THe first thing I thought of was, "someones a heavy smoker". My brother gets the same thingI wonder if you could rig a lawn mower filter onto this or the air intake to prevent the tar and dust collecting on the HSF

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

How about showing the smoker the heatsink and fan? Politely explain that that same stuff is in their lungs and they need to stop smoking!

Problem solved..............

And I know it's easier said than done because I have done it!

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Boinc....Boinc....Boinc....Boinc....

Looks like a Dell B110, most likely a Celeron 2.53.

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Hi Richard:

Go to the McMaster-Carr website at http://www.mcmaster.com/#electronic-equipment-cooling-fans/=24doq8 which lands you on page 626. Click on the link to go to page 627 Equipment Cooling Fans and Accessories.

They have available square plastic fans covers with filters for a variety of fan sizes. These are used on a large variety of instrument panels to prevent dust from collecting inside. The filters are washable or can be cleaned with an air hose. They also have spare filters available if you want to dispose of them.

These plastic covers are held in place by the 4 mounting screws used to hold the fan in place or can be mounted separately. The retainer and filter just clip on.

If you want fans and accessories this is the place.

Franz

I have 3 cats and 2 dogs, so there's tons of random pet hair floating around, but my case stays nearly dust-free on its own. Thermaltake Armor VA8000BWS. The bay covers have a foam filter built-in. Every 2-3 weeks I pop all the bay covers out and run them through water, let them dry for about an hour, and then pop them back in.

When I did my Opteron 2210->2222SE upgrade, it had been about 6 months since I hit the inside of the case with compressed air, and there was a little bit on the first CPU heatsink, but the second one was almost dust-free. Pretty good for 6 months in a house full of pet hair.

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Linux laptop:
record uptime: 1511d 20h 19m (ended due to the power brick giving-up)

The CPU socket is close to the edge of the motherboard and case, and there is - sensibly - an 80mm case fan blowing sideways into the HS as well.

Hi Richard, what will help a lot, is to reverse the side fan. Have it pulling hot air out.

Had this problem on quite a few of customers Dell sff's. reversed fan & even though it still gathers dust, it took longer to accumulate.

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I have had similar problems for a while now - worse since I've been doing some redecorating nearby which has stirred up a lot of extra dust.

Having got fed up with this, as a test I've just bought an Arctic Freezer Pro 7 - quite a big heatsink - need about 6inch clearance above the CPU but it has horizontal fins rather than vertical. It will also blow directly at the rear fan.

[url=http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105994/show_product_specifications?spectype=extended[/url] Reasonable price at £14.86.

Unlike the stock Intel vertical heatsink which has places for the dust to collect my theory is that the air/dust can flow unimpeded through the horizontal one and straight out the back of the machine.

Only just bought this so yet to see if it actually makes a difference. If nothing else I'm hoping for extra cooling from this bigger heatrsink.


John.

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GPU Users Group

Unlike the stock Intel vertical heatsink which has places for the dust to collect my theory is that the air/dust can flow unimpeded through the horizontal one and straight out the back of the machine.

Nope.
Fins are fins- horizontal or vertical some dust hitting the fins will stick, till you end up with what started this thread...

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Grant
Darwin NT

Hi Richard:

Go to the McMaster-Carr website at http://www.mcmaster.com/#electronic-equipment-cooling-fans/=24doq8 which lands you on page 626. Click on the link to go to page 627 Equipment Cooling Fans and Accessories.

They have available square plastic fans covers with filters for a variety of fan sizes. These are used on a large variety of instrument panels to prevent dust from collecting inside. The filters are washable or can be cleaned with an air hose. They also have spare filters available if you want to dispose of them.

These plastic covers are held in place by the 4 mounting screws used to hold the fan in place or can be mounted separately. The retainer and filter just clip on.

If you want fans and accessories this is the place.

Franz

Thanks - that's a good suggestion.

Hardly worth a transatlantic flight to pick one up - carbon emissions and all that - but anything you Yanks can do, we Brits aren't far behind - even when we're not in front!

I found RS Components have a similar range, if anyone else is following on this side of the pond.

How about showing the smoker the heatsink and fan? Politely explain that that same stuff is in their lungs and they need to stop smoking!

Problem solved..............

And I know it's easier said than done because I have done it!

Unfortunately such dust can and will collect anywhere, regardless of smoking or not.
The only way to prevent this are dust filters in front of the Fans and other Air intakes, plus placing the PC not on the ground will help alot.

I've seen "non-smoking" Systems that looked alot worse than above pictures, simply due to location and being never opened.

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Thanks - that's a good suggestion.

Hardly worth a transatlantic flight to pick one up - carbon emissions and all that - but anything you Yanks can do, we Brits aren't far behind - even when we're not in front!

I found RS Components have a similar range, if anyone else is following on this side of the pond.

Unless they have changed their policy you need a business account to deal with RS. But similar items can be got from Maplins http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?menuno=12126

They might even have them in your local store, you can check stock on-line.

Unless they have changed their policy you need a business account to deal with RS.

Don't know what they're like overseas, but here in Australia their pricing varies from excessive to obscene.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Unless they have changed their policy you need a business account to deal with RS.

Don't know what they're like overseas, but here in Australia their pricing varies from excessive to obscene.

I can agree with that, when I was developing electronics items, we bought from RS or Farnell (also in Richards area, Leeds) because it was the only place we could get small numbers of components rather than ordering in 100's or even 1,000's from the wholesalers.

Unless they have changed their policy you need a business account to deal with RS.

Don't know what they're like overseas, but here in Australia their pricing varies from excessive to obscene.

I can agree with that, when I was developing electronics items, we bought from RS or Farnell (also in Richards area, Leeds) because it was the only place we could get small numbers of components rather than ordering in 100's or even 1,000's from the wholesalers.

I already have an account with RS, dating back many years, for much the same reasons as WinterKnight. I work self-employed as a consultant, and didn't have any problems with the "trade only" restriction - that was well before the days of websites (I think it was even before their catalogue came on CD - I still have three paper volumes dating from 1995 on my bookshelf!): looking at the website now, it looks as if it would accept personal registrations.

I have the same quibble with Maplins over pricing - they're as bad as each other (though actually RS is better for small orders, because they never add a delivery charge). But both carry an extremely wide range of odd bits and pieces, which makes them natural ports of call for unusual problems like this one. In fact, the Maplin clip-on filter looks possibly a better bet than the RS screw-fit mounting plate (unless I can cannibalise some suitable mounting screws from an old machine - any experience of this, Andy?) - though Maplin don't make it clear whether you can remove/replace the filter pad, which might be necessary because of the sticky smoke.

I use an item similar to 508-510, but didn't pay that price for it, but link to the site I got them from is now dead.
Click filters at top of RS page you linked, they also have filter material on that page, 229-267. But I use the Vacuum cleaner filter I mentioned earlier.

edit] I just looked at old receipt, and found I have bought filters from Kustom PC's for these I used mesh filter from here, filter material, case, finger guard, Fan in that order. The Mesh filter comes with longer than normal fan screws. But that PC is used as print server where they print several thousand pages/day and it is used to stop toner and paper dust getting into PC.

Edit2]That computer is almost in your area, Todmorden.

Just bought a new shopvac that came with a cool leaf blower...Well that leaf blower worked wonders on my old Opteron 175 computer. So much dust that I went to Lowes and bought some "Ideal" Electronic Switch and Contact Cleaner and in a couple minutes my old computer looks Brand New and went from 54C to 43C under full load. Well worth it, older computers need to be cleaned every now and then not just blown out....

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Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons...
And no good credit hound!

Another source for electronics components that I used to use is Digi-Key.
Their pricing was at least reasonable, and their minimum order was not too high.

And they do ship to international markets....click on the 'change country' link at the upper right of this home page for their other websites.

Their product index does list a lot of fans and fan accessories.

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

...need about 6inch clearance above the CPU but it has horizontal fins rather than vertical. It will also blow directly at the rear fan.
...
Unlike the stock Intel vertical heatsink which has places for the dust to collect my theory is that the air/dust can flow unimpeded through the horizontal one and straight out the back of the machine.

Only just bought this so yet to see if it actually makes a difference. If nothing else I'm hoping for extra cooling from this bigger heatrsink.


John.

With my 2p board, I started off with a horizontal heatsink when I only had one CPU installed, but when I went to add the second one, I decided to change that. I started off with the Dynatron A43, and that worked really well, except that the Dynatron fans only lasted about 6 months before they started making interesting noises. I discovered that the US$1 70mm case fans were a direct fit, so I bought a 10-pack so I could quickly and easily replace them when they started making noise.

Then I upgraded the CPUs from a 95w model to a 119w model, and my temps were in the low 50's, so I knew those heatsinks wouldn't handle the additional heat. Ended up getting some Rosewill RCX-Z940-SL's. Still vertical, and 92mm. They were a little difficult to install next to each other, but I made it work (picture).

Second CPU runs about 3C warmer than the first one, but I would say about 90% of the heat ends up being pulled out by the 120 in the back of the case. The rest of the heat gets pulled out by the power supply.

Anyway, after months and months of use, I notice that the dust collection rate is basically the same when compared to the first horizontal heatsink, then the two vertical ones, and now the two new vertical ones. I only schedule one reboot per week, and one of those reboots per month I take a can of compressed air and do some minor cleaning. Then about every 6 months I take it outside and use the air compressor.

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Linux laptop:
record uptime: 1511d 20h 19m (ended due to the power brick giving-up)

Oh well worth a go. At least the Arctic cooler will be easier to clean than the stock fan!



The other big problem I have had is with getting hot air out of the cases. I have mostly 12cm fans and all the mount points in the cases originally had small holes drilled in the case body which restricted air flow. I cut out the the whole area and fitted a fan guard which has helped but a lot of the case fans you get are pretty pathetic at shifting air - their big selling point is that they are quiet - whereas most people would prefer to get some good air flow.

Have you come across any good case fans?

I have been thinking of doing a test to see how much heat comes out via the PSU by temporarily siting the PSU outside the case and seeing if the air temperature coming out the PSU falls when not in the case. With it inside I'm sure at times you could toast marshmallows on the outlet - no problem.

I also have space for another 12cm fan in the case side which I haven't yet got round to fitting which should help.

My situation is made worse by the computer room also housing the hot water storage tank which although very well insulated still raises the ambient temperature (and we are now heading for summer). Hope to do away with it soon when a new combi boiler is fitted......


John.

P.S. Your case pic looks pretty scary!

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GPU Users Group

Ahhh, one small 'perfectionistic' issue I came across, but forgot about with the small case & using filters discussion. You'll want to try and maintain positive case pressure, so crud doesn't just get sucked in through all the other holes, bypassing the filters. That means more intake than outtake, a goal which inlet filters do obstruct. You'd need to compensate with extra filtered inlet area (reduced outtake is always a bad idea )

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"Living by the wisdom of computer science doesn't sound so bad after all. And unlike most advice, it's backed up by proofs." -- Algorithms to live by: The computer science of human decisions.