Cleaning the power supply unit – what you should bear in mind

You can clean your computer power supply yourself if necessary. To ensure that nothing goes wrong and that you don’t go through the work in vain, you should know a few important things about cleaning a power supply unit in advance.

Cleaning a power supply unit – things to know in advance

Before you set out to clean the power supply, you should rule out other problems first.

• If your power supply is humming, it may indicate a serious problem that cannot be fixed by cleaning.

• In some cases, it may be necessary to purchase a new power supply unit.

• If your PC runs too hot or is too noisy, the fan may be the cause. This can often be made faster (more effective) or slower (quieter) via software. By the way, you can also clean fans much easier than a power supply unit.

How to clean your PC`s power supply

The most important cleaning utensils for power supply cleaning are Q-tips or toothpicks to get dust out of the spaces between the rotor blades. For sticky stains, use distilled water, methylated spirits or other alcohol and an antistatic cloth. A brush or hoover can also be helpful.

• Before cleaning the power supply unit, be sure to disconnect it from the power supply and open the PC case.
• Using a cotton swab, toothpick or small brush, you can first try to clean the fan of the power supply directly.
• If you cannot reach it well enough, remove the power supply unit. You can then clean the removed power supply unit with a hoover.
• Normally, you can see the power supply unit from the outside. It is usually located at the top back of the tower. Attention: The inside screws are usually used to remove the power supply unit!

• To remove the power supply unit, loosen the screws, which are often located on the outside of the computer. Sometimes other screws on the inside visibly fix the power supply unit to the computer casing.

• Tip: Take a photo of the entire inside of your computer. That way, when you reassemble it later, you’ll know where to put which cable.
• Finally, you need to put the cleaned power supply back in.