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Old 06-19-2003, 09:32 AM   #1
Tobiasly
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Dust in computer cases

Has anyone found a good solution to keeping dust from building up inside home-built PC's? Do cheap filters like these work? Or do you just resign yourself to vacuuming everything out once in a while?
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Old 06-19-2003, 10:49 AM   #2
elSicomoro
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I'm going to have to make sure I keep my new one much cleaner than my old one. My old computer got cleaned all of twice--once in '99, and once in December. And when we took it apart last weekend, it was a fucking mess.
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Old 06-19-2003, 11:21 AM   #3
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The best answer I've found is to keep several of those "cans of air" around, and every year or so, take the whole computer OUTSIDE, open the case, and blow everything out.

It takes several cans because after about 20-30 seconds the can freezes and loses its power. But you don't want all that dust to blow around indoors.

I worked for a supermarket chain and we would do that. You wouldn't believe the amount of dust and gunk that anything in a supermarket accumulates. The cloud it would produce was impressive!
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Old 06-19-2003, 11:47 AM   #4
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One problem with the filters is that they can get stopped up quickly, preventing much air from getting though, and then you start having overheating issues. And conventional vacuuming isn't the best idea, because it can cause static discharge which can wreck computer chips, including the CPU.

Blowing the case out really is the best way, and outdoors like UT said. Amazing how much dust those things collect over time.

One warning though... sometimes air compressors can spit out moisture and oils, so use those with caution or not at all. Canned air may be a pain, but it's safer. Or, if you have a vacuum that can have the air flow reversed, that works too. Leaf blowers are probably not a good idea.
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Old 06-19-2003, 12:08 PM   #5
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Dust will always be a problem. But no where near what it has to be. Too many are hype moving massive air flows through a system when one 80 mm fan is quite sufficient - or two in series so that if one fails, then the second still moves enough air. Moving massive air through a system causes major dust buildup. Airflow should be typically so low that it cannot be felt except at the fan portal. One need only see how professionally designed systems move air. Only enough to cool a system and not too much to cause excessive dust problems.
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Old 06-19-2003, 12:36 PM   #6
Tobiasly
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This particular computer needs to have lots of airflow because it's a server with 4 drives and 2 CPU's. It also runs 24/7/365, or at least I'd like it to.

So I'd like to avoid having to shut it down, even once a year, to clean it out. Of course, that's better than having dust-related device problems, which very likely may be the case right now (troubleshooting a non-functioning Linux computer halfway across the world, using your very non-technically-oriented wife as tech support, is, as you may imagine, not the easiest thing to do.)

After a little more looking around, I found these filters which use aluminum mesh instead of that cheap-looking plastic stuff, and supposedly I can just take them out and rinse them. I wonder how often that would be necessary. It it's more than once every couple months or so, it prolly would be easier to just blow the whole thing out once a year.
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Old 06-19-2003, 12:43 PM   #7
Torrere
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I'm considering replacing my CPU fan in the near future, as I fear that dust buildup is the problem there.
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Old 06-19-2003, 05:58 PM   #8
xoxoxoBruce
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Seems to me it would be safer (if you have the room) to build a box with a LARGE filter like one from a furnace or A/C system. Then duct the air into the computer. Less chance of a clog causing heat problems.
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Old 06-19-2003, 11:02 PM   #9
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Hmmm, you may be onto something with the bigger-box approach. Maybe just putting the whole computer inside a filtered box? Using ducts sounds like a lot of work, esp. since I currently have fans over the CPU, in front of the SCSI drives, and in the front of the case.
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