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There are a lot of how-to guides on opening a laptop to clean its fan/motherboard/etc of dust. For example, this or this, and a Google search yields a ton of results. So a lot of people believe it does.

Is there any statistical evidence to back this up? i.e. the average lifespan of laptops that are regularly being cleaned vs those that aren't.

Enigma
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sashoalm
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    You only mention two options, where I see at least four: open and cleaned by user, open and cleaned by professional service, cleaned using compressed air without opening, not cleaned at all. – vartec Aug 31 '12 at 11:33
  • I'm specifically asking about opening it. As for the other (professional service vs do it yourself), let's just ignore any risk of damage (i.e. we assume it never gets damaged by the cleaning). – sashoalm Aug 31 '12 at 12:00
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    "let's just ignore any risk of damage" - that's the whole issue, in real life you cannot ignore that. BTW, in a laptop, you won't see significant amount of dust anywhere except for the CPU/system fan and radiator itself. – vartec Aug 31 '12 at 12:13
  • @vartec Depends on where you live. Not everyone lives in nice, clean suburbia. The theory behind cleaning your laptop is to lower to average temperature of the internal components, which can destroy it over time (dust = insulation). – Christopher Aug 31 '12 at 15:57
  • You have guides on how to clean it but I do not see any claim that says your lap top will live longer. In fact your manufacturer says it will not mostly because you are more likely to break something during the opening/cleaning/closing process. But I think you need a claim to be skeptical of here. – Chad Aug 31 '12 at 18:45
  • @Christopher: no, it doesn't matter. Difference between laptop and desktop is that, in laptop everything is cooled via one fan/radiator, which then is connected via heat duct to other elements (http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/Ya1BmKtLOJtlQTYN.large) . Unlike in desktop, where air travels to every and each element, caring along the dust. In case of laptop it's only the heat that travels. – vartec Sep 03 '12 at 08:50
  • @vartec: So, a laptop that has never been opened after manufacturing has never had any dust in there whatsoever? Hm, I think I need to re-evaluate my definition of physics. There may be protection measures **some** manufacturers put in there, but dust will collect (vastly more so depending on your environment) and over time that will limit your lifespan if it goes uncleaned. – Christopher Sep 03 '12 at 09:05
  • @Chad But the guides are making an implicit claim - after all, if it wasn't beneficial, why would there be a guide on how to do it? As for a claim, I guess it's more like popular opinion. There are plenty of people 'on the street' who would claim it. Do you mean that some famous person should claim it in written form or what? – sashoalm Sep 03 '12 at 09:13
  • @satuon - Why would they because if you are more likely to damage it when opening then a servicing agent is liable to make money fixing it or selling you a new one. As for an implied claim I will refer you to [here](http://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/1261/do-claims-on-this-site-need-to-be-explicit) on meta – Chad Sep 04 '12 at 13:23
  • But that question on the meta is closed. In any event, people around me have made that claim quite explicitly. It's just that they're not public personas, and the claim is made in spoken conversations. – sashoalm Sep 04 '12 at 13:28
  • @Christopher: laptops might not be hermetic, but usually they are sealed tight enough not to let significant amount of dust inside (except for heat-sink). I really don't get how not getting dust inside sealed box is contradicting physics. – vartec Sep 04 '12 at 14:13
  • 1) I suppose it should be easy to show that dust accumulates in computer fans and similar devices. 2) Dust causes reduced air flow. 3) Reduced airflow = less efficient heat dissipation. 4) Components heat more. 5) Heat damages electronics (that's the whole point of having a fan and a heat sink). Can this be considered enough proof? – João Portela Sep 04 '12 at 17:43
  • @vartec Of course, dust might have a hard time getting in there at first, but through regular use after, say, a full year, those seals are going to bend and flex, perhaps even break apart entirely. And it's not the constant source of dust that's the problem - it's accumulation. Dust is an insulator, so every heat dissipation mechanism (even if it's just an open environment) becomes compromised and degraded. Not getting dust into a seal box that is given to the average consumer after the device's lifespan is contradicting physics. – Christopher Sep 07 '12 at 05:17
  • @Christopher: I've did open various of my laptops and PCs. While PC usually had tremendous amount of dust balls inside, laptops had virtually none. And I'm talking wide range of laptops, like MBP, Compaq, Dell (Latitude, XPS and Inspiron), Asus etc. Same thing for all of them, the only thing with the dust was the fan and radiator. – vartec Sep 07 '12 at 10:16
  • @vartec Yes, of course. In places where people can maintain a clean environment. Places like, say, Afghanistan, are going to have a MUCH harder time keeping out dust. In my first comment, I noted that this is extremely dependent on where the computer is located - a topic in which the OP doesn't include. – Christopher Sep 07 '12 at 10:46
  • @Christopher: in places like in Afghanistan you use rugged equipment, most of which is certified to be dust-proof. Also, my PCs and my laptops were used in **same environment**. – vartec Sep 07 '12 at 11:00
  • I have never had a laptop fail in a way that suggests heat issues, though I have had one spend most of it's time with the clock dialed back because of excess heating (and that *was* helped by canned air from the outside and helped even more when I finally opened it (Apple product == a real pain to get into)). All of mine that have actually died had point-like failures in either the power system (power coupler coming unsoldered from the main board) or the video system (usually in the inverter or the cable from base to lid, once in the LCD itself). – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Dec 27 '13 at 01:34

1 Answers1

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I don't think statistics on this specific subject exist. But the answer is Yes, cleaning any computer will make it last longer.

The problem is usually not the dust itself but the heat that is insulated into the device by the dust.

"Your computer could fry if you don't keep it clean," says Jonathon Millman, CTO for Hooplah Interactive

Computers run hot, that's why they have a myriad of fans. When the fans get dust in them they are less effective. Combined with dust that blocks the ventilation you're computer's temperature will directly correlate with the amount of dust in it.

According to Microsoft's websites, cleaning your computer will make it "last longer"

Another issue associated with dust is shorting out components, it's not so common, but it can happen.

This website has some stats on why computers die, the top 3:

26% PSU and power issues
23% Bad gear and user negligence
13% Heatsink related

...can all be dust related, dust shorting out the power, neglecting to clean your computer and heat dissipation related.

Edit:

I haven't taken into account the chance that you may destroy your laptop by opening it. I would say the chance of destroying it by opening it is much greater than the chance that dust would damage it but this depends on the technical skill of the cleaner. I have a certificate in computer repair and maintenance and I wouldn't do it...

Coomie
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  • this assumes that "computer" and "laptop" are equivalent term. Last link talks about PCs, and does not mention laptops at all. – vartec Sep 06 '12 at 10:22
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    @vartec Computers (laptop or desktop) are functionally interchangeable in this regard. The only considerable difference is the case but both have ventilation holes that allow dust in, so even then it's irrelevant. Laptops may allow less dust, but the question isn't "Are laptops more susceptible to dust than desktops", it's "Are laptops adversely affected by dust". And the answer is YES. Maybe less than desktops, but that's irrelevant to the question. – Coomie Sep 07 '12 at 04:16
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    "(laptop or desktop) are functionally interchangeable in this regard", sorry, but I totally disagree. Unless you have PC with some fancy water cooling system, PC components are cooled by air taken directly from the intake. In laptop components are cooled via heat duct going to radiator. – vartec Sep 07 '12 at 10:13
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    So does that mean that a laptop's ventilation is equivalent to a water-cooling system for a PC? – sashoalm Dec 30 '13 at 13:07
  • @sashoalm For most laptops, at least, the process is the same. Heatsink attached to processor with air circulated by a fan; the shapes may be different and the intakes/exhausts in different locations, but the process is the same. However, most smartphones/tablets and very light notebooks do use passive cooling, which doesn't involve any fans circulating air. – JAB Sep 30 '16 at 20:00