Air filters for towers

[Rockrz]

When are tower manufacturers going to get smart and make these boxes air tight, except for when they design the air to enter and exit?

I'm using some filter material over the inlet fan, but the tower is still getting dust sucked in through other openings, which kinda defeats the purpose of having filter material covering the main intake fan.

Seems like this would be something that designers would think about :cool:

[Mr.Ferrari]

Well there is something called passive thermal convection and venting. There is a reason for those openings. To improve airflow. And to help hot air get out faster, and easier without the help of a fan.
Dust is something that will always get in there, you will have to find a few min. of your time every once in a while to just take some canned air and dust it out.

Just fyi, for easy clean filters. I personally use these:
http://www.svc.com/12mga-sil-11.html

[Rockrz]

Well, what I was thinking was making the entire box air tight....and force the incoming air to come through the front fan only...where I have filter material covering it to filter the incoming air.

I was just looking at the front of my tower and there are numerous line openings around the inserts where I could put additional CD Rom drives...so, I was able to put tape over these to seal them off.

My tower has a big door on front, so nobody can see all this tape when the door is shut.
I'm just trying to protect the investment.

For dust removal, do you guys simply take a can of compressed air and "blow it out"?

[rspassey]

Get a can of compressed air and blow your case out every couple months (or sooner if needed). It's a quick process of only a couple minutes.

[Rockrz]

I read somewhere that it's a bad idea to use a vacuum cleaner to suck up all the dust while you're blowing it out.

Any reason for this not being a good idea?

[rspassey]

It's a bad idea to use a vacuum inside the case - you could really mess something up - reason is at the bottom of this page: http://www.pcmech.com/show/troubleshoot/827/

Take your case out into your garage, take off the sides, and cover your mouth / nose with a towel and use your compressed air to blow all the dust out. It works, and if you decide to aim it at the fans, use a pencil to hold the fan in place so you can blow out the air in and around the fan.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Just dont directly touch components. It will create static electricity. I use mine to clean off dust filters.

[Rockrz]

Dude, where can I get some steel butt wipe like you have in your avatar?:eek:
I have an aggie friend who would probably be interested...

[Brad the best]

i personally wouldnt use a air compressor , you will get alot of moisture in your tanks during the summer . unless you have proper filtration and tank setup , for something like painting cars . your air compressor will probobly spray out alot of water . a can of air is probobly safest

[Rockrz]

I think he was talking about using a can, a can of compressed air

[chuck4456]

It takes less than 5 minutes to dust out a PC. Go to KMart and buy a can of air. It will last 6 months if you pnly have one PC. You can blow out the keyboard and all kinds of stuff.

[jgis19]

I use my air compressor, but bleed it first too make sure there is now water coming out.

[Rockrz]

I use my air compressor, but bleed it first too make sure there is now water coming out.Why not put on a water filter?

[jer888]

i use my 150 psi air compresser with water filter and it works fine

[jgis19]

I use a water filter but also dial the psi down to about 60. Sorry for the miscommunication.

[jfk]

I prefer not to use the filters, even though my case came equipped with them, as they really reduce airflow and raise temps. They cost me 2-5C on both case and CPU temps depending on the time of the year. I simply took them out and am willing to clean the PC more often in exchange for better cooling.

[Rockrz]

Veddy, veddy good!