Hi all, I was curious what others do as part of normal maintenance/cleaning activities for their servers.  When I say cleaning, I mean physical cleaning.  I keep mine in my basement and have purchased a compressed air blower (in lieu of cans).  I just want to make sure I'm doing what I need to do to keep things running for as long as possible.  I've got the norco 4224 chassis which tends to cake some dust on the drive bays.  

It used to be that every couple of years I would look at the dust and make a mental note that it's really dusty in there and I should do something about it.

Lately, though, I haven't had the covers on long enough to gather dust.

Looking forward to when I go back to making mental notes to do something about that.

1 hour ago, whipdancer said:

It used to be that every couple of years I would look at the dust and make a mental note that it's really dusty in there and I should do something about it.

Lately, though, I haven't had the covers on long enough to gather dust.

Looking forward to when I go back to making mental notes to do something about that.

Truth...

3 hours ago, statecowboy said:

a compressed air blower (in lieu of cans).

Just make sure the air you charge it with is dry. The last thing you want is a fine mist of condensate coating your electronics.

 

Test by spraying the air against a cold sheet of metal to look for the moisture bloom.

I personally use one of these when I blow out my PC's. I bought mine when it was in the $40 range. I really like the fact that the air coming out is warm opposed to cold possibly damp air from those air cans I used to use.

https://www.amazon.com/Bonus-Electric-500-Watt-Computer-Electronics/dp/B071LQSXGD/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1548428822&sr=8-2&keywords=metro+electric+duster

 

On the outside I use this if/when I'm to lazy to crack open the case, but to simply clean my exterior filters. Of course my wife loves this thing in the house for everything else.

https://www.amazon.com/18-Volt-Project-Accessory-Storage-Tool-Only/dp/B07D9YMT85/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1548429031&sr=8-2&keywords=ryobi+shop+vac

 

Both of what I posted I use for other things in the house, but its two tools I use now and then.

This is where I part from most "Youtube cleaning methods"

 

I clean the dust filters at least twice a month if not more, then I use a 700 WATT leaf blower once every month or two as I live in a city surrounded by two deserts "Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"

 

So I use the air blower & after I'm done I use a smooth 1 inch wide paint brush to clean the fans and the PCIe cards, then use a smaller more smoother brush "coffee machine cleaning brush" for the delicate stuff on the board. externally I use a glass cleaner, cant go wrong with that as I keep one next to the servers.