I tried the good ol shop vac with no success.

How about a snow plow? That or canned air.

Isn't canned air the same as putting the shop vac in reverse?

With canned air you can stick the straw down inside that mess.

ahhh.. gotcha! i'll grab a bottle tomorrow. thanks hojo!

Step 1: Use a vacuum cleaner hose to collect the dust throughout the process.

Step 2: Use a brush to dislodge the largest masses of dust.

Step 3: Use a can of compressed air to dislodge the smaller masses of dust.

Step 4: Use the brush (after cleaning it) to clear out anything that might have been missed.

Brushes are reusable and saves up the compressed air.

I'd just soak it in water for a few days, then leave it to dry off.

I used to also have one and from what I can remember is you can remove two screws that hold the fan itself than you just have the heatsink and you can use a can of compressed air and cloth to clean it.

Correct me if I'm wrong

I'll have to say that reflux and intelP4 are correct. You can unmount the heatsink and there are two retaining screws that hold the fan onto the heatsink. I owned one and over time it looked just like that. It's a pain trying to get all that dust out with canned air. The fins arent seperated enough that i could any tool i owned to get it really clean in between each fin.

Now here's the strange part, after taking the heatsink off the cpu and removing the fan assembly off the heatsink. I took the heatsink over to the kitchen sink and using the attached sprayer, it knocked off all the dust. Using an old toothbrush, i was able to brush off all the excess dust off the fins of the fan. I then went back to the heatsink with a hairdyer to speed up the drying time.

Reassembled, cleaned cpu surface, reapplied tim and it was good to go.......

It may not be the smartest thing to do but It did an awesome job and looks like new.

Anyone care to comment?????

Yeah there's 2 screws to take the fan off, to get access with the plow and a shovel. You could also pour some milk on it, and have a baby goat lick it off.
Another option would be to pour gasoline on it, and put whole thing on fire, then just dust the ashes off....

Nuff joking, there's 2 screws that holds the fan in place bro, just take fan off, then use the compressed air.
Now if that dust is "sticky" the air ain't gonna do much good... then I go with Reflux's idear.... or spray some wd-40 and use a toothbrush to get it off...(don't use that toothbrush again tho)

lol beetle.

Ok thanks guys. I didn't think the fan came off so easy. Can the fan be replaced? I'd like a fan with blue leds.

Ah... got a nutta ideer...
Dampen the crap in the fan witha some water, pour some alfalfa sprouts on it, let it take root fer a few days, and then pull the whole thing off..... give the sprouts to the goat.

...or...

take a closer look at...eh...whatever it is..., find an angle where the dust looks like Jesus, Mary Magdalene, George Washington, Paris Hilton or other celebrity... sell on E-bay for pretty penny....

Have you tried occasionally cleaning your house?

Quote: Originally Posted by davidryder Have you tried occasionally cleaning your house?

Quote: Originally Posted by davidryder Have you tried occasionally cleaning your house?

I could come up wif some really really good house cleaning ideers too.....

Bendy straw. Blow through it and it's cheaper than canned air.

Quote: Originally Posted by MLiV lol beetle. Ok thanks guys. I didn't think the fan came off so easy. Can the fan be replaced? I'd like a fan with blue leds.

I might have a fan with blue LED's, lemme look....

Ok so the chia heatsink had me laughing and I couldn't pass up the chance to flaunt my useless paintshop skills.

Attached Thumbnails

 

Quote: Originally Posted by MLiV ...

That's sexy.

Couldn't pass on that scenario.....