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Keeping the dust out

C

Cbshahji

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 3, 2010
Messages
1,976
How do you keep your system clean, i live in florida and eventhough system stays cool, i get dust all over it fast and unless i clean it everyweek it gets like dust bunny party going on inside. i do have dust filter on power supply but that's about it. the power supply is in the bottom and the case is on metal plate which is about 2-3 inch high above the ground. i also have one fan taking air intake which is in lower front of the case (cosmos S case) just looking for getting few pointers.

Thanks
CB
 
only way is using filters on the fans and even that's not really going to help.. its electrical hardware they will get dust on them no matter what you do.. well unless you seal it in an air tight box..
 
You just gotto clean it to keep the dust out, I use the compressed air duster but I'm sure there are better solutions as some might oppose to the idea of using these cans. :D
 
ive heard horror stories about people who accidentally held the compressed air at an angle and it came out in liquid form and froze pat of their motherboard. after this their computer wouldnt post. just be careful. i just have a lot of dust filters and will take a vacuum to the comp every once in a while.
 
To keep the dust out you can put filters on all your fans AND have it so you there is more air blowing in than out. On some cases it's difficult to do because they are set up with big exhaust fans and minimal intake fans, and you also want to maintain good airflow (ie, dont have fans fighting each other). But if you can set it up so you have more air blowing in than out, it'll reduce the amount of dust you get in your case because air wont be sucking in from all the little gaps that don't have filters on them. You also have to keep in mind that most filters reduce airflow, so you need at least 1 or 2 more "in" fans than you have "out" fans.
 
try setting your fans up in a positive pressure setup... way way less dust in the case
 
Small compressor or a 'data vac' with the hose on the exhaust end. Works wonderfully.
 
+1 to the positive pressure method. I find it's a bit more difficult to do on CM cases since they seem to be made for negative pressure.
 
Leaf blow always works fine, just turn it on for a fraction of a second, enough to get your fans spinning. Do it outside though, dust will go everywhere.
 
I use pantie-hoes stretched over the fan grill and held on with a rubber band. You just pop it off and clean it once a week. It's pretty effective. Eventually you do have to just clean the damn thing out.

My ultimate goal is to have a totally enclosed PC with everything water cooled and the rad outside the case with those no drip quick connectors. You just pop it off and wash it in the sink and pop it back on. PC cleaned. :D
 
im in FL as well, and well I just live with it....clean the filters every month(should do more often but hell i'm forgetful), and i'm trying to every 6-8 months do a tear down and full cleaning of everything
 
First thing you have to do is seal up all "leaks" in your system. I just put duct tape over any places I could see light getting through (looking from the inside out).

I have an antec p180 with three exhaust fans located at the rear of the case (including the psu fan exhaust), so the air moves from front to back. In the front where a cd drive is usually located I have removed all the front panels and put a wire mesh over it. On top of that I have put filter paper that is usually placed over smaller air-con units. So my PC is basically one big air filter. I check it every 6 months and there is almost zero dust inside, maybe a little if I swipe my finger on the bottom...but absolutely no dust collecting on heatsinks, cpu cooler fans, etc. I haven't needed compressed air on it since doing this. Oh yeah, for a cd drive I use a usb cd when I need it, which isn't that often.

Anyway, that's how I do it. Maybe overkill, but I hate dust. Only thing I need to do is change the filter paper every 6 months or so.
 
GJSNeptune said:
I wanna get one of these. Just can't justify $40+ for one. :(

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001J4ZOAW/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Click to expand...

I just got mine today. It's a great blower. It does get pretty warm up top after using it for a bit, but the accessories it comes with are great. I received an H50 recently that had some dust still in the fins and I had it looking brand new in no time at all. Definitely worth it if you go through a lot of the cans of air.
 
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WiLLiSTER said:
I just got mine today. It's a great blower. It does get pretty warm up top after using it for a bit, but the accessories it comes with are great. I received an H50 recently that had some dust still in the fins and I had it looking brand new in no time at all. Definitely worth it if you go through a lot of the cans of air.
Click to expand...

So the thing is pretty powerful? I was contemplating on getting it too but wasn't quite too sure if it pushed enough air to loosen up dust in tight crevices.
 
WiLLiSTER said:
I just got mine today. It's a great blower. It does get pretty warm up top after using it for a bit, but the accessories it comes with are great. I received an H50 recently that had some dust still in the fins and I had it looking brand new in no time at all. Definitely worth it if you go through a lot of the cans of air.
Click to expand...

You know, I think I'm going to order that. I would feel safer using it than a small air compressor and I hate using canned air as well.
 
It pushes a pretty good amount of air. It helps to use the concentrated nozzle that it comes with. For smaller areas theres a thin piece about 7" or so (sorta like a bendy straw) and yet another piece with bristles for loosening up some of the more stubborn dust/dirt. There were a couple other things that it came with, but those were the only ones I used today.
 
Would you happen to have any filters/mesh you could try that duster on? The lack of pressure from the cans has caused a pretty nasty layer of dust to get stuck in the front and top of my CM 690 that I cannot blow out. My old compressor did a good job of getting it all, but alas, it is no longer with my other living componenets. :( If this little guy is as good as it sounds, it seems like a better alternative.
 
WiLLiSTER said:
I just got mine today. It's a great blower. It does get pretty warm up top after using it for a bit, but the accessories it comes with are great. I received an H50 recently that had some dust still in the fins and I had it looking brand new in no time at all. Definitely worth it if you go through a lot of the cans of air.
Click to expand...

Sound great, I'd rather get that than keep buying canned air. Positive reviews on Amazon too :D
 
Jeremy C said:
Would you happen to have any filters/mesh you could try that duster on? The lack of pressure from the cans has caused a pretty nasty layer of dust to get stuck in the front and top of my CM 690 that I cannot blow out. My old compressor did a good job of getting it all, but alas, it is no longer with my other living componenets. :( If this little guy is as good as it sounds, it seems like a better alternative.
Click to expand...

I don't think I do off the top of my head. I'm probably just going to use some womens pantyhose like a few other people are doing for filters. What you might wanna do (though it's time consuming) is grab some of those super cheap pipe cleaners and get up in there. I'm not too familiar with the 690's layout, so I'm not completely sure how well that would work. You almost might be able to use the "bendy straw" attachment I mentioned, but again, I'm really not sure of the layout on the case, so I don't know if it would be able to get up in there.
 
Getting the tower off the floor also helps a bunch. I have one of the allsop tower caddies..
 
Hmm, I'm about to pick up that Datavac too. Is it any good at blowing off the tiny particles that seem to be stuck on my motherboard? I thought about buying an anti-static brush to wipe my board and other parts with but I can't muster up the trust in something like that.
 
It gets a lot of the bigger stuff off no problem. I used the bristle on my hard drives and didn't have an issue with em, though ya know, do that at your own risk :p
 
Like a lot of people have said, use more intake than outtake, you should be fine with just one outtake by your cpu. You can filter every fan but most importantly filter the intakes. I've also found used fabric softer sheets can make great filters, most people generated about 6 a month since they split in half after the wash which is plenty, just throw them away and replace once they gather enough dust.
 
GJSNeptune said:
I wanna get one of these. Just can't justify $40+ for one. :(

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001J4ZOAW/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Click to expand...

What's the difference between that and a regular vacuum cleaner housed in plastic? "They say" we should not use a vacuum cleaner. Do they mean ones made of metal?

I see people say they use air compressors and leaf blowers. How do we know they are any safer against producing an electrostatic discharge than a plastic vacuum cleaner? Has anybody done a study or tested this conjecture?
 
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The answer is to put filters on your fans and make sure your case has positive pressure. Make sure all intake fans are filtered and there is more air actively going in than is actively being expelled. Positive pressure will cause air to leak through all the small gaps in your case where a negative pressure case would end up with dust getting sucked into all these cracks (like all your PCI slot covers, the area around the backpanel, gaps in the front of the case, passive air vents, etc.
 
xenolith said:
What's the difference between that and a regular vacuum cleaner housed in plastic? "They say" we should not use a vacuum cleaner. Do they mean ones made of metal?

I see people say they use air compressors and leaf blowers. How do we know they are any safer against producing an electrostatic discharge than a plastic vacuum cleaner? Has anybody done a study or tested this conjecture?
Click to expand...

All I can say is I have used a large number of vacuums in my life and have first hand felt the static on the hose, enough to even make the hair on my arms stand on end, that was always enough to keep be from using them in cleaning computers other than empty cases.

I have since picked up one of the ED500 blowers, for the longest time I could never bring myself to shell out 50 bucks for it, but I live on a dirt road and caned air adds up to quite allot for me (few cans a week). my main worry was it would be weak...But that is one thing it is not. The first thing I can suggest is taking the PC outside the first time you use it, if you think your PC is "clean" after using caned air...it's not, my PC was freshly blown out when ups dropped off my blower and I thought I would test it out anyway, I kicked it off and dust went everywhere, the only "con" I could think about the blower is not being able to throttle it DOWN. But with that said I can 100% say I will NEVER go back to caned air and I have never had any signs of static with this unit. It's built well (metal body) and feels quite sturdy, the unit does warm up (mostly with the more restrictive attachments) but not worryingly so, as this thing has a very powerful motor in it heating should be expected, they even state this in the papers and the motor has a 5 year warranty on it. However even if the unit only lasted me a year it would have paid for it self and still be worth it. One last thing....I am glad I don't have to wait for cans to warm back up so I can keep cleaning.

Also, to the OP I don't know if you have central air, but if you do, the biggest impact you can have on dust is to use some high quality filters in your A/C unit, vacuuming often doesn't hurt either, big time if you have carpet.
 
I've been using FilterRight Filters for the past week or so and they are doing pretty good at filtering the dust.
 
That blower looks really worth it. The canned air I get has additives and I can always taste it after i'm done (like for hours :( )
 
investinwaffles said:
That blower looks really worth it. The canned air I get has additives and I can always taste it after i'm done (like for hours :( )
Click to expand...

Yes, they are called bittergents. They keep people from trying to get "high" off of them, and if you use them in a smaller room without a fan on you can indeed get a very bad long lasting taste in your mouth. I also don't like breathing in more chems than I have to.

undertheradar said:
external radiator water cooling allows you seal off the case itself.
Click to expand...

This only solves dust in the case, which I don't think is much of a problem to most people, the fact most people clean their "case" is to really clean the HS and other cooling devices inside to prevent any overheating or rise in OCed temps, all you are doing is moving the dusting to an outside rad, it would still need to be cleaned. Also, by sealing off the case you are subjecting allot of other components to extra heat from the lack of airflow.
 
BlueFireIce said:
This only solves dust in the case, which I don't think is much of a problem to most people, the fact most people clean their "case" is to really clean the HS and other cooling devices inside to prevent any overheating or rise in OCed temps, all you are doing is moving the dusting to an outside rad, it would still need to be cleaned. Also, by sealing off the case you are subjecting allot of other components to extra heat from the lack of airflow.
Click to expand...

If you use a passive radiator like I do, dust doesn't collect on the radiator any more than any other object in the room. If you have a radiator with fans, if it is external, it is still seperate from the system itself in the case, and if it is external, the dust is no longer a problem to deal with... just a quick pass with a vac and you are done.

As for heat inside the case, since most of the components that actually generate heat are water cooled (CPU, GPU, bridges), the remaining components are rather cool, giving off maybe 50 watts of heat (a liberal estimate). With a power supply running even at 800 watts, but at 93% efficiency, this means the PSU is really only making about the same amount of heat (which is why the more efficient the PSU is, the quieter it can be since it needs less cooling). IF you seal the case you can still recirculate the air inside the case very well, which will pick up the remaining heat and circulate it in the case. With a nice aluminum wall case, this heat will transfer to the outside very easily. I run my computer like this, recirculating the Enermax PSU inside the case even. So yes, you can seal the case and keep airflow... just seperate from the outside. My next goal is to waterblock a nice PSU, allowing the 0-airflow case of mine to be even cooler.
 
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