[colug-432] Equinox Computer Checking

[jep200404 at columbus.rr.com]

This is a rehash of an old post.

Computers die for some stupid, mundane, unnecessary causes. 
Here are three: 

   stuck (or erratic or hoarse) fans
   bulged caps
   dust

If you catch these problems early, they are usually easy to 
correct, or at least _you_ get to pick your down time, 
instead of being handed an unscheduled fait accompli. 

I recommend checking for: 

   stuck (or erratic or hoarse) fans
   bulged caps
   dust

on each vernal equinox. 

Now to discuss each of the three problems to look for: 

Dust

When it clogs up heats sinks, things overheat, 
causing premature failure of electronics. Of course, 
the solution is to remove the dust. I prefer to use a vacuum 
cleaner first, then to use compressed air to blow away what 
the vacuum can not suck away. Using compressed air can push 
dust into places that I would really rather not have it. 
Using compressed air also makes a cloud of dust that one 
would rather not have in a room. That's why I use the 
vacuum cleaner first. If one blows with compressed air 
outside (on a nice vernal equinox day), then one leaves 
the dust outside. 

Some dust, especially on heat sinks or fan blades can be 
hard to remove. Old toothbrushes and pipe cleaners are 
handy. Some dust is glued by tar from tobacco smoke. 
For that I use cotton swabs soaked with naphtha (lighter fluid). 
There are other solvents that work fine also. 

Bulged caps

This is much less of a problem than it used to be.
Much has been written elsewhere about this[2].
Bulged caps are very very common on old motherboards, 
PC power supplies, and LCD monitor (internal) power supplies. 
You can often see them before they cause your PC to act 
strange, or cause further damage to your PC. 

They go bad slowly, so if you see them before your PC 
starts acting strangely, you can deal with the problem 
on your own schedule. You can replace the individual 
bad capacitors. There are companies that specialize in 
doing that. You can also replace the larger thing 
(motherboard, PC, power supply, or LCD monitor) 
of which the capacitor is one small component. 
Bad caps will eventually cause a PC to stop working. 

Fans

They stop spinning either because they are clogged up 
with dust, or because they have used up their lubricating 
oil. With the power off, they should spin freely. 
Also, they should spin smoothly when powered. 
When they are low on lubricant, but not yet stuck, 
the sound they make is often the first clue of trouble to 
come. The fan will sound "hoarse" or the speed will vary. 
You can relubricate the fans[3], or replace them. 
Some fans have strange mounting tabs that make 
replacements hard to find, so sometimes, relubrication 
is the easier choice. 

The small fans on video boards are the worst. 
I have seen fans on video boards that I could 
neither relubricate nor find replacements for. 
My solution is usually to use an ordinary bigger 
fan, with improvised mounting. Usually, the bigger 
fan is quieter than the original fan anyway. 

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague
    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Acolug.net
    Search for "electrolytic" in:
    http://www.colug.net/pipermail/colug/2004-June.txt
[3] Search for " oil " in: 
    http://www.colug.net/pipermail/colug/2004-May.txt
    http://www.colug.net/pipermail/colug/2002-August.txt