Hi,
I used my QC at an event held in a tent in SoCal. It was outside sorta in a dusty canyon.
Any advice on how to clean it and try to remove dust?
Can you place the end of a “gentle” vacuum in or against the vents?
Thanks!
AJ
Ive used compressed air with a vacuum which does the job but it never got that dirty.
For the outside, I use a soft-bristle paint brush to loosen the dust and a vacuum hose in the other hand to collect it, then I’ll moisten a microfiber towel with glass cleaner and wipe it down. As for the inside, if your vacuum allows you to connect the hose to the exhaust port, I think it would be safe to blow air through the vents. Start the vac and shake the hose to release any dust that’s lining the hose, before using it on your QC. A can of compressed air should be okay too. I think an air compressor would be okay too but keep it at 40PSI or lower to avoid damaging internal components. Let me know if I can provide TMI on any other subjects. 
3 Likes
Seconded to this. I gig in a private event band and often find myself on stages near cold spark machines which dump a ton of fine metallic dust in the air that gets everywhere. After gigs where this happens, I usually use a compressed air canister like you’d use to clean your keyboard to get in the vents along with a few dry, then barely damp, then dry again microfiber cloths to get the rest off everywhere else.
I’d never heard of cold spark machines before…had to look it up. Powdered metals don’t seem like a good thing to alow into electronics or humans. Have you actually gotten enough of the powder into your QC that you can see it when you blow it out?
I’ve never seen anything come out the vents, but it does leave a thin film across the top sometimes. I play a lot of weddings and cold sparks are an unfortunate fixture in some venues and ballrooms.
One time, years ago, the cold sparks broke some faders on our sound board, so ever since then, I clean my gear after playing venues with cold sparks. Better safe than sorry.
We’ve never had the misfortune of setting up near a cold spark machine. Thanks to your warning, we’ll make sure we don’t.
If you play dusty places maybe get dummy plugs to plug up all the unused connections.