[dlavery]

OK, let's be real clear about this - compressed air is one of the worst possible solutions for cleaning chips away from anything. This is particularly true when you are talking about electronics.

Go visit any high-quality precision toolroom or instrument shop, and you will probably find that this is a completely prohibited practice. The reason is pretty straightforward when you think about it. When you blow the chips away, they have to go somewhere. With a big blast of compressed air, you have no control over where the chips fly. They may be blasted out of the area of interest, but it is just as likely that some of them will be driven even deeper into tiny crevices or components where they will cause endless problems. I once helped tear down a medium-size lathe that had been used in a small shop for about two years where they constantly used the "blow all the chips away" approach. We found an entire handfull of chips and swarf that had been driven from the area around the headstock through the seals and into the gearbox and transmission of the lathe. It was not a pretty sight. It was not hard to imagine the effect that would have had on a electronic circuit board subjected to the same treatment.

If you want to clean chips away from electronics (or any other area), the correct solution is the exact opposite: vacuum. Use a shop vac with a small nozzle to suck away any metal fragments. If necessary, a judiciously applied cotton swab can be used to dislodge an embedded chip and free it to be sucked up.

-dave


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