With Summer fast approaching down under and some hot weather already making its presence well known across the country. Whilst electronics and their components usually have prescribed operating temperatures it is a good idea to set aside some time to perform some general maintenance to prevent premature failure. The devices you should be primarily concerned about are those that are physically large, perhaps use a good amount of electricity (like monitors, televisions, desktop computers and air conditioners) and have also required a sizeable financial investment in the up front cost of the unit.
In essence, maintenance boils down to a few key area, specifically:
- Ensuring that the device is in a well ventilated area:
- For instance, putting a computer in a cupboard can cause the fan to become overworked and potentially reduce the operating life of the computer components.
- Having a device right up against a wall may help to keep it out of the way and out of sight but can severely restrict air flow especially if other devices are crammed into the same space.
- Cool, fresh air is vital in helping to dissipate heat from the CPU and GPU.
- Cleaning and removing excess dust from the vents and fans on and in the device:
- Ventilating a device is useless unless the air can move in and out of the device allowing the heat to escape either through passive (i.e. heatsink only) or active cooling (i.e. fans).
- In the case of computers the use of compressed air is recommended. Using a vacuum cleaner can be hazardous as it may suck up the small headers that bridge pins on the motherboard to control settings. Also, the use of brushes or exposed metal areas of a vacuum cleaner may introduce static electricity which may damage your device.
- Moving or shading devices if they receive any direct sunlight:
- If a device gets significant direct sunlight it may be best to relocate it to help reduce the change of it overheating. However, if this is not possible, consider using curtains or blinds to help take the edge off the heat come through a window from the sun.
These are all very simple things that you can do to help your devices operate properly and continue to function until you consider an upgrade later on down the track.
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