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Computer Air Filter

 Filter the air before it carries dust into your PC box
  (+7, -3)
(+7, -3) 		  [vote for,
against]

There should be a convenient way to filter the cooling air going through the PC. I clean my PC about every month and it always amazes me how much dust get's inside my poor e-brain. So, I came up with building a small box out of hobby wood and placing a heppa filter in it. I used double sided tape to affix the box to the air holes on the side of the PC (air in holes). I was very careful to make sure the filter area was extra large so as not to interfere with the flow produced by the cooling fan. It seems to be working...last cleaning, there was almost no new dust. I keep a close eye on the filter to make sure I change it before it get's overly dirty. So far no problems.
—Blisterbob, Sep 20 2005

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       Foam filters are baked on the computers we supply to the military.
—normzone, Sep 20 2005
   

       The idea seems OK, but car:design?
—Texticle, Sep 21 2005
   

       definitely baked (especially on server class cases) ... but [+] for suggesting this for all-cases (a home has more dust than a server room anyways)   

       ... I've been wanting something like this for ages, but never got around to actually hacking something together.
—ixnaum, Sep 21 2005
   

       Baked, even on my cheap $40 Antec case (SLK-3000B). It restricts airflow a little bit but blocks most dust.
—ivanx, Sep 21 2005
   

       HEPA.
—bristolz, Sep 21 2005
   

       its possible. just make sure to build a filter box. use wood or plexi, whateveris most comfortable. the most important thing is surface area, the more, the less strain on the fans. normal case fans really are bad at fighting back pressure, this can be semi solved using them in series, in parralel they are also weak. so if you have fans in the front pulling in and fans in the back exhausting, that will work fine. attachment is a pain. you have to think of something clever, i just taped furnace exhaust hose, which is basically a big slinky covered in tinfoil. course if you have enough space or build something clever theres no need for hosing, which really does just restrict airflow in the end. but mine was filtering air coming out of the pc for my room, i figured if my room were less dusty, so would the pc in the end. and even if it were not, i would benifit myself:P i used a normal sized 3m furnace filter, the mid grade one, its made of some kind of wooly fine fiber. i figure hepa would be too much for the fans to overcome. and theres cost. if you are filtering exhaust like i was, then seal up all case gaps with sealent or tape. i tossed it all together using cardboard to build a box and lots of tape. left it for several months to prove the point. did it work? lets just say the inside of the filter is covered in a blanked of dust. so it did work atleast for my room. i still did have to open my case for cleaning every once in a while. but if your case is loud anyways, might as well make it do something with it. nothings impossible, just make the filter box big enough and you dont have to worry about air flow. for intake filtering you should put the filter inset into the box a bit and put a coarse grill in front so dust can be trapped.   

       and btw u also got to make sure the fans are breathing as freely as possible. for most, that means cutting out fan grills(dremel is useful) or tinsnips. using vents as intakes is probably not a good idea, blisterbob probably should cut out a section where he is attaching his filtering box. as said, case type fans are bad at fighting back pressure. if you want to cram air in through restrictions you must use blowers.
—Aihyah, Aug 16 2006
   

       One of the computer magazines had a how-to section, almost the same idea. They used dryer sheets to filter dust. Well, it seems easier.
—Shogun37, Jan 26 2008
   

       You can also buy desk units for your home wih filter units built in for the computer compartment.
—DrCurry, Jan 26 2008
   


 

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