PC Enclosure for Dust Control?

Brent Dowell

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Just wondering if anyone here has any experience with making an enclosure for a computer to keep dust from getting inside?

My 5 year old computer died the other day. I think the CPU finally got fried after overheating many times due to dust clogging the cpu cooler. It had gotten a bit unstable over the last couple of years, but finally got to the point where it just wont boot.

On the floor, my pc seems to collect a lot of dust and I tend to have to blow it out with compressed air about once a weel.

Well, I've got a new MB, CPU, and Graphics card on the way and I'm wanting to try and protect this new investment.

I was thinking if I built some kind of enclosure for my pc that had a filter on it and fans to pull air into the enclosure I might be able to keep the dust on the filter, and not inside my pc.

Just wondering if anyone has any experience or suggestions.

Thanks!

Brent
 
Brent I have been thinking about exactly the same issue. I have just completed my cabling to the house of my connection (not going wireless I already have that) and now ready to set up my spare computer in the shop. Been scratching the brain to think through this one. I am thinking of a box using some off the shelf small filter with very fine filtering. Then run the keyboard and mouse outside. Even looked at the rubber keyboards where keys are not exposed. Cooling is a big consideration so airflow is an issue regardless. I hope someone posts something here that has already been tried as a solution.
 
Lots of 'industrial' enclosures out there, for a bunch of money.

I'm guessing if I get a couple of 120mm fans and put on the front with some sort of filter material.

I could either go that way, or I'm almost thinking of just building a case on my own.
 
I'll be following this thread with interest. my "shop" computer which controls my cnc machine as well as lets me browse the internet, is always getting covered in dust... so bad that I actually end up blowing it out with compressed air once a month or so.

-J
 
One of the more interesting 'hacks' I've seen for keeping a pc dust free is to put all the components in a tank and then fill the tank with mineral oil :eek:

Seems like ti would work, but I'm not sure I really want to go that far....

Especially with a brand new Mobo/CPU/Graphics card....
 
I mad one out of some 1/2" plexi with a large furnace filter on the back. It is close to twice the size of the tower. This allows plenty of air flow. Once a month the filter comes out and gets replaced.
 
Do you use any fans to force air in/out of the enclosure? Or is it passive, with the furnace filter being big enough to allow enough airflow?
 
My Computer GURU tells me that the floor is the worse location in reguards to dust, On my latest Upgrade he installed and extra-large fan to keep air moving and blowing OUT. Says to open the box periodically and use my compressed air to blow out the mess . Never use a Vacuum to clean the CPU as moving dust in a vacuum tube creates Static Electricity and KerPow!! goes the electronic parts.
 
My Computer GURU tells me that the floor is the worse location in reguards to dust, On my latest Upgrade he installed and extra-large fan to keep air moving and blowing OUT. Says to open the box periodically and use my compressed air to blow out the mess . Never use a Vacuum to clean the CPU as moving dust in a vacuum tube creates Static Electricity and KerPow!! goes the electronic parts.

Not to hijack my own thread, but yeah, my Dust collector generates a lot of static electricity in the dry desert.

I don't really have any good options for getting the PC up off the floor, which is why I'm thinking of building an enclosure to keep the dust out to begin with.
 
I think you guys are over thinking this one, all you really need is a box the you can put you computer in and then have a positive pressure in it, do this with two or even three large fans, that are filtered, they blow into the box all the time, bringing clean filtered air, the rest of the box does not have to be that sealed up, as you want the air to flow out of the box, making sure nothing comes into the box, except the air passing through the filters. Think the "Boy in the Bubble" kind of thing.

Good luck! :thumb:
 
Stu,

That's pretty much what I'm leaning towards.

Heres a really crude drawing of what I'm thinking.

enclosure.jpg

The left side would be a furnace filter
The middle barrier would have the fans on it (Blowing from left to right).

The right hand chamber would house the pc.

Of course there would be a door on the front.

Seem simple enough.

Might even be able to build some sort of cable management into the backend of it.
 
(But I still want to make a pc where it's in an all clear enclosure, submerged in mineral oil with all kinds of funky led lights)
 
If you do seal it up in a container, you need to beef up the air circulation particullarly how the air gets into the box. Sealed too tight and the fans will draw through the hard drive, CD drives and DVD drives or anyother slit or slot or opening, creating more problems than a dusty insides of the motherboard.

IMHO you are better off just setting up a schedule to clean out the box on a regular basis. A friend has his computer in his garage (man-cave) dirty, smoky from a wood stove, sooty from old Model T cars, etc. No cover on the box and a small fan blowing directly into the side of the box. Black as a coal mine in there and yet, somehow it still performs well. It is not the dirt but the heat that kills the componants. Any enclosure will certainly contain heat and create an early demise to your unit.
 
I'm quite familiar with building PC's, overclocking, etc...

Been there done that, with cleaning out the pc with compressed air, the last one lasted a pretty good long time.

I'm just tired of cleaning the dust out of the inside of the computer, which I do too frequently around here. The problem being that I usually don't remember to open it up and blow it out until it starts shutting down from the CPU overheating, due to the blower on the CPU Heat sink being clogged with dust.

Leaving a case open is probably ok for low power units where you don't really have to be concerned about excessive CPU heat, but from what I've heard in the past, making sure there is really a decent amount of air moving through, typically from front to back, helps to keep the whole box cooler than leaving the sides off.

What I'm really looking for here if anyone has actually built one. I figured someone might have actually done some work on a cabinet or something for a customer where they wanted to hid the CPU box in a fancy desk, or a built in cabinet or something.
 
We had some cabinets built for PCs that we installed for a timber proccessing company. The PCs sit out in the factory beside a couple of 6 head Weinig moulding machines. Serious dust collection in place, but it only seems to get 99.99% and you are talking truckloads a day, so it's still a dusty place.

They were build to order by a local office fiurniture company, but any woodworker could build one.

Important thing is it's fairly well sealed and you have fans sucking air in through a filter and out through some other venting. (Positive pressure)

Ours had cabinets on top for the LCD screens behind a perpsex window, a draw and sliding shelf for keyboard and mouse in their own compartment between.

They have worked well.

Only big problem we had was one of the workers started putting his lunch in the keyboard draw. Was fine untill he forgot it one day and a rat chewed through the keyboard / nmouse / barcode scanner cables trying to get into the draw overnight :dunno:

Ian
 
I wonder if instead of using a furnace filter, you might get better results by attaching a Cleanstream HEPA vacuum cleaner filter on the outside of the box you are going to put the PC in, and mount a strong equipment cooling fan in the box at the filter opening. I know that filter runs about Twenty something bucks @ HD or Sears, but would be easy to clean, have good airflow and should outlast MANY furnace filters. Just a thought anyhow.:dunno:
 
Norman I agree, I think that idea has real merits when you think of the use that our shop vacs get. I am thinking of the spun polyester filter that we have in our central vac. It is washable and works well and easy to blow out.
 
If it helps, here is a link to our Picasa album showing the computer cabinet we built for the shop. It works great and is dust free.

http://picasaweb.google.com/chuckinpc/Projects#

The pictures have captions which explain each on. I used 12V fans I already had and connected their power to the CPU. They are a little loud for my taste so I may switch them out for some 110V fans that are a little quieter.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Chuck
 
Chuck, that looks great, and good idea with the larger filter that you can rotate 180 degrees :thumb:

So, how does it work?

Does everything stay clean?

Cheers!
 
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