Sound Cracking after Cleaning Pc ?

[Scarlcfvet]

So last night after I cleaned my pc with an air canister I turned on my computer and noticed that my headset was making a weird buzzing noise. After logging into the computer I switched headsets and the sound was still there but only went away when I went to the sound in my control panel and muted it. When the sound is muted the cracking sound goes away completely but after I turn it back on the crackling static noise is there. Does anyone know any fixes or why this is happening ?

 

[Saberus]

Could be a bit of conductive material got blown into/onto the jack or it's pins, and is causing a small short.

Could also be ESD damage, how close to the parts was the nozzle? Less than 6 inches is bad news, 3 or less is asking for trouble.

 

[Scarlcfvet]

Could be a bit of conductive material got blown into/onto the jack or it's pins, and is causing a small short.

Could also be ESD damage, how close to the parts was the nozzle? Less than 6 inches is bad news, 3 or less is asking for trouble.

It was pretty close. I never worried about it because people said it was safe :/ .

 

[Saberus]

Double check around the jacks to make sure there's nothing there, it is more likely that's what happened.

High velocity air coming out of a plastic nozzle can build up ESD, depending on what gasses are used. That's part of why you want that 6 inch gap, so there's no chance for any charge to jump to the hardware to balance out. Keeping a hand on the case or using a wrist strap can give the charge a safer route to balance. This is really rare, but if you don't get too close, it is really an easy and effective way to dust out a PC.