HELP! My cats love my new PC

[#Banana]

I built a system based around the 9900k in the Lean Li 011 dynamic. I have a 360mm AIO pushing nice hot air out the top of the case. My cats love napping on my PC when it is running; Its not a big deal when its idle but when im gaming, it cant exhaust the hot air fast enough causing my thermals to be  70 degrees Celsius and above.

 

I need some suggestions for keeping my cats off my PC that dont involve me kicking them off in anyway. Cats are finicky and react negatively to such interactions...

My thoughts for a solution would be some kind of  vent cover that directs the heat away  and stops them from laying down and covering the exhaust.

[Bitter]

https://www.amazon.com/Abco-Tech-Scat-Spike-Strips/dp/B07Q3H459V/

 

Fixed.

[#Banana]

2 minutes ago, Bitter said:

https://www.amazon.com/Abco-Tech-Scat-Spike-Strips/dp/B07Q3H459V/

 

Fixed.

With some easy modification that would definitely work. thanks!

[Bitter]

1 minute ago, #Banana said:

With some easy modification that would definitely work. thanks!

Yup, high airflow too so no performance penalty and it looks pretty awesome. Also bonus, if someone DOES set something atop the PC it'll keep the airflow from being blocked.

[RoseLuck462]

47 minutes ago, Bitter said:

https://www.amazon.com/Abco-Tech-Scat-Spike-Strips/dp/B07Q3H459V/

 

Fixed.

Damn these are like those anti-homeless spikes they install on benches and sidewalks.

[seon123]

1 hour ago, #Banana said:

to be  70 degrees Celsius and above

How much above? 80°C is absolutely not a problem. 

My cat also likes my PC. 

Spoiler

 

[Bitter]

37 minutes ago, RoseLuck462 said:

Damn these are like those anti-homeless spikes they install on benches and sidewalks.

Yea, nothing likes the spikes. Pigeons, people, cats, dogs. I've got a car floor mat turned over so the nubs point up by the door to the garage because the dogs dislike walking on it. They will, but they're hesitant because it feels funny. It helps to keep them from darting out when carrying things in.

[AngryBeaver]

 

21 hours ago, #Banana said:

I need some suggestions for keeping my cats off my PC that dont involve me kicking them off in anyway. 

I hope you aren't serious with this... if so you better refrain from ever having kids.

 

Cat, dog, or kid... if I don't want it up there I will train or teach it not to be in short order. You own the cats, not the other way around.

[Bitter]

8 minutes ago, AngryBeaver said:

 

I hope you aren't serious with this... if so you better refrain from ever having kids.

 

Cat, dog, or kid... if I don't want it up there I will train or teach it not to be in short order. You own the cats, not the other way around.

No, I'm fairly sure it is the other way around. Cats and many animals love warm spots, it's an evolutionary adaption to have that behavior to conserve energy as a predator that may not eat regularly. It looks cute but it serves a purpose, training out a wild behavior is very difficult.

 

I interpreted what he said as meaning that he hopes there's a passive solution, not an active one that requires him to 'kick them off' as in constantly remove them every time they try to jump up. That's why the spikes are perfect, they're passive. The cats will train themselves that they can't go up there rather than him having to constantly remove them and try to enforce that's an off limits area. I'd bet that after a few weeks he could take the spikes off and they'd just stay off out of habit.

[Bitter]

55 minutes ago, campy said:

upside down roller chair mat also works

 

just dont coat the entire thing in it, you want them to be unable to really find a place to sit on it, not jump up and them instantly get spiked

 

But....airflow, it has none. :laugh:

[mmanager]

Ow, as the owner of one cute cat I have this problem as well

Thank you for suggestions guys!

[Loote]

Just make sure the first few times they jump on your PC, they won't make it fall down by jumping off in panic.

[Teddy07]

On 6/8/2019 at 11:37 PM, starcoaster said:

as the owner of four cats, with two machines having top mounted exhaust vents...

yeet the cats, honestly, it's the only way. i've taken to keeping picture frames on the top of my machines now and sometimes they still jump up.

yoink them off, yeet them away, doing that will eventually lead to them getting bored and finding something else to sit on

horrible owner. You should not have cats if you treat them this way

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

I know the problem.  My cat really loved the HAF X that housed my mining cards.  (no worries about the past tense, I still have the cat.  It's the mining rig that's been decommissioned)

 

 

I ended up using double-sided tape to put a small spacer (that was the exact same height as the front part) between the top vents, and another one behind the rear vent.  I then used more double-sided tape to attach a plexiglass plate on top of the spacers.

Sadly I never took pics after the mods because in my case it was purely functional and I didn't care about tape being visible or colour matching the spacers to the case or even each other.  I simply used 2 pieces of unpainted wood.  That chassis was messed up anyways, I wasn't going to invest time in making it look good. 

 

You could do something similar, make some sort of raised platform for your cat to lay on without obstructing airflow.  Some round pieces of plastic, about 1/2" to 1" in height should suffice. Just make sure it's all attached properly to the case (I much prefer 3M or Tesa double-sided tape), otherwise it may move, scratch the case, fall off etc.

The hot air will heat up the plate on top of the spacers, so the cat will have almost all the benefits still.  Meanwhile you don't have to worry too much about cat hair, airflow etc.

If you find a paint colour that closely matches the case's own paint, most people won't even notice.  Perhaps Lian Li could even help with that, they probably know exactly what paint they use. 

[Velcade]

On 6/8/2019 at 4:33 PM, #Banana said:

Its not a big deal when its idle

Don't allow the bad behavior.  Keep removing the cat. 

 

Luckily my cat hasn't had the interest and is happy laying on the floor next to me.

[Quadriplegic]

Airflow is least of your problems, it's the cleaning all the hair that will get stuck. 

My suggestions?
Throw the cat out of the window;
Make a nice kebab out of it;
Use something like spikes mentioned above. I guess they are made out of rubber or plastic? If not effective enough, get steel ones and connect them straight to power outlet.

[pApA^LeGBa]

19 hours ago, AngryBeaver said:

 

I hope you aren't serious with this... if so you better refrain from ever having kids.

 

Cat, dog, or kid... if I don't want it up there I will train or teach it not to be in short order. You own the cats, not the other way around.

You never had a cat, right?

[greenhorn]

It looks like the OP's question already has been answered, but I just came up with two other possible solutions:
1. Try finding some bent airdurcts that you put on top of your PC. If you find fitting ones with a 45 degree angle, it should still provide good airflow while preventing your cat from wanting to jump on it.
2. Try finding a cheap but suitable empty PC case you can put/mount on top of your existing one. Cut out a large enough opening in the bottom and the air should be able to get out nicely. You can also use air ducts inside of the empty case if you want to modify the airflow.

Both options obviously assume there is enough space above your PC, but since there is enough space for your cat, at least solution 1 should be feasible.