Bob's
World's Best Case Cooling and Filtration System
UPDATE! 2004-07-26
Finally got a good picture. I guess the filter ran for 5-6 weeks since I last cleaned it, and ga-jeeze it's dirty. I could actually pinch a bunch of dark gray gunk in my fingers. I changed the filter at the same time I changed to a new CPU, and took the opportunity to do a good inspection on my internals. I was very pleased with the cleanliness. The CPU heat sink was immacualte. The only dust I saw was very fine stuff clinging to the fan blades, and not much at that. I feel really good about not sucking dust through my prized DVD burner, 10 media card reader, and FDD. Heat sinks can be cleaned, but drives can not!
UPDATE! 2004-07-26
The filter works great! After 5 weeks, it changed from a translucent white to a mucky, opaque gray. Nothing here but dust, gray cat hair and gray carpet fiber. When my “Air Gage” (Pic5) began to drop, I kept cranking up the rheostat on the 120mm inlet fan. After a few weeks, I gradually had to crank th erheostat up to about 2/3 of maximum. This morning I had to decide whether to discard the filter or wash it. Although it's very cheap to change it, I decided to try washing it. Using a drop of dish washing liquid, it came perfectly clean with a with little effort at all. When I replaced the filter and turned on my machine, the air gage stood way out, indicating a much better airflow through the bit 120mm fan. I am delighted with filter performance, and the ease of monitoring and cleaning. Have a look at the dirty filter on Pic7: (warning! Not for the squeemish!)
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Pic2 A closeup of the filter and housing. Poly material transmits light. |
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Pic4 Closeup of filter housing, showing pieces of magnet scattered around rim of the sleeve. |
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Pic5 “Air Gage” added to detect airflow. Outward airflow is indicated, as the light aluminum tab is blowing outward. |
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Pic7 Aargh! Look at the crap the filter kept out of my system! The filter was very easy to clean. I'm very happy with the whole project.
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OK, I am not saying my system is really the world's best. I'm saying it's the best I have found so far for my personal needs. That's because it really works, and is super-easy and cheap to install and maintain. How you apply these principles is your choice. You can go cheap or expensive, quiet or loud, large or small because this system is scalable. Use the same principles and the fanciest or cheapest fans you want. Here's how I keep my system cool and clean.
SUPPLIES AND TOOLS:
1
decent steel case with a decent power supply **
1
good HSF for your killer P4(c) or AMD(c) chip
2
or 3 80mm fans with rheostats, preferably with those pretty blue
LED's
1 strong 120mm fan
with rheostat, preferably with LED's.
2
3-1/2 cup Glad (c) storage bowls, clear in color
1
Sq. yard of Pellon(c) non-woven, filter-like fabric from the
Wal-Mart(c) fabric dept
1
rare earth magnet from an old HDD
1
Hot melt glue gun, or a little dab of 5 minute epoxy
1
"nibbler", fly cutter, or saber saw for cutting out the
120mm fan hole
FANS AND MODS:
Install 2 or 3 80mm fans exhausting the air OUT of the case. I recommend 1 80mm fan in the rear, 1 in front, and (optionally) one on top. Removing any stamped-in or perforated fan grills improves efficiency and reduces fan noise, but can scare children and cats. Make sure the power supply fan (or fans) are exhausting air OUTWARD. If not, simply flip the fan(s) over.
Mark the left side of the case (as you face the front of the case) for the 120mm fan hole. Ideally, the fan's air blast should bathe the entire CPU and the graphics card GPU area. Cut out the hole and install the 120mm fan blowing INWARD. I drilled the holes for and installed my 3 fan rheostats on an empty 5-1/4 bay cover. Looks cool, very easy to do, very handy knob location.
Cut the bottoms out of the Glad(c) bowls with scissors. Do a neat job, as always. (in other words, get your wife to do it)
Place 1 bowl inverted on something steel, such as your range or top of the microwave. Break the rare earth magnet into small pieces and distribute them around the groove in the rim of the bowl. Dab some hot melt or epoxy glue sparingly on magnets to hole them inside the rim of the bowl. Let glue cool or cure while bowl rim is still on the metal surface, and this will ensure they are tight against the bowl rim.
Cut an oversize piece of the Pellon(c) material and lay it on the magnetic bowl, now called the "inner filter sleeve". Slip the other bowl (now called the "outer filter sleeve") over the top of the first until it fits snugly, and the filter material is pulled tight. Trim off the excess filter material for neatness. Cap it over the 120mm fan hole, and you have an instant filter! Hey, beat that! :)
RESULTS:
What you now have is a "positive pressure cooling and filtration system". In other words, the pressure inside the case is slightly greater than ambient air pressure. Any openings, vents, or leaks in the case should bleed a little air out, not pull it in. Of course the 120mm fan must have slightly more capacity (CFM) than the rest of the fans collectively. The rheostats must be adjusted to ensure this, and achieve positive pressure. The way to test for positive pressure is with a piece of tissue paper,.(or see my magnetic “air gage”). Hold it over any vent or opening and adjust until it blows gently outward. The only air that enters the case is through the filtered 120mm fan. The result is no more dust bunnies. No more clogged heat sinks or power supply. No more dust pulled into your DVD burner or floppy drive to cause coasters. No more dirty rings around drives and bay covers. Nothing could be easier, more efficient, cheaper, or easier to maintain than this simple filter. The filter assembly even transmits the blue light from your fans. you also have the coolest, fresh, clean air blowing directly on the CPU and video card.
**Works with aluminum case, but substitute 4 sheet metal screws for magnets.
