What is the final word on whether magnetic dust filters can or cannot damage hardware?

[catboy]

I am thinking of buying a 750D Airflow Edition case.

However, I've read that that the increased airflow comes at the cost of increased dust inside of the computer.

Some people have recommended to block that dust with magnetic dust filters.

But not everyone agrees that magnetic filters are safe to use near hardware. While some say that those magnets are too weak to have any effect on hardware, others say that they are strong enough to damage hardware a little bit, and that the damage accumulates over time.

So I am not sure who to believe. One side of that argument obviously doesn't know what they are talking about. How do I know which side is right?

Can someone please tell me a definitive answer that I can trust as to whether or not magnetic dust filters can damage hardware at all (even if they can do only small amounts of damage, then I still want to know about it)?

 

[Mr Evil]

Nothing inside a PC will be damaged by a static magnetic field, especially one from a tiny little magnet many cm away. Not even HDDs will be affected.

I have an EE degree if you want that to sound more trustworthy!

 

[catboy]

Thanks for the info. Yes your answer does sound quite trustworthy, which is exactly what I'm looking for.

But I don't really know anything about magnetic fields and when they are static or not static.

Are you saying that magnetic dust filters always have a static magnetic field?

 

[Paperdoc]

That is right.

The central point is this: the way that a magnet can affect electrical circuits is that there must be MOVEMENT between the magnet and a wire. That movement causes a current to be induced to flow through the wire, and hence through other parts of the circuit. A magnet that is NOT moving and circuit wires that also are NOT moving cannot have this problem. That is why Mr. Evil used the term "static magnet" to mean a magnet that is just sitting in one place.

Even at the time that you are moving the magnetic filter mount around to place it over the vent holes, the long distance from that to the nearest circuit, plus the small size and strength of the magnet, means that his effect is much too small to cause a problem.

The only other way a magnet can affect your system is if it comes close to a device that has magnetic signals stored on it. In that case the magnet might alter the stored magnetic information. Now, the only types of devices that store info magnetically are floppy disks - and I bet you do NOT have any of those! - and hard drives. But the disks inside hard drives are already well shielded by their cases from any exterior weak magnetic fields. Thus, again the magnetic filters cannot affect your hard drives.

 

[lenjack]

I have a lower front intake filter with 4 tiny corner magnets holding it in place. Find something else to worry about.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I have a lower front intake filter with 4 tiny corner magnets holding it in place. Find something else to worry about.

I thought of two possibilities in OP's question: either he was talking about magnetic tape used to hold something like a DEMCiFlex filter, or some sort of device with a magnet that traps dust. And I wouldn't know anything but my imagination about such a device.

I've started using 2mm-thick magnetic tape ($4 at Home Depot for a roll) to secure cold-cathode lights in my case for easy removal and replacement. The case itself -- an old Stacker 830 midtower -- uses your standard ferrous magnet in the aluminum case design to secure the swinging front-panel door.

There was a time many years ago when I balked at using a magnetic screwdriver when it seemed needed to get a screw into a tight place, for fear of borking a hard disk. A long, long time ago.

 

[readymix]

magnet I plucked from a hitachi 160 GB doing its thing.

 

[Red Squirrel]

If this makes you feel better when I was in IT I started collecting all the HDD magnets for fun, we had them all over the office. Walls were scratched, fingers were pinched, other hard drives were killed while turned on, much fun was had. One time I stacked a bunch one on top of each other. I stuck the whole thing right on my PC case. All you hear is BANG as it violently gets attracted. Freaked the boss right out when I showed him that. But it did nothing to the computer as long as it was kept away from the actual hard drive... When I did kill a hard drive on purpose (one that was being replaced due to already starting to fail) I pretty much had to stick the magnet within an inch of it.

That said to be extra safe I would probably not use those magnetic dust filters anywhere near hard drives, try to keep like several inches at least. Chances are those magnets could touch the drive and it would still be ok though but better safe than sorry.

 

[nerp]

The case you're looking at does not have filters and you want to add custom ones? Might be worth looking into cases with built in filters that are easy to remove and clean. So much easier. And the fit will be tight.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

The case you're looking at does not have filters and you want to add custom ones? Might be worth looking into cases with built in filters that are easy to remove and clean. So much easier. And the fit will be tight.

Maybe I haven't kept up with the offerings, but I'd seen at least a few inexpensive cases (and Coolermaster among them) which had "removable filters." But they were still a pain in the ass.

the DEMCiFlex filters look unnoticeable or actually almost stylish on my steel case, and they were custom designed for it. You only need to pull them off, run them under the cold tap, dry them and hang them back on.

I'd also posted some pics suggesting how you could make your own, with the right choice of polyester mesh material. But I don't think I'm going to worry much about magnetic tape -- certainly not on the outside of a steel case, but nor would I worry about it on the inside of my aluminum case. I don't think I should worry if it's six inches away from a 2.5" HDD, either.

 

[catboy]

The case you're looking at does not have filters and you want to add custom ones?

The case I am talking about does have dust filters, however they are pretty open. I have read comments in reviews and on forums about that case which says that the dust filters are too open and therefore let too much dust enter into the case.

Here is a video that shows the meshed front and the low resistance dust filter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2CEvRsXc4Y

I am trying to find out whether I should buy DEMCiFlex filters for it or not. Based on the posts in this thread, I'm going to presume that the magnetic part of those filters cannot damage my hardware.

However, I also have these questions:

Will using the DEMCiFlex filters be worse for my hardware because they will impede airflow in comparison to if I do not use them?

Will using the DEMCiFlex filters be better for my hardware even though they impede airflow, because if I do not use them, then the dust inside of my case will be worse on my hardware than would be the diminished airflow that would happen if I did use them?

Ultimately, I want to do what is in the best interest of having my hardware last for as long as it possibly can. Which option is more likely to help that goal: DEMCiFlex filters or no DEMCiFlex filters?

 

[UsandThem]

The case I am talking about does have dust filters, however they are pretty open.

Ultimately, I want to do what is in the best interest of having my hardware last for as long as it possibly can. Which option is more likely to help that goal: filters or no filters?

Dust will not hurt your computer. Never cleaning the dust out, and allowing it to clog your fans and heatsinks is what could cause damage. And unless your room is very dirty, or you smoke in that area, that takes a fair amount of time.

I use the standard filters that came with my Fractal Design R5, and even after a full year, I haven't had to clean the inside out. How is that possible? I keep the room that it is in clean, clean my filters every 1-2 months, and I have my PC set up with 'positive pressure'. In simpler words, I have more intake fans than I have exhaust fans, therefore dust is not bypassing my filters through all the small gaps on my case.

If in another year I see dust starting to collect in the case, I'll simply blow it out. It's really not a big deal, and you don't want to over think it.

 

[Valantar]

The case I am talking about does have dust filters, however they are pretty open. I have read comments in reviews and on forums about that case which says that the dust filters are too open and therefore let too much dust enter into the case.

Here is a video that shows the meshed front and the low resistance dust filter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2CEvRsXc4Y

I am trying to find out whether I should buy DEMCiFlex filters for it or not. Based on the posts in this thread, I'm going to presume that the magnetic part of those filters cannot damage my hardware.

However, I also have these questions:

Will using the DEMCiFlex filters be worse for my hardware because they will impede airflow in comparison to if I do not use them?

Will using the DEMCiFlex filters be better for my hardware even though they impede airflow, because if I do not use them, then the dust inside of my case will be worse on my hardware than would be the diminished airflow that would happen if I did use them?

Ultimately, I want to do what is in the best interest of having my hardware last for as long as it possibly can. Which option is more likely to help that goal: DEMCiFlex filters or no DEMCiFlex filters?

It's nice that you care about preserving your hardware, but you worry too much. Considering the amount of inch-thick dust layers I've seen inside of various PCs, it's not the be-all, end-all of PC killers. Just keep yours reasonably clean, and don't let dust accumulate. DEMCIFlex filters are very nice, I use a few myself. They don't impede airflow in any noticeable (and probably measurable) way. I'd go that route if I were you.

 

[William Gaatjes]

I do not get it. Dust is mostly organic. When is dust attracted by a magnet ? Do you have a pc in a metal workshop ? A metal mesh with a static charge could attract dust. I have 2 fine grained metal mesh dust filters at the air intakes of the pc that attracts dust (dust is always slightly electrically polarized) perfectly because they are connected to the case and are grounded. Once every two months, i clean these meshes and i have to say, the inside of the pc is rather clean. I have 2 air intakes with 2 fans as air intake and one fan blowing from the inside to the outside.

 

[XavierMace]

I've got multiple cases right now who's dust filters are held on magnetically and came that way from the factory. NZXT H440 as well as several Silverstones. I've also used lightly magnetized screwdrivers to work on computers for nearly 15 years. Never had an issue with either.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I've got multiple cases right now who's dust filters are held on magnetically and came that way from the factory. NZXT H440 as well as several Silverstones. I've also used lightly magnetized screwdrivers to work on computers for nearly 15 years. Never had an issue with either.

Definitely not the risk of Walter White's attack on the police evidence room in "Breaking Bad."

The DemciFlex filters use that brown magnetic tape. I use magnetic tape to hold my cold-cathodes in place inside the case. I know that filtering restricts airflow, but even if I clean these systems out once a week, no matter the amount of attention you give to blowing them out, the dirt begins to grow.

 

[catboy]

I've been doing more reading about the Demi filters and then I found this directly on the Demi site:

Filter rating: F
This rating will depend on the filter rating you are using. This is expressed as a percentage and is indicated on the packaging. Example: If the filter rating is 15 it will inhibit 15% of the air from entering the computer case. This sum will have to be added to the required CFM of air needed for the intake fan(s) to compensate for the loss of air. Let's call the filter rating value F. Remember that this is a percentage value. DEMCiflex Filters are rated at 20.

Am I understanding that quotation correctly: I believe Demi is saying that their filters inhibit airflow by 20%. Is that right?

That sounds like a huge, deal-breaking amount to me.

Would the loss of 20% airflow not definitely make using the Demi filters a bad decision?

Or am I missing something?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Any kind of filter is going to impede air flow. I've never taken actual measurements so have nothing to really compare to, but 20% does not really sound that bad. It depends a lot on the fans too, some fan designs are better at dealing with static pressure vs others. As the dusts pickup dust the airflow will be reduced more so you do want to clean them regularly, just like changing your furnace filter. (speaking of which, I think I'm due to change mine lol)

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Any kind of filter is going to impede air flow. I've never taken actual measurements so have nothing to really compare to, but 20% does not really sound that bad. It depends a lot on the fans too, some fan designs are better at dealing with static pressure vs others. As the dusts pickup dust the airflow will be reduced more so you do want to clean them regularly, just like changing your furnace filter. (speaking of which, I think I'm due to change mine lol)

Even if that reason wasn't the basis for my thinking and practice, I've always inclined to over-powering the intake airflow. You don't filter the exhaust air. So I generally figure that if my intake gauged only by the CFM specs of the fans is at least double the exhaust CFM, filtering is simply a useful encumbrance. And filters don't catch everything. You will find a much finer layer of dust on components with decent filters, and you still need to blow out the case with compressed air or a Metro 500 in addition to merely cleaning the filters.

 

[Laststop311]

A static magnet actually can mess up the data stored on a HDD. But it has to be a very large magnet. I have personally corrupted a hard drives data with the HUGE magnet on the back of a 12 inch subwoofer. But this magnet weighed like 30 pounds. I also damaged a CRT TV from the magnetic field of a subwoofer magnet. But yes the teeny tiny magnets on dust filters has absolutely no effect on anything inside the PC. Think of apple laptops with the magnetically attached power cable. They have been using that for years without a single issue and it is closer to the HDD then a dust filter on a big tower.

 

[Laststop311]

Even if that reason wasn't the basis for my thinking and practice, I've always inclined to over-powering the intake airflow. You don't filter the exhaust air. So I generally figure that if my intake gauged only by the CFM specs of the fans is at least double the exhaust CFM, filtering is simply a useful encumbrance. And filters don't catch everything. You will find a much finer layer of dust on components with decent filters, and you still need to blow out the case with compressed air or a Metro 500 in addition to merely cleaning the filters.

I find with magnetic filters you have to blow the dust out MUCH less often. On my current PC I only have to blow it out once every 2 years and even after 2 years its a very fine mist of dust that gets blown out. I have a silverstone fortress ft02 on an lga 1366 i7-980x system with the 3x 180mm intakes and 1x 140mm exhaust.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I find with magnetic filters you have to blow the dust out MUCH less often. On my current PC I only have to blow it out once every 2 years and even after 2 years its a very fine mist of dust that gets blown out. I have a silverstone fortress ft02 on an lga 1366 i7-980x system with the 3x 180mm intakes and 1x 140mm exhaust.

Sounds about right to me. We have a lot of dust here on this hill in So-Cal. A So-Cal Gas company employee once visited the house to run tests for maintenance and safety. He said we had the cleanest air of any house he'd ever visited. Sure! We have about four computers running with filters.

But like you said, finer particles eventually find their way into the case.

 

[AntDX3162]

Nothing inside a PC will be damaged by a static magnetic field, especially one from a tiny little magnet many cm away. Not even HDDs will be affected.

I have an EE degree if you want that to sound more trustworthy!

How many cm away until something would be damaged?