Air Compressor for Cleaning

[Cyan]

Is there a cheapish good enuff (as good as the can stuff or better) Air compressor you'd suggest for cleaning the computer (among other things) w/o having to buy replacements and the like?

[Ol'Tunzafun]

You may be looking for an oilless compressor. They are cheaper and cleaner, albeit noisier. If you are going to be blowing you will need compressor with a tank. In fact, as a low cost alternative, you can buy just the tank without the compressor at an auto parts store, and just fill the tank up with compressed air at a service station.

[Billforce]

If you fill the tank at a service station you best put a pressure regulator on the outlet otherwise you might blow your PC into the next county.

[Met-AL]

Originally posted by Ol'Tunzafun
You may be looking for an oilless compressor. They are cheaper and cleaner, albeit noisier. If you are going to be blowing you will need compressor with a tank. In fact, as a low cost alternative, you can buy just the tank without the compressor at an auto parts store, and just fill the tank up with compressed air at a service station.

I definatley wouldn't be doing that. There will be moisture and oil in the air you get from a service station. Blowing that around on electronics is probably not a good idea.

You could a little canistor vacuum cleaner that lets you hook the hose to the outlet end and use that or buy the compressed air in a can. If you are gonna install a air compressor to clean electronics and stuff, you can get a moisture condensor to hook inline with the hose.

[Cyan]

*blink*

I'll stick with the cans then...

[RamonGTP]

I've used my comprsser to clean out my computer several times with no issues. Fact of the matter is that those cans just don't have enough pressure to get ALL the dust out from the HSF fins, and from within the PSU. I do however have a moisture condenser hooked up to it. But in the 8+ years i've had it, i think i've only drained it like 3 times, and it wasn't even close to full any of those times. The amount of moisture collected in the tank probably depends a lot on the actual climate, whether or not there the air being compressed is humid or dry.

[megaspazz]

Too much work for cleaning. Cans of compressed
air work great for me- no probs/no hassle.

[Rocketmech]

I've got one of those 8 gal. air tanks , the size of a duffle bag. They just dont get the job done like canned air or the compressor itself. The blast of air dissipates quicky , then next thing you know , you got a fill it again. Stick with canned air. Nothing to big to haul around , and much quiter.

[Magua]

There will be moisture and oil in the air you get from a service station

All air has moisture in it. If you fill a tank with air at a gas station it would work fine, but I don't see the advantages over using canned air.

[leprechaun_40]

You could use a compressor, just use a regulator and a dryer to make sure that you don't blow things apart and don't blow any water droplets from condensation into them.

Yes, there is moisture in air, however, compressed air has loads of it, and when you let it out, it tends to blow out in droplets, therefore, a good dryer will do the trick there.

The advantage over buying the canned stuff is cost, consider what a can will cost and how far it goes, multiply that times what you could do with even a small compressor. That canned **** is costly, in the end.

[Ol'Tunzafun]

The quickest way to dry something is to blow it with compressed air. Compressed air is extremely dry as it has had the moisture wrung from it. That is why there is water in the bottom of the tank. The air is drawn from the top of the tank. It is possible and even likely to get some water mixed with the air if you are blowing while the compressor is running, because it will pick up the moisture that has been freshly displaced before it has a chance to settle to the bottom of the tank. The longer it runs, the worse it gets, but if you are just blowing out a power supply or something like that and the compressor has been idle, the air will be dry - very dry.

Vacuum cleaners, especially shop vacs, can generate enormous static charges. The outflow from a vacuum couldn't blow anything. I could do a better job with a soda straw.

[Magua]

The cans are expensive for what they do, but you don't need to do it every day or anything. I have used air compressors often, for nail guns, and other things (automatic 'red star' bb guns ) and havent ever had drops of water come out when using it.

[Cyan]

I was just thinking that given the amount of computers in our house (5) and dogs (2) as well as dust (lots) I'd save money and not have to be stingy when I'm cleaning.

[Magua]

With 5 computers it may be worth it to look into an air compressor if you clean them out often. I know my computer at home (5people, 3dogs, 1cat, and 1bird(in computer room)) racks up the dust real quick.

[Met-AL]

Originally posted by Ol'Tunzafun
The quickest way to dry something is to blow it with compressed air. Compressed air is extremely dry as it has had the moisture wrung from it. That is why there is water in the bottom of the tank. The air is drawn from the top of the tank. It is possible and even likely to get some water mixed with the air if you are blowing while the compressor is running, because it will pick up the moisture that has been freshly displaced before it has a chance to settle to the bottom of the tank. The longer it runs, the worse it gets, but if you are just blowing out a power supply or something like that and the compressor has been idle, the air will be dry - very dry.

I beg to differ with your opinion that compressed air is dry. I know from pratical experience that compressed air is has a high moisture content. I work for a manufacturing company, and the location I work at, we are constantly battling moisture in the air system. We have two 90HP turbine compressors and air dryers all thru the system. You take an air hose, stick a blowing nozzle on it and point it at something and start blowing, pretty soon the object is damp.

The amount of moisture in the compressed air directly corresponds to the relative humidity of the air being drawn into the compressor. Since water, for all pratical purposes, can not be compressed like air, some of it will drop out of the air and settle in the lower parts of the air system. This is because as the air becomes more dense, it can not hold as much water vapor, but it still holds some. Now you have a much more condensed stream of air that contains water vapor, blowing on electronics, pretty soon what your blowing on gets damp or wet. Throw the fact that the lubrication used for the compressor slowly ends up in the air, and you eventualy have a mess.