Good ones John. I can't get the driver to hold a screw by sticking a magnet to the shaft of it. I have taken a driver and pulled the tip across a magnet several times which does make it magnetic for quite awhile.
Also be aware of getting a strong magnet near a spinner drive, it can make it unusable.
A very simple tip that may make you smile, but two of the best tools I've found for keeping your keyboard free of dust and grime is a soft paintbrush wiped between the keys followed by a quick swipe with one of those baby wipes.
Hum sounds good to me SV I use a hogs hair paint brush for in and around the fans and inside the case to prevent as much static as I can. Didn't think of those baby wipes though.
I just use straight metho on the fans - when they are out of course and then the vinyl polish or like Gary suggested some Mr.Sheen to make a smooth as possible the blades and venturi, plus some anti static action too.
Now wrinkle # 2
Ever had afan go bung and all you have is soem old ones or the one that is playing up. Now mostly it is through lackof or drying up of the lubrication.
My methos involves firstly cleaning the fan as previously described and then applying some lube I usually use one of those produts that get rid of moisture and loosen rusted bolts / nuts - WD40 or RP7 and follow it up with some light sewing machine oil.
Method:
* Remove the fan from the case, PSU CPU heatsink etc
* First clean the dust and rubbish from the fan blades and venturi as stated using methylated spirits.( I use hogs hair brushes on all computer stuff to minimise the production of static)
* Once clean carefully peel back the round label on the fan body usually away from the domed and / or intake side)
* Carefully prise out the small neoprene plug covering the bearing aperture (I use an old penknife)
* Drop in some of the free up lube (WD40 or RP7 whatever it's called wherever you live)
*Connect to a power source (I have an old PSU rigged for this purpose and testing drives) and turn on the power.
* Let the fan run for some time say a couple of minutes - some that are really quite hard to turn may need a bit of assistance.
* Turn off the power
* Then drop in a couple of drops of light machine oil (I use Singer sewing machine oil)
* Restart the fan with the power supply.
* Let it run again for a few minutes - 2 is usually enough.
* Take a twist of kitchen paper towel and gently blot the excess out of the bearing cavity.
* Replace the neoprene plug
* Stick down the round seal - it might need touch of supaglue - depends if you have spilt any oil on the contact surface.
* Replace the fan to its position - wherever that was.
Result is you now have a fan that will run for as long as you want it too or until you can replace it.
Cost $0.05 as opposed to $9 thereabouts for a new fan plus the wait (and you maynot nee to replace it!
I do this to all old revivals / rejuvenating / dissembles and have never had a problem.
In the pics you will see the materials needed. The small lube bottles are ones that is for instilling ear drops in dogs and cats (comes with screw on top) and one that is an old eye drop container that I have "modified" with an intravenous cannula glued into the removable top - you need to cut down the syringe end first as it is too long. The other is a draw up needle (blunt) and same thing - cut down to fit.
You may need to know some friendly medical person or health professional to get the cannullae - they are Teflon so flexible and the different colours are different gauges - depends on what you want. The very pale pink is the steel one - the cut to the syringe attachment needs to be about 1.5cm from where the tube emerges form the syringe attachment.
The other little gadget is a spatula for mixing the five minute epoxy glue and is fantastic for applying thermal paste to those older (and new CPUs) north bridges.
Oh the PSU is fixed on boot start - green to black and sealed with cloth duct tape and worked with the power switch - not pretty but does the job.
Another little wrinkle I use #4 for earthing the machine while you are working on it nothing better than the earth system from your house wiring earth stake.
I just got hold of a small cheap power board (we call them here - extension leads in the US?) and cut the live and negative leads to the plug in contacts.
Bury the cut ends in silicone and you have a board you can plug the machine in with without fear of introducing power. You can then clip yourself or anything else like the suction device I am working on to the case via the wrist strap.
You can of course remove the brass contact strips for the live and negative sockets but this makes the device a tad sloppy but one can always make the earth socket tighter.
The anti static suction device is on trial and I will post as soon as I get it perfected.
I do so this because I think it is a much safer bet than the current (no pun) MEN negative line earth system that most power systems have.
An alternative is to get a power plug and just run a thickish green / yellow wire from the earth pin in it alone to the power board and attach that to the case wit a crocodile clip. The plug if you want to be absolutely sure can be filled with silicone after the earth wire is firmly (?soldered?) to the earth pin
Wrinkle #6
When cleaning up the case and PSU fans on reassembly cover the openings with some sheer curtain material - old coarse pantyhose, net curtaining or Organza will also do.
The front case fan is done exactly as th PSU one in the pics.
This I found not only filters the air but at least halves the noise created by the honeycomb grills that you find on the older machines especially.
Now admittedly it doesn't look pretty (over the PSU intake) but at least it makes for some quieter operation.
Now before anyone says what about the air flow I (at least) cannot find any noticeable decrease in same.
The other thing I found too was that placing one of those large chromed grills between the honeycomb and the larger case fans - inside the case also cuts down the noise level as both methods it occurs to me cuts down on the turbulence caused by the close proximity of the fan to the honeycomb mesh
Ok wrinkle #7
Looking for something to clean out those tiny apertures and sockets.
Found some small devices at the pharmacy for cleaning teeth that are brilliant for cleaning out the socket ends of SATA cables, board SATA sockets - especially the ones that haven't been used for ages and other small apertures that are around the machine.
The material used are synthetic and come in various sizes (widths) but I have had no trouble in using them for this purpose - dipped in a little alcohol first of course. Don't use very vigorously as you may damage the pins surfaces you need cleaned. Oh and better keep tooth ones and machine ones separate SATA sockets don't like left overs LOL!!
They make real good toothpicks and also good for cleaning your teeth of course LOL!!
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