I need a case that is dust proof or close to it?

[ingeborgdot]

I know that computers need to have ventilation but I need to build a computer for someone that is not in the cleanest environment. Is there such a case that can help with that situation. Thanks.

 

[Billb2]

Originally posted by: ingeborgdot
I know that computers need to have ventilation but I need to build a computer for someone that is not in the cleanest environment. Is there such a case that can help with that situation. Thanks.

There are special cases available for severe environments.
Text Text

 

[mpilchfamily]

Unfortunately as you said the system still needs ventilation. With that comes dust. Now there are some good air filters out there but you still need to clean/change them out from time to time. So every system needs some maintenance weather it has filters or not. Best you can do is build a very low power system. One that won't need allot of cooling and won't need to be cleaned one every couple of months.

Now if your selling this to the person then you need to build in a fee for maintenance. Its a good way to keep money coming in between builds. But that goes into the whole conversation about starting a business building PC and that the maintenance contracts are where the money is at and not in building the systems.

 

[DSF]

There's also the whole positive pressure deal. If air is coming into the case through controlled intakes faster than it's expelled through controlled exhausts, the excess air will be blown out of the tiny cracks in the case rather than sucked in, which reduces dust accumulation. For this to be worth a damn you obviously have to have good filters on the intakes though. Not sure how much that helps in an extremely dusty environment.

 

[frostedflakes]

Originally posted by: DSF
There's also the whole positive pressure deal. If air is coming into the case through controlled intakes faster than it's expelled through controlled exhausts, the excess air will be blown out of the tiny cracks in the case rather than sucked in, which reduces dust accumulation. For this to be worth a damn you obviously have to have good filters on the intakes though. Not sure how much that helps in an extremely dusty environment.

:thumbsup:

From what I understand, this is the way to do it. Make sure you have more intake CFM and then filter the intakes. Your friend will have to be diligent about cleaning the filters, though.

And as another poster mentioned, fanless is another way to help avoid dust. I don't know what kind of power your friend needs, but if one of these eBox systems (or a similar low-power system) would fit the bill, it may be worth looking into.

http://www.wdlsystems.com/ebox/ebox.shtml

 

[Zepper]

Yup, positive pressure is the inexpensive way to go. Block off any large areas of extraneous venting (so your fans don't have to be overly powerful) you want to have the case as well sealed as is practical as the key is controlled air flow - I use saran wrap and clear tape as well as rope caulk (Mortite is one brand).
. You may need to pay a bit more for your fans as they will need to be adjustable over a good range as to speed (a fan controller is pretty much a requirement too) so you can run whatever you need to get the job done. The in will need to be significantly more powerful in terms of CFM to overcome the total of exhaust which includes the PSU fan and the leakage. You can test that air is coming out thru any small cracks left (and the optical drives) with a thin ply of toilet paper or a fluffy feather.
. You can't keep a negative pressure computer case clean w/o building an enclosure for it into which only filtered air is allowed. Pos. press. air also exits thru the optical and floppy drives, etc. helping to keep them clean. You may pay for the pos. pressure with temps that run a few degrees higher than otherwise, but only if you need a really quiet system. You can balance a pos. press. sytem at any air flow volume your ears can stand. I generally run fans that are capable of over 100 CFM, but cranked back until tolerable. You set the exhaust fan to the CFM required to keep your system at a safe temp, then adjust the intake fan up from there to overcome the exhaust flow plus any remaining leakage.

Some guys have built a box to hold a small, furnace-type, pleated filter and ducted the box to their intake fan with something like flexible HVAC or dryer ducting. Use sticky back, closed cell foam to make sure there is no leakage around the filter or duct connections. They do that for ease of replacement (things that aren't easy tend not to get done any more...) and filtering effectiveness.

Tips: There are often numerous small holes in the front panel of the chassis (behind the bezel) which need to be plugged some way. Slotted PCI cover plates also need plugging. The better job done plugging extraneous air exits, the less work the intake fan has to do.
. There is more Pos Press info around the web, but you'll have to provide the fact/opinion filter yourself. The concept is simple: controlled/filtered intake mostly controlled exhaust. total CFM In > total CFM Out = net positive pressure in the case.


Good luck!

.bh.

 

[ingeborgdot]

I know no case is dust proof but I am trying to help it out with ideas like you gave me about filters. I have heard about actual cases for the cases.
This is actually a work environment. They are around farm equipment, semi truck equipment etc. They try to keep the room clean but doors open, dirty people come in and it just is not picture perfect for a computer. He puts millions of dollars of info on the computer so I need to try as best I can to help the situation. I will be putting some pretty good stuff in here because he wants the best possible.
__________________

 

[Zepper]

I've never seen a case made for positive pressure or sealed well enough to prevent dust getting into a negative or neutral pressure thru many small cracks and crevices, optical drives etc. without a sealed environment for the case. Pos. Press. doesn't require a sealed environment, but hand/custom work will have to be done on any case that I'm aware of to seal it better than stock condition.

.bh.