Dust

[SiM]

Do you guys have any good ideas for reducing the amount of dust that a pc accumulates?

Other than vacuuming it of course

Do those filter things do anything?

Dust is damn annoying

[Guy]

Every so often use a can of compressed air, that usually shifts all the dust out of the case.

[SiM]

Every so often use a can of compressed air, that usually shifts all the dust out of the case.

Vacuuming does a better job imo
Compressed air is better for the small gaps though...

My question should really be:
I am lazy, therefore I want to vacuum/clean with compressed air my case as little as possible. What measures can I take to achieve this?

[Cistron]

Have more air blow into your case then exhausted by fans and use dust filter on the intake. The positive pressure should keep the dust out.

[DDY]

Keep the PC away from the floor, i.e. put it on your desk.

[peterb]

Filters work, but even when clean they will have an impact on air flow. As they clog up, the effect becomes greater, so they need to be cleaned regularly.

Most of the dust is composed of dead human skin cells and house mite droppings, so if you put your computer in a basement with (say) a concrete floor (basically anywhere where dust and house mites can't survive, and there is minimal human presence, the problem goes away - but it assumes that you can access the PC remotely.

That is why commecial installations have less of a problem. Server rooms tend to have hard floors, and not occupied (and the air can be filtered, if necessary) when it is blown into the room. (It may be cooled/air-conditioned too)

[alsenior]

put a pair of ladies tights over the fan intake(fish nets dont work for obvious reasons). should catch most dust

[Blitzen]

Most of the dust is composed of dead human skin cells

Thats actually a myth.

[Zak33]

Thats actually a myth.

he;s right, it's a myth. it mainly fluff particles from the myriad fabrics and tissues in a house.

Back to the topic.

Make your own filters, they work superbly.

Go to Supermarket
Go to cleaning section.

Buy packet of cheap green plastic scouring pads.



Cut to fit your airintake with scissiors, and hold in place with anything you've got handy....cable tie at each corner does me

And that's it....it's amazing how well these work Easy to clean, cheap to replace.

[peterb]

Its not authorative (and is off topic - to some extent) but

Dust - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[iranu]

Paint brushes. Use a big one for general cleaning and a smaller one to get in all the nooks and crannies. They are cheap and will work forever.

[SiM]

Thanks for all the replies

Am I right in saying that the filters will have to be cleaned more often than the insides of a PC that doesn't have filters?
That said, this is probably the most common solution. Do you recommend any specific filters?

Doesn't this block 50%+ of the airflow?

Paint brushes. Use a big one for general cleaning and a smaller one to get in all the nooks and crannies. They are cheap and will work forever.

I like this idea
Will work nicely for cleaning in between heatsink blades...

[moogle]

If you're lazy, like I was/am. Do the reverse action of the fans and Dyson the filters. Done that many many times with my Antec 900. Ahh the amount of time it's saved me...


Unless your filters are in hard to reach areas.

[Bounty_Bam]

compressed air, and get some fan filters. Technically, your not supposed to use vaccum cleaners, as they generate a small amount of static energy, which can damage vital components (I learnt that in uni ) but many ppl use them without the bother...i just wouldnt risk it myself oh and the expensive way would be to install air conditioning in your house

[mycarsavw]

I use paint brushes too - stiff bristled ones in particular

[pollaxe]

Paintbrush, vacuum and lifting up combination for me. I've got a raised platform the PC sits on now which has helped a bit. I may well go with Zak's scouring pad advice too, clever stuff.