 cans of air a year.



HAHAHAHA.


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## voyagerfan99

At the computer shop I work at, we have a little 120PSi Husky compressor we use to blow computers out. It does what it needs to.


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## mihir

voyagerfan99 said:


> At the computer shop I work at, we have a little 120PSi Husky compressor we use to blow computers out. It does what it needs to.



So 260PSi would be enough?Right.


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## voyagerfan99

mihir said:


> So 260PSi would be enough?Right.



lol 120 is plenty. No need to go more than that.


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## speedyink

Wow, what measurement of PSI are you guys using?  If it's pounds per square inch your looking at 60-70 PSI, MAX!  260 PSI will blow the components out of your computer!  Air ratchets for example use around 90-120 PSI.  

As for that auto pump, that does NOT push out 250 PSI, it only has the ability to fill something up to 250PSI, which is entire bullshit in itself.  It's like cheap chinese companies that make speakers advertising 200 watts, only they're using the peak music output measurement rating, which can translate to something like 3 watts RMS in drastic cases.  I own a pump exactly like that and it takes about 5 minutes to inflate one car tire to about 35psi, and that's being entirely generous, i'm sure it weighs in more on the 10 minutes side of things..never actually timed it.  It takes my house compressor set at 100 PSI about half a minute.  It MIGHT work if you hacked it up and put a very small nozzle to the end, thus creating a more refined stream of pressure.


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## voyagerfan99

Yeah it's per square inch. We have just an air nozzle on it and turn the pressure up as high as we can (which is like 110 or so). Believe me, you need a lot of air when dealing with heavy thick dust. It clogs heatsinks so bad. I'll have to dig out a few pictures when I get back to school tomorrow night.


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## cabinfever1977

There not just for filling air in a tire, they also can operate air power tools and also with the right attachment can blow air with the sweeze of  handle, used to dust off your clothes and stuff, like computers. Used in shops and garages around the world and plug into a outlet for power,not sure if 220 or 110 but both are probally available.


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## speedyink

voyagerfan99 said:


> Yeah it's per square inch. We have just an air nozzle on it and turn the pressure up as high as we can (which is like 110 or so). Believe me, you need a lot of air when dealing with heavy thick dust. It clogs heatsinks so bad. I'll have to dig out a few pictures when I get back to school tomorrow night.



I must not have seen computers as dirty as you have...I've never needed 110 psi to clean a computer.  I am worried about component damage if you turn it up much higher than that.  Those little plastic fan fins don't look very strong 




cabinfever1977 said:


> There not just for filling air in a tire, they also can operate air power tools and also with the right attachment can blow air with the sweeze of  handle, used to dust off your clothes and stuff, like computers. Used in shops and garages around the world and plug into a outlet for power,not sure if 220 or 110 but both are probally available.



The compressor in question is not a standard air compressor, but a portable 12v car tire compressor.  You are right, a standard air compressor would be ideal, but this guys trying to do it on the super cheap.


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## mihir

speedyink said:


> I must not have seen computers as dirty as you have...I've never needed 110 psi to clean a computer.  I am worried about component damage if you turn it up much higher than that.  Those little plastic fan fins don't look very strong
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The compressor in question is not a standard air compressor, but a portable 12v car tire compressor.  You are right, a standard air compressor would be ideal, but this guys trying to do it on the super cheap.



I asked my uncle and he conformed that te car air compressors output would be pulsated.he also adviced me to look into electric air blowers.if anyone knows about them can you tell me?

And yeah I am looking for it to be do in the cheapest way.the max I can pay is 30bucks.


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## tremmor

I did what i bought. Im sure you can buy even cheaper. could buy a used one. look at the credentials from the seller at ebay and how many sells and his reputation. if you can buy or he will ship to India.
good luck.

i didn't check but think said you can't buy in states or ebay. this is heavy also. might want to look though. maybe he will ship. maybe not. might not want to bother with it. might cost twice as much. one thought though. go to a vacuum store and check there. even newegg. My vacuum cleaner will and can be used both ways. that was a mistake though for me. I always bought the cleaner for years. i told my wife to buy it this time. she went back to the same store and bought one. Guess how much.  $1000.00 bucks for a vacuum cleaner. 
Needless to say.........i kept my mouth shut.


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## NyxCharon

If were going to be using a compressor, i'd use this fitting on a low PSI setting.
http://www.harborfreight.com/pocket-blow-gun-with-industrial-coupler-94081.html
and then something like this, a small airbrush compressor. A car compressor is a bit overkill.
http://www.harborfreight.com/air-to...58-psi-compressor-and-airbrush-kit-95630.html


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## voyagerfan99

speedyink said:


> I must not have seen computers as dirty as you have...I've never needed 110 psi to clean a computer.  I am worried about component damage if you turn it up much higher than that.  Those little plastic fan fins don't look very strong



Well if you stop the fans with the nozzle they'll break 

These are the only shots I have of a dusty computer, and it's definitely not the worst I've ever seen.


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## speedyink

voyagerfan99 said:


> Well if you stop the fans with the nozzle they'll break



Ouch, I bet


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## tremmor

ran into a few my self. that was good though.
others have been posted and filthy.


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## voyagerfan99

speedyink said:


> Ouch, I bet



I accidentally did it a week or two ago  Cheap flimsy thin AMD fans


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## speedyink

voyagerfan99 said:


> I accidentally did it a week or two ago  Cheap flimsy thin AMD fans



I can't imagine it took too kindly to it, lol


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## voyagerfan99

speedyink said:


> I can't imagine it took too kindly to it, lol



Nope. The fan was super loud and clicky cause it was unbalanced. Had to replace it.


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