Damage Level: Significant

[Meclar]

When I came home from Florida I noticed a room mate had been using my computer tower as an ironing board stand and I quickly noticed that the little door to the USB ports had been broken off.  Yesterday I moved my setup to another room and after everything was plugged in and powered on, there was no video after the Windows load screen.
Clips on the fan have broken off, also clips on the plastic heat sink stand are in pieces and a cap blew on the video card.  Aside from this damage there was a massive amount of dust on the heat sink.  I'm pretty sure I can get a cap and fix the card at work but the other pieces I don't know.  So long as it's on its side the computer runs fine with the on board video.
I've reverted to my older computer while I decide to buy a laptop.

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[Mo]

I've seen worst dust than that.  Took me 45 mins to get all the dust out of my step brothers computer last month.  Went through 3 air cans.  Man that was nasty.

[420]

Are you sure they weren't using your computer as a target to practice their hammer throwing? I mean, what the fuck man?

-420

[Meclar]

I've seen worst dust than that.

For what ever reason the picture that I took of the dust didn't copy onto my thumb drive so it's on the other comp but it was over 3 years worth.

[Soul Sojourner]

Mo's right, the dust there isn't substantial at all. In the images you took, dust would be easily visible on everything after only a couple of days here. I have the luxury of an air compressor, and I tend to use it often enough. Regular hardware cleaning is a must for me. That includes my speakers keyboard and mice, believe it or not. Though I always leave my monitors alone, they do alright. Tends to happen when you live off a dirt road and the trees have yet to grow in to block the dust. People have this goddamn problem with going 70 miles down the dirt road... consequently killing any living thing on the road and sending dust clouds everywhere. Asshats.

[Meclar]

Moisture is worse here than dust.  On this older computer a memory stick and video card died of corrosion.
I put in a ginormous cap but lesser in value.  It's a nice blue color.  Getting the other parts later this week. 

[420]

In downtown San Francisco we have to contend with both dust (mostly very fine tar and soot that comes from the tires and exhaust of never ending traffic) and moister (see: Tule Fog).

However, down in Monterey where I grew up I've found nests of insects to be a big problem too. Especially in computers on Fort Ord and the Navy Postgraduate School. You get a black widow or earwig in your power supply and poof!

Once Throbble and I move into a bigger place I want to set up a nice climate controlled room with some kind of particulate air filter for our computers so I don't have to crack them open every few months to clean them out. Wish I could do the same for our lungs, when it gets hot here they recommend that children and the elderly stay inside because the air quality is too dangerous for them to breathe.


-420

[Soul Sojourner]

^ Reasons why I live 10 miles out of a small town with nature around me rather than factories.

Most I gotta put up with is dust clouds and Asian beetles.

[Meclar]

Asian beetles

Bastards eat the cherry trees

[cuchulann]

^ Reasons why I live 10 miles out of a small town with nature around me rather than factories.

Most I gotta put up with is dust clouds and Asian beetles.

I used to get swarms  of flying termites in my house during heat waves. Finally the neighboring house got renovated and the dead tree in the back yard  that incubated them was taken out.
Now that i think about it it was likely one of those suckers in my power supply that killed an old computer of mine.

[Soul Sojourner]

I've honestly never seen a problem like that around here yet. We got plenty of insects, but most of them aren't too bad. Anything really pesky is usually fairly easy to prevent or to reduce the numbers of, and anything poisonous or harmful is pretty rare to find and almost never a problem. A bug getting in my computer feels like a very foreign concept. But the thought of one finding it's way into my PS is a scary thought indeed. I would prefer to never share that experience with you.