TECH: HIT: Cleaning Computers

[Frankie Dilling <fdilling@TENET.EDU>]

The following cleaning hints are from Maggie Hunt, Anne C. Oelke,
Edith LaForge and Karen Chepko.

Frankie Dilling
fdilling@tenet.edu

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MONITOR SCREENS

Use a regular window cleaning spray to clean the monitor.
Always spray it on the rag, then wipe.
Never spray it directly on the monitor.

What ever you clean with should be lint free.

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KEYBOARD, MOUSE and LIGHT PEN

Clean keyboard, mouse, track ball contacts, scanner and
barcode lights with rubbing alcohol and a q tip, cotton ball,
or a linen rag.

Be careful not to let the alcohol drip down into the keyboard.
     (One person suggested to pour a little rubbing alcohol
      on the table and dip q tip, cotton ball, or rag into it.)

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OUTSIDE HOUSING

Clean the outside with 409 or something similar.

A good soft sable hair brush could come in handy on outside
nooks and cranies.

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INSIDE

The inside shouldn't be vacuumed, BUT blown with canned
air.

Anne Oelke uses a data-vac & blows out the inside of the case--
don't vaccuum, just blow.

Ideally computers shouldn't be near a chalk board because of vast
quantities of dust.

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     From Karen Chepko
     kchepko@garnet.acns.fsu.edu

I took a class on building computers. The lecturer gave us many helpful
hints.  The one that I tried was for cleaning keyboards
(and yes, it too, a bit of courage but it worked!)

Put the keyboard in a sink.
Use a vegetable brush and 409 cleaner to scrub the keys and outside surfaces
(the veggie brush can later be thrown into the dishwasher.)
Rinse the keyboard, using the spray if there is one available or,
if not, lightly running water.  Let it dry face down for about three days.
It worked great!

Now, what I didn't try so I won't promise anything:

Remove the FLOPPY (NOT the hard) drives from the computer.
Put them in the dishwasher, being sure to use JetDry or similar
product to prevent water spots.

Take the rest of the computer into the back yard and hose it down.
Leave it out in the sun to dry for a couple of days.