Thread: Dustproofing for the bush computer

Welcome to the board Michael.

If you put the base unit in a box you'll need to install some fans in the box or your problem will be heat not dust. You could re-cycle fans from old scrapped computers.

HH.

Back in the days when computers were not that common and laptops were very rare. I would carry my computer at the time in a box that could be transported from one work location to another. From memory there were three compartments, one each for the keyboard, cpu and screen. The front hinged upwards to reveal the computer. It was just a matter of plugging it into a power point and away it went. Mind you the heat generated from the old machines was not that great, the current machines are a different story though.

Daniel


Try this link for covering a laptop in workshop environments.

http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/workshop/motor_jig.html

Originally Posted by Gumpy

Back in the days when computers were not that common and laptops were very rare. I would carry my computer at the time in a box that could be transported from one work location to another. From memory there were three compartments, one each for the keyboard, cpu and screen. The front hinged upwards to reveal the computer. It was just a matter of plugging it into a power point and away it went. Mind you the heat generated from the old machines was not that great, the current machines are a different story though.

Daniel


Try this link for covering a laptop in workshop environments.

http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/workshop/motor_jig.html

Bloody hell BOC you must remember those old IBM things where the keyboard became the lid covering the 5" mono screen.

HH.

G'day.

Some years ago I provided a solution for a Mine Site.

We had cabinets built by a mob that make kitchens.
The cabinets were about 4" bigger all round that the PC.
It had a compartment in the bottom for a UPS & that was
also at least 4" bigger all round.
It had 2 x 240V AC fans in the bottom compartment that
sucked Air in through some good thick AC filter media &
the air flowed up through holes between the bottom & top
compartments & exhausted out through flyscreen covered holes
in the top of the sides of the cabinet.
The AC filter media was built into an Ali flyscreen frame that
was removable so it could be washed out every couple of days.
They had a couple of filters for each cabinet so they could rotate them.

The cables came out through holes with a foam cover with a
slit in it so the plug could be pushed through.
The fans pressurized the cabinet so no dust got in the holes.

The trick was to have HEAPS of airflow & good filters.
Without the airflow, the temp in the cabinet went up very quickly &
the PC would lock up & crash often.
Without good clean filters, the dust still got in.

Other tricks we needed to had implemented was to have the
room airconditioned & the AC left on always & to have the
floor mopped often to keep the dust out of the room so it
wasn't sucked into the cabinet.

May be cheaper to just have the PC cleaned out once a month.

When I serviced PCs on mine sites, I'd take them over to their
workshop & blow the dust out with their compressed air.

Enclose it however you like but pay attention to the ventilation & the aircirculation inside.
Blow air into the bottom vent out near the top.
Get a good strong fan from wherever you can. A stack of landcruser air filters would do a good job & are probably easy to get in the bush.

Thanks lads, it is very heartening to have responses like yours. It feels like yeling out in the middle of the bush and hearing friendly voices.
However, I feel I may have misled you somewhat. I know that a picture is worth a thousand or more words, but I will try describing more accurately.
What I would like to do is to enclose the whole of the top of my desk, so that the compute, printer, monitor, digital camera and scanner are all enclosed in a kind of cupboard on the top of the desk. What I was further wondering was whether to have the desktop like a kind of large shelf in the cupboard with sides and back of mdf (painted of course) from floor to the top of the "cupboard" and a dustproof front which would fold away when using the computer.
This would mean that I could have some papers on the desk at the same time as I sem to need and would prevent cooking the compute as you have pointed out.
I know I am new to this kind of communication, but do people ever submit drawings or photos? Sketching or drawing a mud map seems so much part of trying to understand and convey these kinds of things.
Anyway thanks for the encouragement to get into a forum
Michael Breen

IMHO the best solution is to do some modifications to your case (or get a new one) so that you have more intake fans in the front and side of your case than at the top and rear exhaust. Then cover the intake fans with an old stocking or similar material. Because of the positive case air pressure any dust will only come in through the intake fans (Where the stocking dust filter is).

You will have to come up with some other solution to protect the rest of your components.

It sounds a bit too simple, but would a laptop solve this problem.

macca

At the risk of bing on topic:

I think the 'big box' idea may be a bit too much. The ideas about making separate enclosures should work - a medium box for the CPU, a 'goldfish bowl' for the monitor, another box for the printer. The keyboard & mouse could be slipped into the monitor or printer box, any other bits can live in with their big brothers.

Depending on whether you can get to the 'Big Smoke' or one of the regional centres, you may be able to pick up one of the old fashioned dot matrix printer enclosures that were a common part of the copmputer landscape for years - big box with slots for paper & cables, semi-filtered air fans, big clear plastic lid on spring or gas struts. Again, depending on maker, they may have a bottom or not, and all should have foam sound proofing.

Some of the big 2nd hand office furniture stores should have a herd of these things 'out the back' in various configurations & should cost less than the materials to build a new one. You could have your printer in one with some accessories, and a monitor, camera etc in another - just pop the lid & put the keyboard away when you are finished. Depending on your CPU, you may be able to lie it down under your printer or stand it up next to it.

It all depends on how much you want to invest.. if your willing and game then do a google search for "water cooled pc" This will allow you the completly block off the air intakes into the computer (ie. absolutely no dust in that sucker at all)

for the monitor it depends if it is an LCD or Cathode ray?? If LCD I can't help you but if cathode then you can simply place a plastic cover over it when your not using the computer (same for the PC Tower too and the keyboard if you wanted cheap)

If you want an enclosed work station for the shave shed then you will have to look at computer furniture supplyers they should have something like a big cabinet that you will be able to close up and part of the desk will fold in and you close the door..

Not too sure if you can find an example online.. I'll have a look..

Hope this has helped

Oh BTW unless its a combustible material (Or the dust fall is at the point of a light constant rain) I wouldn't worrie too much about the computer every few months just pull the case off the tower and uses compressed air from a tin to clean it out same for the keyboard (This is what I do for my notebook with is constantly in dusty areas ie. outside when its blowing a gail and all hell is braking loss with the dry soil, in the garage and so forth)

Just throw a plastic sheet over the whole lot when you are not usin it, or are workin in the shed on somethin dusty.
You can use something absorbent if u like, such as a cotton sheet for the damp as well.
Most of the new machines are fairly hardy and dust isnt a major issue. If u are still worried rip the cover off the tower and hit it with the air hose once every couple of months.
I know the purists will scream foul, but i ran an ISP service (14 computers) out of my shed for many years using this methodology.

Keep the sheep and the cat off the keyboard and u should be ok

and good luck matey

It is a wonderful feeling to find that when I somewhat nervously chucked a question out there all these wonderful replies came back. I find it a very consoling feeling. It makes the world a much more friendly place. I think it was Einstein when asked what was the 'most important question you could ask' said, "Is the world a friendly place?"
The responses were beyond woodworking. I learned a lot about manaaging a computer-and not to worry too much about dust. Since I looked at what you suggested I phoned Ex-Governemnt furniture in Canberra and they told me they get those old dot matrix printer booths from time to time. However,"They are a much sought after item", your man told me. When I asked who had similar things he suggested H.Norman have plastic covers for computers and keyboards. I am now using one of those picnic rugs with cotton on one side and plastic taupaulin (sp?) on the other. However I will look at the gear in HNs and realize that I have a good excuse to plead with the wife for buying a compressor. I do have a laptop,Macca and for your information it is like you a Mac. But thanks for the suggestion.
Gratefully,
Michael