Should it smell

[Waka]

recently my computer has started to give off a faint tinge like a burning rubber small, on checking this out i found that it tends to get rather hot.

It is located inside the deck cupboard which is designed to take the hardware and has been located there for about 3 years.

Anyone got any ideas, the machine is about 4 years old?

 

[Kane]

Open it up and vacuum the dust out - make sure you clean the fans and the cooling slots on the heatsinks as well as the vents in the case - don't forget the power supply fan and vents

Kane

 

[Adam]

Do be careful, never know what you might find....

:roll:

Adam

 

[wizer]

as kane says give it a good vaccum. As a PC gets older it will not tolerate heat quiet as well. It is always reccomended to have lots of space around a PC, but its not always convenient to do that. My PC's are all up against a wall without enough ventilation.

It sounds like something is rubbing against a fan, most probably inside the PSU.

Geeky people like me will probably suggest that if it is 4yrs old then it might be time to think about an upgrade.

 

[Argee]

Are you sure it's the PC itself and not the monitor? If you've got a flat panel, forget I said anything, but I had exactly the same thing when I had a CRT monitor and it turned out to be the monitor, not the box. A good blow with an airline and all was well for a while. Just a thought.

Ray.

 

[Waka]

Thanks Guys

Looks like its a vacuum job for HID's.

I did think about replacing/upgrading but as soon as I get the new one home it will be out of date. I'll have to think about that one, might take a trip to PC world this afternoon.

Roger, I do have the flat screen so it's deffinately coming from the box of tricks.

 

[martyn2]

please remember vacs create static look at the dog hairs at the end of the tube ,if you have got one use a blow line or compresesd air to clean it out .

martyn

any problems PM me :roll:

 

[RogerS]

Maplin do a nifty aerosol of compressed air for these sorts of jobs

 

[SketchUp Guru]

Just get it cleaned up before the magic smoke gets out. :shock:

 

[mahking51]

Adam
That poor homeless snake doesn't have a pit to hiss in...... :wink:
Martin

 

[Neomorph]

One thing that peeps here haven't mentions is that it could be the bearings in one of the fans on their way out. I had one go in a power supply and it really started to stink when it went off center and was burning the mount.

Another bearing that tends to go is the CPU fan. I had to completely replace the heat sink and fan on a Pentium II due to the bearing going. When you realise the amount of time a fan is spinning while you use the PC you can understand why they wear out and four years is about right for one to go.

 

[Waka]

Thanks for all the advice.

I bit the bullet yesterday and bought a new all singing all dancing PC, all up and running and the speed is streets above the old Pentium 4.