Can a PC burn if you don't remove the lint often?

No matter how careful you are, over time all PCs end up full of lint inside, and although it is best to do regular cleaning, if you are careless there could come a time when problems begin, but enough so that the PC catches fire because of fluff? Next, we are going to tell you what the reality is.

As you know, there are always particles of all kinds in suspension in the air, and since in the PC we (almost) always have fans blowing air, it is inevitable that dust and dirt end up depositing on top of our precious hardware, creating a layer of dust, fluff and even soot . Of course, it is advisable to carry out periodic cleaning inside the PC, but the reality is that not everyone does it.

Can a PC burn if you don't remove the lint often

The problems of not cleaning the lint on the PC

If we allow dust and lint to accumulate inside the PC, the first thing that will happen is that the anti-dust filters will begin to get covered, something that will already harm the internal airflow of the case, reducing its efficiency. cooling and causing temperatures to rise. In addition, the noise generated will increase since the fans will start to work faster due to the temperature, and in turn they will make more noise since the dirt will also accumulate on the blades.

Polvo interior PC

If we continue without cleaning the inside of the case, lint will accumulate and clog the vents as well, as well as getting inside the power supply, on the heatsinks and even on the motherboard sockets. The heat sink or radiator will end up getting clogged and this, in addition to causing increases in temperature and noise, could cause the fan or fans to malfunction.

Consecutively speaking, this dust will begin to solidify in the form of soot due to the heat (as you may already suppose, it is a vicious circle since the more dust, the more heat, and with the heat the dust turns into soot, which solidifies and plugs grilles), further aggravating noise and temperature problems.

Ok but can it end up burning?

We have already told you that if you never clean the inside of your PC, dust and lint will begin to accumulate inside, clogging vents and hindering the airflow of the case, promoting a higher operating temperature (which is already yes it’s bad) and causing the computer to make more noise, both due to the fans being forced to run at higher speeds and due to the fact that these solid particles adhering to the fan blades will make noise by themselves when rubbing against the frames .

But can this cause a fire inside your PC or laptop?

Portátl fuego

Normally no, but technically the answer is yes it is possible. Your PC can literally catch fire from the lint and dust accumulated inside it, but how is this possible?

Before we have explained to you that the dust, due to the heat, solidifies forming soot, which is deposited everywhere, both on the grilles and fans and on the sockets of the motherboard. At this point, what you should know is that soot is a material that conducts electricity (little, but it is certainly not an insulator), and when it gets into the sockets of the motherboard it can join two pins, causing a short circuit .

Normally the power supply will detect this problem and its security mechanism will make the PC turn off, and in that case nothing would happen. But if this mechanism in the font happens to fail (or lacks it, which is sadly common in OEM fonts), then there could be a “spark” or even fire.

As you may already guess, it is an extreme case in which the stars almost have to align for it to happen… but by proxy, it is possible and feasible for it to happen (in fact, a server himself has seen it in person and live) . Therefore, once again we recommend that you do not let your PC get full of dust and lint and that you give it a good regular cleaning from time to time to avoid both temperature and noise problems and this rare possibility of it occurring. a disgrace.