[ On Sunday, September 1, 2002 at 16:58:06 (-0700), Greywolf wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: cg6 from an ss2 to ss5, ok?
>
> On Sun, 1 Sep 2002, der Mouse wrote:
> 
> # First thing I would do is get out a vacuum and vacuum out all the dust
> # grilles.
> 
> Recommend compressed air or a blower.
> 
> Q:  What's the difference between a belt-driven vacuum cleaner and a
>     Van der Graaf static generator?
> 
> A:  Not much.  Don't use one to clean out your computer.

I think most home vacuum cleaners I've ever seen are direct drive, and
have been for a very long time (my grandmother's ancient Hoover was).
There are usually belts in powered carpet heads, but that's it.

However in my experience it's not a belt that would be the problem --
it's the air moving past the plastic hose.  Even a central vac can cause
the same problem unless the hose has a wire mesh in it _and_ it's
grounded at the outlet.  Indeed central vac hoses can get so bad they
collect dust and dirt on the outside with static attraction, and raise
the hair on the arm of the operator too.

Compressed air sources can also build up static electricity (at least
enough to zap some types of electronics, or so I'm tols) unless they're
carefully grounded (which is usually pretty easy since they usually have
metal valves and nozzles).  Obviously the work piece needs to be
grounded as well, and keep a grounded static strap on your wrist too.

3m (I think) sell a special little vacuum cleaner that's supposed to be
safe to use around electronics (provided you use it as directed I
guess), and it has lots of nice little tiny attachments to clean small
spaces, and it's supposed to be safe for sucking up powders that would
be dangerous to breath, such as printer/copier toner, (i.e. have a
near-HEPA-quality filter on the exhaust).  Unfortunately this little
monster has a monster price.  I oogle them every time I see them in the
store, but as I've yet to zap anything while cleaning it I've had a hard
time justifying the price to myself so I don't have one (yet :-).

-- 
								Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098;            <g.a.woods@ieee.org>;           <woods@robohack.ca>
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