DataVac (canned air alternative)

Dresden

Celebrating Mediocrity
Veteran
I was wondering if anyone had any experience with any canned air alternatives. I've seen some hand pump type dealies, but I've had my eye on these Metro DataVacs. They're little handheld "vacuums", and I placed that in quotations because they actually do the opposite of a vacuum; instead of sucking stuff up they blow out air:

https://www.metrovacworld.com/DataVac_Electric_Duster-ED500/overview

I ran across this one initially, then eventually found this one:

https://www.metrovacworld.com/DataVac_ESD_Safe_Electric_Duster_ED_500ESD/overview

The choice seems obvious, sort of. The second one I linked apparently doesn't conduct static electricity. And I've been in numerous debates on whether or not canned air is actually the world's biggest waste of money, I stand firmly by my opinion that it is. Blowing out my tower has almost become a routine, due to the amount of cat hair my cat produces. I've also considered removing and vacuuming out the fan filters in my tower, which are some sort of dust magnet.

I'm open to suggestions regarding alternatives. Canned air, around my parts, runs around $10-15 per can and, as we all know, lasts about seven seconds.

Thanks!
 
I still just vacuum out my computers. Using the little corner attachment thingy on the vacuum and a toothbrush on cooling fins/parts to get the dust loose and the vacuum grabs it. System works pretty well along with a few good lungfuls of puffing on the stubborn bits. ;)

EDITED BITS: 3 dogs and a cat here, I get the hair problem well. I recommend the Dyson DC28, it's served me well and it's the longest running/best vacuum I've ever owned. Just got a new hose for it after about 6 years, and it still runs like a champ.
 
Almost everything I've read about getting rid of dust says you shouldn't use a vacuum on computer components, because apparently they generate static electricity. Albeit, I've never done it personally.
 
I actually have a Datavac model ED500. Wonderful piece of gear if you want to blow dust out of anything. It's incredibly powerful. The unit is relatively heavy for its size and VERY loud when in use. It also gets quite warm if you leave it on for any length of time.

Regards,
SB
 
I actually have a Datavac model ED500. Wonderful piece of gear if you want to blow dust out of anything. It's incredibly powerful. The unit is relatively heavy for its size and VERY loud when in use. It also gets quite warm if you leave it on for any length of time.

Regards,
SB

Excellent! The volume isn't really an issue, as long as it's effective. I was reading that model is somehow grounded, preventing it from conducting static electricity. Which is pretty important when cleaning computer stuff. In terms of cleaning fan filters, do you think I could just vacuum those out? I've read a lot of people saying using a vacuum on anything computer related is a huge no-no, but what about filters?
 
In terms of cleaning fan filters, do you think I could just vacuum those out?
Yes of course you can. They aren't made out of integrated circuits, or anything electronic whatsoever... At most, they may have a couple permanent magnets incorporated into their frames, and those too are impervious to static electricity, heh. :)
 
Anecdotally, I've hoovered out the inside of PCs on, ooh, 30 or more occasions. Never caused any problems that I've seen.

Has anybody actually fried a PC due to hoovering or is it one of those 'using a mobile phone at a filling station will make it explode!' apocrypha that seem to travel around?
 
I shopvac the hell out of computers all the time and it's never caused a problem. I know you're not supposed to but you're also not supposed to work on your PC without a grounding strap and who the hell uses a grounding strap? Hell I've used RAM sticks that sat in my car's cupholders for months with no issues.

Whenever I see the amount of dust and hair my filters have accumulated over even just a month I am simply amazed.

Many years ago a client's computer simply stopped working for no obvious reason. Someone eventually brought it back to the office for maintenance and when we opened it the entire case was full wall to wall with...stuff. The lady had lots of cats and smoked etc. I mean it was full to the brim, like you would fill a shipping box with packing peanuts. That's when we got the shopvac.

Kind of like the lady who's PC was eating CDs. We could never find a thing wrong with it. She had been inserting the discs in the cracks between the 5.25" bays, like it was a slotloader. The case was chock full of discs when we finally realized what was going on.
 
Best way to keep PC clean is to have positive air pressure in the case and filters on all the intakes and then just vacuum the filters. I never have to clean the insides.
 
I've heard more negatives about using blowing air than using vacuum cleaners - supposedly with 'blowing' there is a tiny chance you'll blow some metallic dust particles in locations where they can actually do some damage or something. There are special 'anti-static' vacuum cleaners around (we had one at my then work in like 1997), but I've always just used a regular vacuum cleaner and never had any issues with that.
 
I shopvac the hell out of computers all the time and it's never caused a problem. I know you're not supposed to but you're also not supposed to work on your PC without a grounding strap and who the hell uses a grounding strap? Hell I've used RAM sticks that sat in my car's cupholders for months with no issues.

Whenever I see the amount of dust and hair my filters have accumulated over even just a month I am simply amazed.

Many years ago a client's computer simply stopped working for no obvious reason. Someone eventually brought it back to the office for maintenance and when we opened it the entire case was full wall to wall with...stuff. The lady had lots of cats and smoked etc. I mean it was full to the brim, like you would fill a shipping box with packing peanuts. That's when we got the shopvac.

Kind of like the lady who's PC was eating CDs. We could never find a thing wrong with it. She had been inserting the discs in the cracks between the 5.25" bays, like it was a slotloader. The case was chock full of discs when we finally realized what was going on.

Just one of the MANY perils of IT work.

Homer, wasn't it you that told me that you actually run your keyboard trough the dishwasher? I'm still too scared to try that.
 
I should mention that the keyboard was a lost cause after it drank my beer, otherwise I probably wouldn't have gone the dishwasher route. The Guiness went hard and deep into every crevice. That might actually be the worst possible thing you can ever spill on a keyboard.
 
Hmm I used super cheap Chinese brand vacuum cleaner for house floor and carpets. Pc, Xbox, ps, laptop, tablet still alive.
 
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