Static and Dust Accumulation

Here are a few thoughts regarding computer dust...
For the keyboard... set your vacuum to the "most gentle" setting and use a soft brush attachment for the keyboard. As for the screen... use a soft lint-free cloth slighty dampened with water. Then follow up with a lint-free dry cloth. Alternatively, you can use this great product: iKlear:
http://www.klearscreen.com/.
Under no circumstances use any other cleaning solvents unless recommended by the computer maker. Most will permanently ruin your screen. There are horror stories about people who've used commercial glass cleaners.
Joe

Funny you mention that, I have noticed a HUGE build up of surface dust in big swirly patches on the back of my new iMac G5. I also when wiping off the surface get static. I had one of the revision A iMac G5s and didnt have this problem. I cant figure out why I am getting this much dust. Its like a magnet on that case of this new model.


I wonder why? Anyone have any ideas?


As far as the internals and dust accumulation; i don t worry about that. The last G5 i had after almost a full year had very little build up on the fans inside.

Dust is a big problem for laptops, and in many ways the iMac is much like a laptop. It can lead to overheating problems which can lead to random crashes and the likes. I've read that with laptops its worth having a can of compressed air to blast dust out the vents occasionally to keep the airflow going. Don't know if this recommended with an iMac or not, but certainly dust is something that shouldnt be ignored.

Matt. S.:

Assuming these occurances are not isolated, why didn't the prior iMacs have this problem. Accumulation of dust was reported for them but not adhering to the cabinet because of static electricity.

I've never noticed this on either the rev. A or rev. B iMac G5's I've owned.

My desk collects a lot of dust (I have 2 dogs, 1 cat, and a kid). So, I have a lot of hair and dust (and other unknowns) around.

But, despite the desk always being coated in something, the computer is generally very clean.

I occasionally wipe the LCD screen with a damp cloth diaper (excellent dust rags). I use only plain water.

With a damp rag, you shouldn't feel much static.

A dry rag will generally build-up static as you go.

I've opened mine several times, and have not noticed a dust problem. But, I would recommend having it cleaned every 6 months or a year if you think the dust accumulation might be high.

It's unfortunate that you won't be able to blow the dust out yourself on the latest iMac G5 systems. That was a huge reason for me to purchase my refurb iMac G5 (rev. B) after seeing the latest iMac systems.

I definitely wanted something I could open if needed. With all these animals and the usual dust and hair in the environment, I didn't want to have 3 or 4 years of hair clogging things up.

I must be in a dusty atmosphere here as I too had large ammounts of dust gathering on my rev A and now my new iSight model. The whole computer felt covered in static for the first week or so but seems to have settled down now.

I use iClean to wipe both the screen and casing of the iMac and this seems to have made a big difference to me.

Drew 🙂

iMac G5 Superdrive, iBook (dual USB), iPod 5G Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Sounds like you have a very dry environment. What is the relative humidity in your house?