Dust filters

[Ajs420]

I just put together my new rig

I am using a Corsair carbide series 200R compact atx case, but all the vent holes are wide open, do they sell dust screen? Or can i use like a nylon let air in but catch the dust? 

[RadiatingLight]

Go to amazon and look for PC dust filter. get a 120mm one.

[Bombastinator]

I’ve seen magnetic filters that were fine grained mesh with an edge made out of flexible magnet.  They worked really well on steel cases.  I even made one once using a roll of flexible magnet and a piece of nylon mesh. It was not the stretchy stuff pantyhose are made of though.  That would have cause a collapse problem.

[TVwazhere]

Silverstone makes really good magnetic ones

[Lady Fitzgerald]

7 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

I’ve seen magnetic filters that were fine grained mesh with an edge made out of flexible magnet.  They worked really well on steel cases.  I even made one once using a roll of flexible magnet and a piece of nylon mesh. It was not the stretchy stuff pantyhose are made of though.  That would have cause a collapse problem.

You are probably thinking of DemciFilter. They make premade filters for various cases and you can also order custom made ones. You can order them with just the flexible magnetic frame or to include an additional, self-adhesive fraame you can stick onto an aluminum, plastic, or wood so the magnetic frame of the filter itself will have something to be attracted to. They used to come in both black and white I haven't bought any in quite a while).

 

The filter material itself is a very durable 100 micron mesh (I wrote them once to find to find out the size of the mesh since they don't advertise it). I had one I put over the intake of a PSU in the case of my first Win 7 machine I built, primarily to keep screws, etc. from falling into the PSU when working on the computer, and was surprised how much dust the foam case filters that came with the case had missed but was caught by the Demcifilter before it could be sucked into the PSU.

 

Because they are so effective at filtering out dust, you have to clean them more often but cleaning can be as simple as just removing them and blowing some air through them from the inside side of the filter. Occasionally, you may have to rinse the filter with water while gently scrubbing it with a soft brush, then blowing it dry (you can also just rinse them from the inside side with running water, then blowing them dry, if you don't want any blowing dust in the air from just blowing them clean). Since the filters are so easy to install and remove, frequent cleaning is not a problem. 

[Bombastinator]

I dunno.  I went to micro center and they had a bunch of different ones for sale.  Didn’t have one in the size I wanted though so I looked at them and saw they were just flexible magnet with screen and covered in silicone.  So I made my own.  Cost about half what the prefab ones did.  I didn’t use silicone though, just the adhesive tape on the magnets so the corners were more fragile.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

2 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

I dunno.  I went to micro center and they had a bunch of different ones for sale.  Didn’t have one in the size I wanted though so I looked at them and saw they were just flexible magnet with screen and covered in silicone.  So I made my own.  Cost about half what the prefab ones did.  I didn’t use silicone though, just the adhesive tape on the magnets so the corners were more fragile.

What did you use for the filter media?

[Ajs420]

14 hours ago, Ajs420 said:

I just put together my new rig

I am using a Corsair carbide series 200R compact atx case, but all the vent holes are wide open, do they sell dust screen? Or can i use like a nylon let air in but catch the dust? 

There is a huge intake on the top i guess its for a radiator, i want to filter that, and i want a filter for the bottom aswell, 

 

I am hoing to put a 120mm fan blowing out the bottom, (keep the dust away from psu and bott9m of case, im not ovet clocking, 

[Bombastinator]

3 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

What did you use for the filter media?

I can’t remember.  Nylon or polyester  scrim?  I went to a sewing store and bought a remainder.  Iirc tule had holes that were the wrong size.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

1 hour ago, Bombastinator said:

I can’t remember.  Nylon or polyester  scrim?  I went to a sewing store and bought a remainder.  Iirc tule had holes that were the wrong size.

Even scrim would have too coarse a mesh. It would be like comparing window screening to a chainlink fence.

[Bombastinator]

17 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Even scrim would have too coarse a mesh. It would be like comparing window screening to a chainlink fence.

It was finer than window screen.  Or at least the window screen I could get at the time.  Nylon windo screen is pretty heavy stuff.  This wasn’t.  These days I might be able to.  They make window screen that’s actually HEPA now. The trick is it’s not woven square.  Little rectangles.  Doesn’t breaths super well. You can buy covers for box fans made out of it to use as allergy filters. Might need too much static pressure to make it go.

Anyway this was before I knew about that stuff. I’m not someone knowledgeable about fabric.  I can’t remember if I asked a friend who was and they named it, or if I brought in a dust filter from my rig, showed it to the lady behind the counter, and said I need stuff like this.  Either way it worked.  I used it on a side panel for my desktop iirc.

[oeci]

9 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

You are probably thinking of DemciFilter. They make premade filters for various cases and you can also order custom made ones. You can order them with just the flexible magnetic frame or to include an additional, self-adhesive fraame you can stick onto an aluminum, plastic, or wood so the magnetic frame of the filter itself will have something to be attracted to. They used to come in both black and white I haven't bought any in quite a while).

Nice, thanks for the link. That's exactly what I was looking for 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

11 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

Silverstone makes really good magnetic ones

I was never impressed by the Silverstone ones. They look like they would restrict more air than the DemciFilters and the holes are larger.

[TVwazhere]

12 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

I was never impressed by the Silverstone ones. They look like they would restrict more air than the DemciFilters and the holes are larger.

DemciFlex also make very good filters. I believe they are more about filtration than airflow though. So for a dustier enviorment these would be good.

 

Specifically I'm referring to Silverstone's ultra fine mesh filters, which are good for high airflow but still retain good dust filtration.

https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-SST-FF121-Filter-Cooling/dp/B00ARB5E8U?th=1

[Lady Fitzgerald]

6 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

DemciFlex also make very good filters. I believe they are more about filtration than airflow though. So for a dustier enviorment these would be good.

 

Specifically I'm referring to Silverstone's ultra fine mesh filters, which are good for high airflow but still retain good dust filtration.

https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-SST-FF121-Filter-Cooling/dp/B00ARB5E8U?th=1

Ok, the ones in that link are finer than the ones I was thinking of but, based on the enlarged illustrations, they are still coarser than the Demcifilters.

 

Any filter will eventually reduce airflow as they build up dust. The Demcifilters aren't all that restrictive when clean and will start reducing airflow sooner than coarser filters since they catch more dust from the get go but, since they are easy clean, it's not a problem to clean them more frequently (it certainly beats having to clean out the case more frequently). Increasing intake fan speed slightly will help maintain adequate airflow without increasing noise much, if at all. You can also vacuum the outside of the filters every once in a while to increase the intervals between removing them and cleaning them; I've done that with various kinds of filters.

[Bombastinator]

7 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Ok, the ones in that link are finer than the ones I was thinking of but, based on the enlarged illustrations, they are still coarser than the Demcifilters.

 

Any filter will eventually reduce airflow as they build up dust. The Demcifilters aren't all that restrictive when clean and will start reducing airflow sooner than coarser filters since they catch more dust from the get go but, since they are easy clean, it's not a problem to clean them more frequently (it certainly beats having to clean out the case more frequently). Increasing intake fan speed slightly will help maintain adequate airflow without increasing noise much, if at all. You can also vacuum the outside of the filters every once in a while to increase the intervals between removing them and cleaning them; I've done that with various kinds of filters.

The stuff I use on my new box (which is still pretty old I guess) is Honeywell carbon impregnated air filter material.  It was easier and cheaper than making more magnetic  filters.  The stuff hold on with Velcro strips.  The problem of course is it’s unusually ugly.  Like a big piece of fuzzy felt. It helps that the case is black.  I’ve got it behind the front vent in front of the fans and Velcrod to the outside of my case because I wanted to use the side vent for input air.  Works pretty good.  It doesn’t wash though it can be vacuumed. It’s disposable.  Rip it off and slap on more when it gets too dirty.  I got an ugly old case.