How often do you open your case? And why?

[jonesthewine]

I just realized that I open the cases more often than I would have thought. the family rig gets opened once every 2-3 weeks for a cleaning, but the one in my home office is opened a few times a week, for cleaning, upgrading, showing it to my kids, friends, etc...

 

[Jeff7]

Depends. My case hasn't been opened in maybe a few weeks. My secondary PC hasn't been opened in over a month. But when I'm in a fit of upgrading, then the things may sit with the side off for a few days at a time. There will be some upgrades soon, when a 200GB hard drive arrives. One drive (120GB) will shift from my main computer to an external enclosure, and serve as supplementary storage. It can't go in my secondary computer - I'm out of bays. 4 5.25" bays and 3 3.5" internal bays are all full....unless. Just thought about it; maybe it could fit behind the Sunbeam fanbus I've got in the one bay. That'd be nice.
So to answer the question - they only get opened for upgrades, or if something screws up that requires an internal diagnostic. They don't get opened for cleaning; I've got filters on all intakes, so not much dust gets in.

 

[reddog3941]

hey JTWine,

ever tink of a side window! that way u can see the inside (showing to the kids/family/clean) without removin the side!

 

[jonesthewine]

getting ready to do the side-window thing very soon...

 

[Sid59]

hardly ever. maybe to check if the wires are still in place and kill dust bunnies.

 

[beatle]

I open for upgrades/repairs. In the summer months when airflow really counts I'll clean out my front fan filter once every month or two.

 

[Sundog]

Opens a case?

That would imply that one's case is closed to begin with. I don't even know where that darn side panel is.

 

[SynthesisI]

Just when my video card fan is acting up and I have to tap it to get its bearings out of whatever funk they're in.

 

[ToxicWaste]

I seem to have to tinker with it. I guess I just can't keep my hands out of it. So, I probably open it at least once a week. Just did a round of video card upgrades, I'm up'd to a 9800 Pro, so everyone down the line got an upgrade too. Let's see, that was three machines in 3 days...

 

[QueBert]

I opened my case today to put in this fan controller I bought. And SURE enough, I scrapped my knuckle and drew blood

I don't think I can do any internal work on my PC without causing myself some bodily damage, no matter how small...

I generally don't mess with my case much anymore. I'll open it to install any components I buy, which is sort of rare. And I use those times to just go ahead and clean the sucker out.

 

[Gravity]

Well it seems like about twice per month or so. I clean when I go in but I don't go in unless I absolutely have to. I upgraded the hsf (slk900a), swapped out all the TT 80mm fans with Panaflo l1a's and added a 52x burner and then a dvd burner so it's steady but not constant. Most of the peeps that I show it off to wouldn't know what they are looking at inside, wouldn't notice the terrabyte of storage or the raid array so I don't open it for them anywayz.

 

[Zepper]

Ditto Sundog!
.bh.
:brrrrrrrrrr... Still under -10 deg here.

 

[SuperPickle]

As little as possible. It seems that when I pop the side of the case off, I break something. Last time I upgraded my HSF, I borked my OS.
damn computer gnomes:disgust:

 

[labrat25]

this last week a lot 'cause i'm building the thing

in the future hopefully not so much, but i know i will 'cause i like to tinker... that's why the case has thumb screws

 

[vshah]

I open it every week to clean the dust that seems to reproduce like bunnies in my dorm room......i can't see it but it gets stuck on my filters so its coming from somewhere....oh well at least the inside is clean

-vivan

 

[ToxicWaste]

Originally posted by: labrat25
... that's why the case has thumb screws

Thumb screws have been a godsend. I've got them on three out of five of my home pc's. Next time I get a change, I'll finish off the last two. It makes it soooooo much easier to frequently clean out the dust bunnies that reproduce like crazy in my house...

 

[0roo0roo]

very rarely now that i've totally filtered my case. only vacumn the intakes.