Best value air compressor?

[Blythe93]

I'm looking to buy myself an air compressor in order to clean some of the electronics I have at home, mainly PC and consoles. Seeing that there are plenty of choices, I'm not really sure what to look for so I'm interested to see what you guys use to clean your electronics, other than household vacuum cleaner and compressed air cans. Thanks for your time.

 

[mrdude]

Harris soft brussel nylon paint brush, isopropyl alcohol.

Just give it a little spray, then use the soft paint brush to spread it around and clean the crap off. If a board/fan is dusty I just take it ouside and give it a brush with the paint brush. Using an air brush, all you are doing is shifting the dust (dead skin) and crap from someone else's stuff into your house and lungs.

 

[FAST6191]

If you are doing electronics you will want to look into oil free air compressors lest you blow all the oil into said electronics.
They are usually louder, more expensive and maybe less CFM than oil sporting ones, and if you want to use it with other air tools you will have to make sure to oil them as well.
Ones designed for airbrushing might also work for your purposes but might not be as powerful. Can often find them after people decide to take up the hobby and then quit.

Lens cleaning ball or one of the million other terms can get a lot of things done, though they will not shift as much as a canned air.

I did once see a hand actuated blower (think those old squeeze torches where you had a handle you squeezed in and out to make it light) but have never been able to find one for sale.

For the most part though unless you are setting up a workshop doing this day in and day out (it is also annoying to lug around if you do field work/house calls) then these days the cheap shops sell canned air and unless you are using its freezing properties then it will be far cheaper in the long run for light domestic use.

 

[subcon959]

Be careful with such things or you can end up doing more harm than good. Powerful compressed air is a great way to send tiny components flying off the motherboard or damage fan bearings by overspinning them. You can also have problems with static charge using household vacuum cleaners.