Suggestions for dust problem? [Corsair 300R]

[DougFrippon]

About 10 months ago I built a budget PC for my friend, and I used a Corsair 300r.
The case comes with an intake 120mm at the front and an exhaust 120mm at the back. I added another 120mm intake at the front, plus another 120mm exhaust at the top.

Couple days ago I went to his place to fix his computer, he was complaining about graphical issues in a couple games, so I after some research I found his computer already with a significant quantity of dust. I did not expect this, his computer is only 10months old, and the case has a dust filter for the two front intake, plus a dust filter underneat for the power supply.

I checked, and sure enough the filters were completly clogged with dust. I cleaned them but then the videocard, and the CPU hsf were filled with a lot of dust aswell.

So the problem is this 300r case has optional fan holes everywhere, two on side, two on the top (one of which is used for exhaust), couples of 80mm fan holes at the back... all of which don't have any filter. Also the PCI slots have holes in them. So basically, dust is getting in from everywhere! Before I left I put some transparent tape on the side pannel to avoid part of the dust to get in. But this bad tough, I built him a brand new computer and I had to put tape on it...

Some kind of material must exist to cover those holes? Any suggestions?

 

[dma0991]

Any suggestions?

Yes, its called educating your friend to clean the PC internals. This problem has nothing to do with the case, more to do with the fact that your friend is either lazy or unaware that it requires periodical maintenance. I did the same for my friend as you did for yours, except his was a Corsair 600T. The Corsair 600T is more enclosed and fewer fan mounts but it accumulates dust eventually.

Till you do some educating that he/she needs to dust it at least every 6 months or so, your friend will forever rely on you for this menial task (unless he invites you for Thanksgiving dinner :awe.

 

[dust]

About 10 months ago I built a budget PC for my friend, and I used a Corsair 300r.
The case comes with an intake 120mm at the front and an exhaust 120mm at the back. I added another 120mm intake at the front, plus another 120mm exhaust at the top.

Couple days ago I went to his place to fix his computer, he was complaining about graphical issues in a couple games, so I after some research I found his computer already with a significant quantity of dust. I did not expect this, his computer is only 10months old, and the case has a dust filter for the two front intake, plus a dust filter underneat for the power supply.

I checked, and sure enough the filters were completly clogged with dust. I cleaned them but then the videocard, and the CPU hsf were filled with a lot of dust aswell.

So the problem is this 300r case has optional fan holes everywhere, two on side, two on the top (one of which is used for exhaust), couples of 80mm fan holes at the back... all of which don't have any filter. Also the PCI slots have holes in them. So basically, dust is getting in from everywhere! Before I left I put some transparent tape on the side pannel to avoid part of the dust to get in. But this bad tough, I built him a brand new computer and I had to put tape on it...

Some kind of material must exist to cover those holes? Any suggestions?

Personal attack! Reported

 

[DougFrippon]

Yes, its called educating your friend to clean the PC internals. This problem has nothing to do with the case, more to do with the fact that your friend is either lazy or unaware that it requires periodical maintenance. I did the same for my friend as you did for yours, except his was a Corsair 600T. The Corsair 600T is more enclosed and fewer fan mounts but it accumulates dust eventually.

Till you do some educating that he/she needs to dust it at least every 6 months or so, your friend will forever rely on you for this menial task (unless he invites you for Thanksgiving dinner :awe.

well, I did tell him he had to clean the filters when he vacums, and the inside of the computer about once a year. But it had only been 10months and his computer had way to much dust already, I just need to seal that case somehow

 

[dma0991]

well, I did tell him he had to clean the filters when he vacums, and the inside of the computer about once a year. But it had only been 10months and his computer had way to much dust already, I just need to seal that case somehow

I was being modest when I said 6 months, my maintenance interval is 2-3 months. 1 year is too long, 10 months won't be any better.

There's a lot of external variables at play at how fast dust accumulates. Does he live in a pig sty? How clean is his room? Does he live in a place where the air isn't very clean? These factors will affect how frequent you must do a cleanup.

There are methods to mitigate (filtered positive pressure, fewer running fans, sealing with vinyl sticker/adding a filter to the side panel fan mounts) the dust accumulation but eventually fine particles will creep in and the best way of ensuring that it works is to clean it regularly.

 

[Seba]

You could try without one of the two exhaust fans to see if the dust situation is improved by creating a higher pressure inside the case than outside the case (so that dusty air is not sucked in through every unfiltered opening).

First, disconnect each exhaust fan (one at a time) and see which one has less impact on CPU, GPU, HDD and system temperature (with case side panel closed). Then keep that one disconnected for a while (at least a month or so) to see if you get less dust inside the case this way.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Some kind of material must exist to cover those holes? Any suggestions?

http://www.demcifilter.com/c27/CARBIDE-300R.aspx

They're a bit pricey, but they're cut to exact dimensions of the mount points. They work quite well.

Also is the tower by any chance sitting on the floor? Elevating it above ground level would probably help with the dust situation a bit also.

 

[piasabird]

The more air you blow in, the more dust clogs up a computer. Does the computer sit on a rug? I have heard of heating and cooling companies sometimes use fans that constantly spin at a slow speed to keep dust from settling. Wonder what the furnace filter looks like?

 

[Automaticman]

So here's what happens. With a pair of 120mm fans as intake and another pair as exhaust, he should have a pretty neutral case pressure. This means that the vast majority of the air entering the case will be via the filtered intake fans, keeping most of the dust out of the case.

If he lets those filters go too long without cleaning, they clog up those front intakes. The exhaust fans, however, are still trying to blow out the same amount of air they normally do. This turns the case into a negative pressure area.

Now the case begins to suck in air anywhere it can to feed those exhaust fans, like all of the nooks and crannies that are not filtered. This is when a lot more dust starts to enter the case and clog up the internals.

If he cleans the front filters on a regular basis, he will keep the pressure neutral and the dust out of the case. You can try building the case as a positive pressure design, but if he doesn't clean the filters he's going to have the same issue.

 

[DougFrippon]

So here's what happens. With a pair of 120mm fans as intake and another pair as exhaust, he should have a pretty neutral case pressure. This means that the vast majority of the air entering the case will be via the filtered intake fans, keeping most of the dust out of the case.

If he lets those filters go too long without cleaning, they clog up those front intakes. The exhaust fans, however, are still trying to blow out the same amount of air they normally do. This turns the case into a negative pressure area.

Now the case begins to suck in air anywhere it can to feed those exhaust fans, like all of the nooks and crannies that are not filtered. This is when a lot more dust starts to enter the case and clog up the internals.

If he cleans the front filters on a regular basis, he will keep the pressure neutral and the dust out of the case. You can try building the case as a positive pressure design, but if he doesn't clean the filters he's going to have the same issue.

Good insight I had not thought of it this way.

 

[Seba]

By reducing the number of exhaust fans, you also reduce the dust problem inside the case, even when intake filters are clogged. You will have less air flow inside the case when the filters are clogged, but the CPU HSF and the graphic card HSF should be less clogged. The idea is that most of the air that gets inside the case should pass through a dust filter.

1:1 intake fans/exhaust fans is a bad ratio when you take into account that the intake fans also have filtered vents (exhaust fans usually do not have filters), so an exhaust fan will push more air out than the same fan model used as intake fan, with a filter covering the air intake.

 

[lehtv]

All it takes is vacuuming the front filters every month or two and you won't have a dust problem ever. Takes two minutes. There will be some dust accumulating into the heatsink and other parts of the case internals along the years but nothing major enough to cause problems.

 

[LinkTECH]

you should tell your friend to clean it every 3to 4 months then it will be fine

 

[4Flat4Life]

About 10 months ago I built a budget PC for my friend, and I used a Corsair 300r.
The case comes with an intake 120mm at the front and an exhaust 120mm at the back. I added another 120mm intake at the front, plus another 120mm exhaust at the top.

Couple days ago I went to his place to fix his computer, he was complaining about graphical issues in a couple games, so I after some research I found his computer already with a significant quantity of dust. I did not expect this, his computer is only 10months old, and the case has a dust filter for the two front intake, plus a dust filter underneat for the power supply.

I checked, and sure enough the filters were completly clogged with dust. I cleaned them but then the videocard, and the CPU hsf were filled with a lot of dust aswell.

So the problem is this 300r case has optional fan holes everywhere, two on side, two on the top (one of which is used for exhaust), couples of 80mm fan holes at the back... all of which don't have any filter. Also the PCI slots have holes in them. So basically, dust is getting in from everywhere! Before I left I put some transparent tape on the side pannel to avoid part of the dust to get in. But this bad tough, I built him a brand new computer and I had to put tape on it...

Some kind of material must exist to cover those holes? Any suggestions?

I'm interested in getting some after market dust filters too actually.