Dust filters for computer. PC air filters

Dust is one of the main enemies of computers and laptops. It is she who clogs the fan, settles on important "insides", including on the processor, preventing them from cooling down, which is common cause breakdowns. You can deal with this by periodically cleaning system block, "fillings" of the laptop from dust. However, this is a very dreary process: you need to disassemble the device, blow it out with a vacuum cleaner from the inside, and clean some parts manually. Therefore, many turn to another way out of the situation - a dust filter for the computer. We will discuss with you both purchased options and those that you can do yourself.

Why is dust dangerous?

As we have already mentioned, the accumulation of dust inside to overheat the elements of the system. And this is fraught with the following:

• The fan speed is increased. And this is not only extra noise, but also the reason for its imminent breakdown - the mechanism starts to work at the limit.
• The capacitors fail motherboard, power supply, video card.
• In an attempt to protect the processor from overheating, the system activates a mechanism that reduces its performance. This leads to annoying "hanging". And in emergency cases, when the processor reaches a critical stage, the computer turns off altogether.
• Dust can cause short circuit, static breakdown on the chip.

All of the above requires serious repairs, which will be clearly more expensive than a dust filter for a computer, even a purchased one. Why is it so useful, we will consider further.

What makes a computer dust filter stand out?

What you will find in stores is a canvas made of special breathable material with some options for attaching to the case of the system unit, laptop. Manufacturers of dust filters for computers in Minsk, and many other cities, promise potential buyers following:

• Long service life of the product.
• Nearly 90% air filtration quality.
• Little air resistance.
• Adjustable size and shape. In most cases, a large roll of canvas is sold, from which you yourself can cut a dust filter for a computer 120 mm x 170 mm or other sizes you need.
• Easy installation - basically flip side The material is adhesive, so it is quite easy to install it on the system unit.
• Additional noise reduction.
• Protection against ingress of insects into the device.

What does a protective sheet provide?

In general, all dust filters for PCs and laptops must provide the following:

• Reliable protection of the "stuffing" of the body from dust.
• Stable low temperature of the processor (and it heats up not so much from high performance, but from the dust that has settled on it).
• Long-term operation of components, provided by almost ideal conditions inside the case.

What are dust filters?

It turns out that protective canvases also differ in their main function. Consider their varieties using the example of dust filters for the Samokleykin computer, according to the manufacturer, developed on the basis of a patented technology. There are three types here:

• Fine cleaning. Material - polyurethane foam with open cells. Filtration efficiency up to 90% - the canvas is able to retain dust up to 5 microns in size. This allows you to achieve perfect cleanliness inside the "sistemnik".
• Long service. Material - non-woven fibrous polyester. It provides both excellent filtration and good dust holding capacity. Such a canvas helps the computer to go without maintenance for a long time.
• Low resistance. Material - woven polyester mesh. It passes air better than others, which helps it to minimally affect the temperature of the processor case. A few more features of the filter: insect protection, the ability to install on a laptop, netbook, between the fan and the case.

Installation options

It is allowed to install two filters at once: long service and fine cleaning. The first will capture large dust, the second - fine. Due to the large capacity of the long life web, the fine barrier will concentrate on collecting fine particles while minimizing fouling.

Filter cleaning

It goes without saying that the cleaning cloth will become clogged with dust and soil over time. Of course, you can remove the old filter and replace it with a new one. But it's easy to clean it up:

• The easiest and most gentle way is to vacuum it without removing it from the computer. So you do not damage the adhesive layer.
• A more serious cleaning is eating and washing in warm water. Next - natural drying. Somewhere the adhesive layer will withstand such a test, somewhere you will have to install a new one. Not all filters are machine washable, with powder or soap. The dust is perfectly washed out by simple rinsing in water.

And now we will come close to how to make dust filters for your computer with your own hands.

Homemade protective barrier

It is unreasonable to overpay for something that you can easily and quickly find and make yourself from improvised materials. In addition, dust filters for a computer are not available in every office equipment store - you will have to spend time ordering, go around a lot of points in their search.

We will present you the most reliable and uncomplicated options:

• Mounted on the fan itself, cooling the processor, inside the case. More precisely, first a wire shackle is installed on the mechanism - so that a piece of a woman's stocking does not get sucked into the blades. The canvas itself is attached with plastic ties.
• The inner layer of a medical mask (for the power supply housing). It is fastened with a wide adhesive tape (it is best to use reinforced tape) over the fan grille - you just need to cut out a canvas that is suitable in size.
• Medical gauze. It is best used for a vertical blown power supply. You can fix the material with ordinary stationery tape. It is also important to cover all the cracks and holes with adhesive tape so that dust does not pass through them bypassing the filter.

Such improvised means protect both the fans and the “stuffing” of the system unit from dust getting inside no worse than purchased means. Can also be used for additional protection synthetic winterizer, but no more than three layers - a denser concentration will impede air exchange.

Before you make a dust filter for your computer and install it, check out these helpful tips:

• Do not use materials that are too thick in the hope that they will definitely keep dust out of the computer. So you will aggravate the situation more: air exchange will decrease, which will contribute to overheating. Before using this or that canvas, conduct a small effective test - try to breathe through it yourself. If it's easy, then the material is fine.
• Consider installing the filter so that it cannot get into the fan blades and block its operation. This may damage the device and replace it.
• If possible, reduce the speed of the cooler. But to a reasonable extent. Everything is simple here: the less air it drives, the less dust settles.
• Reduced air flow can be compensated. For example, installing improved thermal paste.
• As a material for a protective barrier, zero filters from car dealerships will fit.

Protecting the "stuffing" of the computer from dust is a guarantee of long-term operation of the device. Special dust filters will help in this, which you can either buy in stores or make yourself from improvised materials.

I don’t know about you, but I’m already tired of cleaning my computer. The fact is that my PC is in the bedroom, and there is simply unbearably much dust from the sheets and pillows. I'm tired of disassembling the computer every month and "sucking out" mountains of dust. I decided to upgrade the PC and insert into it - computer filter! It has proven its unsurpassed effectiveness. After 6 months of daily operation, there was practically no dust in my system unit!

Remember: dust is the enemy of the computer, settling on the surface of parts, it worsens heat transfer, and overheating is never useful. Without good cooling, good overclocking and stable operation are impossible. And if your computer is buggy, maybe you just forgot to clean it? :)

The filter will be located in the space for CD drives, occupying two slots out of three, so you will have to forget about the second drive and various 5.25" plugs. Next, measure the dimensions of the hole:

After that, we glue the box from PVC plastic according to the obtained dimensions, the box has a shelf for installing fans:

The box should be tightly inserted into the hole without cracks, because dust will then penetrate into all the cracks!

Inside view:

Two 80 mm fans are installed on the shelf, I connected them in parallel and soldered a common power plug. Subsequently, the adapter will be soldered:

They are fixed in an extremely unpretentious way, we simply wrap the resulting structure with a self-adhesive film:

And we heat the film with a hair dryer, for tight adhesion, at the same time eliminating all the cracks (A regular hair dryer is also suitable, but only in maximum heat mode):

The resulting system is tightly inserted into place.

Separately, I would like to note that it is extremely important to hermetically seal ALL existing holes and slots in the case so that air enters ONLY through the filter, otherwise the efforts spent on its manufacture will be in vain:

Then, from the same plastic, we cut out the elements of the internal design of the filter:

And we glue it with dichloroethane in this way. (for the red small handles, then it will be convenient to remove the frames if that)

Then we take an ordinary synthetic winterizer, it passes air well, at the same time it retains dust:

We glue the synthetic winterizer on the frames. (Practice has shown that three layers of synthetic winterizer are the most optimal thickness for a filter, large quantity weakens the airflow too much, less allows dust to pass through).

After the glue dries, the excess must be cut off, but leave a margin for a snug fit.

Since just a synthetic winterizer does not look very nice, to give the filter a more aesthetic look, I decided to do protective net(pictured in black):

With reverse side the mesh is simply fused into the plastic with a soldering iron:

A fully assembled system will end up with nine fans. This is a lot and they will make a lot of noise, so I decided to make some of the most vociferous rotation regulators in order to regulate airflow and noise as desired.

I think it's not worth explaining where dust comes from in a computer. Majority modern computers have an air cooling system - cooling air, passing through the computer case, takes heat from its elements. But leaves dust.

Most of you are probably familiar with the situation in the photo. A layer of dust accumulated on the PC elements impairs heat dissipation, which leads to overheating and system failure. Also, dust settling on the fan blades creates an imbalance, which increases the vibration of the latter, and hence the overall noise.

The most elementary thing is with a vacuum cleaner, but at the same time you will have to partially disassemble your PC, for example, in order to clean the radiator CPU or video cards, you will have to remove the cooler (cooling fans) from them. The recommended frequency of such cleaning is once every six months.

I solved this problem on my PC by installing a dust filter for my PC. As a filtering material, after all kinds of tests, a synthetic winterizer was chosen, because. it is well ventilated and retains dust quite well. The filter should be made as large as possible - the larger the area, the less air resistance.

And in real life it looks like this:

Front view:

Side view:

Filter after two months:

After installing a dust filter for the computer, the need to clean the PC disappeared. Now it is enough once a month (for prevention) to vacuum the filter without disassembling the case - through the front panel.

The latter was made independently by gluing two ventilation grilles into the old front panel, after which it was painted with spray paint. In general, it turned out well, for comparison, the factory building in the photo.

The cost of manufacturing a computer case, excluding the time spent, amounted to 600 rubles.

Finally, a video dessert. Tough prank (I would probably turn gray :-)):

Price: $9.18 + $4.08 + $4.08 + $4.08

In any system unit, even without a fan, sooner or later dust accumulates. To protect against dust in the system unit, I ordered dust filters.

The case of my system unit provides for the installation of four 92x92 mm fans. and one 120x120 mm. Initially, I was going to buy dust filters with a metal mesh and a frame, but the price for one was a little high, and I had to buy five pieces.

Purchase:

During the search, all possible options. Filters consisting of a plastic frame and a foam filter, I immediately ruled out. I have several of these and at low fan speeds, the value of such a filter tends to zero. The metal mesh filters were all good, but they cost more than I was willing to pay for them. In the end, I chose PVC dust filters. The diameter of the holes seemed a little too big to me, but, as practice has shown, the filters do their job perfectly.

I have purchased:

1. Filters 140x140 mm. - 5 pieces. for 4.08$
2. Filters 120x120 mm. - 5 pieces. for 4.08$
3. Filters 90x90 mm. - 5 pieces. for 4.08$
4. Roll 295x150 mm. - 1 PC. for 9.18$

The total cost is $19.42.

In general, the following sizes of such filters are sold on Ali:

Sellers also offer to cut the filter of any size under the order. There is a small, but important, nuance with a size of 90x90 mm., But I will write about it later. The plastic is flexible but brittle.

Dust filters. Some promotional photos:

Installation:

I use Noctua fans, I have:

• Left side panel: 2 x NF-B9 PWM (92x92x25mm 4-pin PWM, 1600/1300rpm max.)
• Right side panel: 2 x NF-B9 (92x92x25mm 3-pin, 1600/1300/1000rpm)
• Rear: 1 x NF-F12 PWM (120x120x25mm 4-pin PWM, 1500/1200rpm max.
  Focused Flow™ System)

Housing Chieftec CH-01B-B-B. All fans run at reduced speed. The fans are controlled by an Aerocool Touch 2000 touch reobass and two small reobasses BDN022 with a conventional regulator. The left and right pairs are set to 1200 rpm in summer and 900 in winter. The fan on the rear panel constantly runs at 2000 rpm. Thanks to this, the noise of the system unit at a distance of one and a half meters is practically inaudible.

I ran into two problems during installation. First: when installing the filter on the side wall, the fan wings clung to the filter. The problem was solved with silicone anti-vibration pads bought offline.

The second problem: as I wrote above, the size of the fans I have installed is 92x92 mm. And the filter size is 90x90 mm. I did not think that the difference of two millimeters could affect anything, but it turned out that I was wrong:

It doesn't affect anything, but it's just annoying...

For a long time I put homemade air filters in computer systems cooling. In this article, I decided to summarize my experience and show some mods.

Why air filters in a PC?

First of all, to simplify further maintenance. Cleaning a couple of filters with a vacuum cleaner takes much less time than dismantling the cooling system, opening the power supply, cleaning radiators, fans and other pieces of iron from dust.
Well, the aesthetics are increasing, to the delight of fans of computer feng shui.

Why not buy ready-made filters in the store?

Air filters are rarely found in computer stores, more often in electronics stores like chip-and-dip. However, there is little choice. Making a filter at home from improvised materials is cheaper and takes less time than running around the shops. Well, it brings more pleasure, yes.

Well, now the slides

Socket 370. A female nylon stocking, a steel wire shackle and 4 ties were used. The shackle is needed to increase the filter area and to prevent the filter from being sucked into the fan. Before cleaning, a two-year layer of dust is visible.

In the PSU in front of a 12cm fan. A medical mask was used (only the inner layer), reinforced tape. The dust has just been removed with a vacuum cleaner, but a strip of dust is visible below, where the vacuum cleaner could not get through.

In a vertical PSU on the blower. Used medical gauze, stationery tape. All holes and cracks are sealed with transparent tape to prevent air from blowing past the filter. Before cleaning, a two-year layer of dust is visible.

• Do not use materials that are too thick, such as vacuum cleaner bags. Before using any material, try to breathe through it yourself.
• The design of the filter must prevent matter from getting into the fan blades and stopping it. Blocking the fan can lead to sad consequences.
• Reduce fan speed to a reasonable minimum. The less air is pumped, the less dust settles.
• Perhaps the reduction in airflow will have to be somehow compensated. For example, put better thermal paste.
• Fans of aggressive modding may be interested in zero filters in car dealerships.