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Hardware

An Affordable Air Purifier For Dusty Computer Labs? 610

Posted by timothy from the home-offices-need-it-too dept.
Alcimedes writes "Our lab has a serious issue with dust. I've had a number of power supplies stop working because of dust clogging up the fans, and it's getting annoying. So I'm looking into some kind of small (under $500) air filtration system, and was wondering if anyone else out there has already gone down this road. If so, what did you buy and would you buy it again? I'd prefer something where I don't have to keep buying filters, but that may just be a pipe dream." Anyone with cats knows the feeling. Can you suggest a reasonably priced answer to dust-borne failure?
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An Affordable Air Purifier For Dusty Computer Labs? More

An Affordable Air Purifier For Dusty Computer Labs?

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  • air purifier (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:37PM (#5822160)
    despite the hype, the sharper image "ionic breeze" actually collects a lot of dust, and doesn't require replacement filters. I have one near my computer at my house, and it definitely collects a lot of dust.

    • Re:air purifier (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      thats funny, I've got an 'ionic breeze" next to my computer to, and my computer collects a lot of dust!

      • Re:air purifier should be away from computers (Score:4, Insightful)

        by mdfst13 ( 664665 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @11:26PM (#5822429)
        The way the ionic air purifiers work, you should move it *away* from the computer to get maximum effect. The way that you are doing it, when the device pulls dust back towards it, some (most?) of the dust will get diverted by the air flow of the fans. In fact, I would suspect that by putting the device *next* to the computer, you are actually increasing the dust flow to the computer.

        An ionic air purifier has two parts. One sends out charged ions which collide with particles of dust and impart a charge to them. The other is an area on the unit itself that has the opposite type of charge. I've never used one, so I don't know how effective they are. However, given the way it works, it seems logical to me that the best place for it would be away from the computer. The desired effect of the device is to pull dust into its area. Instead, it might be better to have it so that it pulls dust away from the computer. Besides, I would think that throwing electric charges (which is the basis of the ionic effect) around near a computer would be undesireable.

    • Re:air purifier (Score:5, Informative)

      by spike2131 ( 468840 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:47PM (#5822236) Homepage
      I bought a product very similar to the iconic breeze, and it does wonders to cut down on dust in our home. The one I have is called the Gerry Air Purifier. That's "Gerry", as in the baby products company. It was marketed to be put in a nursery to filter air for newborns, but it works just the same as the one for adults, at a lower price.

      I didn't get it at Sharper Image, though, it was on special at Wal-Mart.

    • Re:air purifier (Score:5, Informative)

      by Monkelectric ( 546685 ) <{slashdot} {at} {monkelectric.com}> on Sunday April 27, 2003 @11:06PM (#5822337)
      Completley wrong my good sir. Consumer Reports tested the ionic breeze and *was unable* to measure its effectivness because its filtration was "below measurable levels" if it was doing anything at all.

      That being said the ionic breeze uses the *best* technology for air cleaning, but the lack of a fan makes it completley useless. There are other models out there that use the same technology and have fans.

      I would recommend spending the 5$ or so to get a copy of the air filters report from http://www.consumerreports.org (no I don't work for them, I'm just a fan:) (I seem to have lost my print copy of the article otherwise I'd tell you the recommendations). If you aren't familiar with consumer reports, basically they are a non-profit who buys everything from spackle compount to cars and tests it rigorously using the scientific method. Their reports include an overview of the different technologies involved, overview of pro's and cons, and a discussion of what devices are suited for what applications, and finally their *scientific* tests of the devices and their results. Devices are then ranked by overall score in each category measured (some categories can be objective like "ease of use"). In the case of air purifiers they put each purifer in a chamber with a known quantity of (measureable) debris, and after a ceartin period of time they saw how much/little was left.

      • Re:air purifier (Score:5, Funny)

        by NewtonsLaw ( 409638 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @11:27PM (#5822436)
        You said:

        That being said the ionic breeze uses the *best* technology for air cleaning, but the lack of a fan makes it completley useless

        followed later by:

        no I don't work for them, I'm just a fan

        Hmmm... I see potential for a link-up here :-)

      • Re:air purifier (Score:3, Informative)

        by GreatOgre ( 75402 )
        So did they just put them in a chamber with no movement whatsoever? The way I understand how the ionic breeze works is that uses the air flow already in the house so as not to require fans which are noisy.

        Now, you may say that the air in your house is still. Not so, the air just moves sooooooo slow that it feels still to use.

        But overall, I would say that unless their chamber had some air flow, it was not a very scientific test. Now, if they used several different air velocities during the tests, then t

        • Re:air purifier (Score:5, Informative)

          by Monkelectric ( 546685 ) <{slashdot} {at} {monkelectric.com}> on Monday April 28, 2003 @02:09AM (#5823006)
          I'll reply to you since you were the only one who was polite :) There are two measurements of efficency for air filtersm;the percent debries removed and "Air exchanges per hour". An Air Exchange/hr is exactly what it sounds like -- the entire volume of air in the room must pass through the unit in one hour. The percent debris removed by electrostatic filters is *VERY* high, however, it makes no difference if no air reaches the filter to be cleaned. The HEPA standard is 6 ae/h (i'll abreviate from now on), and some high end models achieve 15 ae/h. The problem is of course the ionic breeze *ISN'T MOVING AIR*, and thus is hopelessy inefficent.

          Suppose for a moment you are correct and the ionic breeze does recieve some benfit from the normal movements of air in the house. There is no way that it could achieve the necessary 6 ae/h, and If thats not important to you -- you still must agree that a filter *with* a fan is almost infintley more efficent :) How many cubic meters of air do you think pass through an ionic breeze due to normal house currents? My 70$ honeywell moves 5000cubic feet of air per hour.

          Sharper image is selling the same old snake oil, and the people who attacked me are pretty much defending their shiny 500$ pieces of crap, and that saddens me :)

          • Look, guy, it's all well and good to believe unbiased reviews and so forth. I'm not saying that I'd consider CR a source of such, but hey, you believe what you want.

            However, that's beside the damn point here. The guy has one. He says it works for him. To tell him he's been duped when he's the one cleaning the dust off the blades every couple of days is a bit ridiclous.

            That's all people are saying. Nobody's defending a "shiny piece of crap", they're defending the guy who makes personal observations and dec

      • Re:air purifier (Score:5, Informative)

        by cornjchob ( 514035 ) <thisiswherejunkgoes@gmail.com> on Monday April 28, 2003 @12:08AM (#5822590)
        No measurable levels of filtration?

        No effin' way.

        I'm in highschool, and my English teacher has an Ionic Breeze in his class--I have absolutely horrendous allergies and sinus problems, but as soon as I set foot in his class, it's beautiful. My sinuses clear up and I can breathe; it's incredible. And I was very skeptical at first (I mean, how seriously can one take those god awful commercials?), but when I took his apart to see the plates--man, just caked with dust. These things work, make no doubt about it.

        And there doesn't need to be a fan--the difference in charge pulls the air. It's actual physics, and it definately works. Take a plastic spoon and rub it a bunch of times against wool. Then, go to your nearest sink and turn on the water so that you have a nice, smooth flow. Hold the spoon next to the water, and it bends near the spoon. Same principal.

        • Re:air purifier (Score:4, Funny)

          by GnarlyNome ( 660878 ) on Monday April 28, 2003 @12:48AM (#5822723) Journal
          I tried to ionize my principal in high school but the principle was wrong so i got detention instead

        • Re:air purifier (Score:4, Informative)

          by HamNRye ( 20218 ) on Monday April 28, 2003 @11:30AM (#5825036) Homepage
          It is about volume of air cleaned per second. I work in Air Filtration so hear me out. There are many similar air cleaners out there that use the same technology as the Ionic breeze. If they have a fan that pushes 265 CFpm through a filter, it will clean more air than a fanless model that pulls 20 CFpm through.

          The Ionic breeze works fine as long as you have something else circulating air, such as a ducting system or human movement. The way most of these filtration methods are tested is by placing them in a sealed container, and measuring how quickly they remove contaminate. That is one of the reasons fanless systems perform very poorly in the lab. That being said, it would most likely be perfect for a computer room that has tons of fans going.

          A far cheaper, and easier method is to go to your local air filter supplier, and get polyester filter material. We use BT1 (Blue Tint, 1" thick) and cover the grills of our intake fans. The stuff is incredibly cheap, does not overly restrict air flow, and will get most large contaminates out of the air. (> 1 micron). You can get a 20'x20' roll here for about 2 bucks.

          If you are interested in a system like the Ionic Breeze, try a Trion air cleaner. It uses the same electrostatic plates, but has a pre-filer that catches larger contaminate making the plates more effective (because they are working with smaller contaminate) and reduces the cleaning frequency. These are also fan driven models that will clean a larger amount of CFpm. They are generally $100-$200 cheaper than the Sharper Image product and can be found at Sears. However, electrostatic plates are generally designed to work with extremely small contaminate particles like smoke. I would assume that most computer rooms are worried about dust which is a 5 micron or greater particle. The poly pre-filters in front of intake fans shoud work best in these situations.

          Basic Air Filtration:

          1 Box Fan
          1 Roll BT1

          Cover the intake of the fan with BT1. Run fan.
          This Filtration system should run about $15. Get a fan with a high enough CFM rating that it will circulate the air in your computer room 2-3 times per hour. Change filter monthly.

          For an upgrade, get a pleated filter and a bigger fan. Pleated filters will reduce airflow by 10-15%, figure that into your CFM calculations. Pleated filters are also far more efficient.

          PDF on trion air cleaners: http://www.trioninc.com/pdfs/residential/02-0251.p df
          (Also has a diagram of how an electrostatic air cleaner works. ala Ionic Breeze)

          One final note: Do not use Ozone Generators. They don't get large particles, only smaller ones, and they are potentially dangerous.

      • Re:air purifier (Score:5, Interesting)

        by chrysrobyn ( 106763 ) * on Monday April 28, 2003 @12:27AM (#5822659)

        Completley wrong my good sir. Consumer Reports tested the ionic breeze and *was unable* to measure its effectivness because its filtration was "below measurable levels" if it was doing anything at all.

        The original poster claimed to have one installed, and claimed that it was pulling dust out of the air. You state that he's wrong because some magazine said so? I'm not quite sure what you're thinking. Perhaps you'd like to provide some evidence that the original poster's computer room is not actually cleaner?

        I've got one of these things. My wife can't breathe through her nose for 24 hours if I leave it turned off or if it's dirty. I have to clean it every week or two because it collects so much stuff it starts to make noise otherwise. Your post, and that of another here, actually dropped my opinion of Consumer Reports. Perhaps it's not that good for cleaning whatever lab setup they had, but perhaps it is good at my real world (read as "5 cats", in a room adjacent to the litter box, vacuum monthly, ceiling fan on during summer) scenario.

        Calling someone's personal observations "wrong" because they have a claim that disagrees with what you've read about is an interesting tactic.

        I've seen, first hand, how dirty a HEPA filter can get, how quickly. I've seen, first hand, how dirty an Ionic Breeze can get, how quickly. I'm not equipped to measure anything, but those Ionic Breeze blades sure do pick up lots within 24 hours (especially if you burn a scented candle). I'm not going to claim that the Ionic Breeze got all the particle sizes a HEPA does, but I will claim that, for my bedroom of moderate size where the door is never closed, the Ionic Breeze cleans the room well enough for my wife who's allergic to dust mites to breathe, and quiet enough for my picky ears to let me sleep.

        You can't tell us we're wrong, because Consumer Reports said so, and expect to be believed by any reasonable human being.

        • Re:air purifier (Score:4, Informative)

          by ndogg ( 158021 ) <the@rhorn.gmail@com> on Monday April 28, 2003 @03:10AM (#5823143) Homepage Journal
          I won't don't that it works well, but have you used other products of this type to be able to compare?

          Perhaps the Ionic Breeze works well, but perhaps there are other filters that work many times better, and that's why CR rated the Ionic Breeze as poor.

        • Re:air purifier (Score:3, Interesting)

          by shepd ( 155729 )
          Consumer Reports tested only what the Ask Slashdot question wanted to know (ie: Dust removal).

          A large byproduct of these ionizers is ozone. Which brings me to my next point: Does your wife find it easier to breathe outside just after a lightning storm?

          If so, it isn't the dust removal that's helping, it's probably the ozone. You might want to ask your doctor, though, if there's a danger of overexposure to ozone from these things. I doubt there is, but it is something to consider. You also may want to

      • Just goes to show (Score:5, Insightful)

        by The Tyro ( 247333 ) on Monday April 28, 2003 @02:23AM (#5823049)
        the only thing more powerful than science is anecdote.

        I read that consumer reports article (I'm a subscriber), and they showed absolutely no mercy to the Ionic Breeze. I like that, myself... If something appears to have no efficacy whatsoever, CR will come right out and say it. That kind of candor is wonderful... if only all magazine reviewers were that honest...

        Now, I'm not calling anyone here a liar, or implying that the Ionic Breeze fans have been duped, (heck, maybe CR did not test the Ionic Breeze in the same environment that some of the posters are inhabiting). Even so, if it works for you, then by all means keep using it... I would.

        Let's be honest, who here would throw out an appliance that they've found incredibly useful, just because somebody else says it sucks?

      • Re:air purifier (if you don't want to spend $5) (Score:4, Informative)

        by ahecht ( 567934 ) on Monday April 28, 2003 @02:41AM (#5823088) Homepage
        If you don't want to spend $5, go to your local library, and check out the last page of any December or June issue, and there will be an index telling you what issue the air filter review is in. Then, just get that issue from the library, and pay the $.10 a page to copy it.

      • Re:air purifier (Score:3, Informative)

        by Gulthek ( 12570 )
        This Consumer Reports review was challeged by The Sharper Image and corrected in the next month's issue. Look it up in the Corrections section.

        After CR revised their testing procedure (they had run the IB in a closed room for one night instead of in an open room for multiple days) the ionic breeze did very well.

        Unlike a HEPA filter the Ionic Breeze isn't designed to filter a large volume of air in a few hours, but to quietly filter a large volume of air over a couple days.

    • Re:air purifier (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Electrostatic purifiers can be great- look into ones that can be plumbed into forced-air ducts (Home Depot/similar territory), and consider running a small amount of ductwork with a fan just for filtration- you might come in right at the $500 mark. The Ionic Breeze is 'special' in that it uses an electrostatic fan as well as an electrostatic filter- but I'd gather the electrostatic fan mechanism would also tend to 'blow' some dust off/through the system, given the charges involved.. anyone know for sure?

      T
    • They seem so work well. But the problem is that they don't seem to have a huge capacity (you have to clean them fairly often). The one we have in the bed room needs cleaning 2x a week . The livingroom can go for a couple weeks between cleanings.

      They do work well though and don't require filters.

    • How important/Go asbestos filtering/hepa (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      How important is keeping your boxes running?

      With a better budget, you would build a well sealed room, with positive pressure, where the intake air (from several different ducting locations for safety) is filtered with hepa filters. And the entrance to the lab uses a double door entry system. Positive pressure gets tricky and expensive when dealing with air systems supplied through central locations or air plenum systems.

      With your limited budget, you'll need to get creative. Use lots of ducting, duct ta
      • Well, duct tape was originally called "duck tape". It was invented during the war to keep ammo dry, as the cases at the time didn't do a very good job on their own, hence it being refered to as "duck" tape. But among its infinite non-military uses that were later discovered, it was found to be ideal for sealing duct work. As a result, it became commonly called duct tape. However, you are right, duck brand duct tape sucks ass.

  • Windex (Score:2, Funny)

    by eggsurplus ( 631231 )
    $2.99 about. Pretty cheap and effective.

  • Sharper Image (Score:3, Informative)

    by BrianGa ( 536442 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:38PM (#5822171)
    The Ionic Breeze gets wonderful reviews. A friend of mine uses one in the house. I'm sure a few of them strategically placed could help your dust situation...no filters or bags to be replaced, so minimal upkeep. Link to follow: http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/productv iew.jhtml?pid=175000&pcatid=1&catid=101

  • HEPA filters (Score:4, Informative)

    by Zugok ( 17194 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:39PM (#5822179)
    That's what you need. I work in a cleanroom making IV infusions and we have HEPA filters in the ceilings of the clean rooms. Of course we have HEPA filters else where as well, but it start with the room. That's the expensive option. The next best would be a Dyson vaccum cleaner with a HEPA filter to really suck up all the dust out of your lab.
    • ULPA (Ultra-Low Penetrating Air) filters are 1 to 2 orders of magnitude more effecient than HEPA (High-Efficency Particulate Arresting) air filters; ULPA is rated to trap 99.999% of particles at 0.12 micron while HEPA filters only catch 99.99% at .3 microns. OF course, for most airborne dust and bacteria, the difference is negligible, since they're in the single-to-tens-of micron size ranges - but ULPA is clearly the superior choice, and not much more costly than HEPA at all. Incidentally, you might want

  • Common sense helps (Score:5, Informative)

    by cpct0 ( 558171 ) <slashdot.micheldonais@com> on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:39PM (#5822180) Homepage Journal
    There are a few air purifier that might do the trick for not a lot of money. I'd say the few parts you should first look at is WHERE does the dust comes from.

    If it's airborne, air purifier.

    If it's more like cat hairs (like in my house) simply elevate your computer from the floor. 1ft high and you will get 1/8th the dust you used to have.

    If it falls from everywhere, put your computer under something... and a good paint job can help too.

    I know it's all common sense, but usually you can remove most of your problems with common sense.

    Have a nice evening
    Mike

    • Re:Common sense helps (Score:4, Insightful)

      by cybermace5 ( 446439 ) <g.ryan@macetech.com> on Monday April 28, 2003 @12:00AM (#5822559) Homepage Journal
      Common sense helps, but please realize that not everyone has it. Therefore, those with common sense need to make sure it is enforced on those without it.

      I have a specific example. I'm currently working at a place that prints a lot of mail. Hence, thousands of tons of paper, millions of chop cuts and trim pieces running through pipes. Paper dust is EVERYWHERE, despite a massive bag house where thousands of CFM are filtered out to the high 99's.

      Next to the baler, where all the trim paper goes to be disposed of, is a computer for recording waste tonnage etc.,. It is in a totally enclosed, forced-air filtered box, and the printer is in a smaller version.

      That's all well and good, but after changing about three filters, accepted maintenance procedure currently consists of removing the clogged filter. Period.

      Other PC's have not been treated as well. When I used to work in IT there, I opened many a computer that was half full of fluffy dust. Thankfully those were Pentium 100's, so it wasn't the hot 60's or any modern chip....

      Find some way to do it, then make sure it happens.
  • http://www.radioshack.com/Content/Environizer.asp

    Suprisingly, for a radioshack product, they really work, and are a lot cheaper and easier to clean than "The sharper image's" ionic breeze thing...

    The $199 one should do a medium sized computer room.

    My opinion may be nullified by the fact that I work for RS, but I speak now of my own free will.

    • Radio Shack vs Sharper Image (Score:5, Informative)

      by fliptout ( 9217 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:54PM (#5822280) Homepage
      Yes, the Environizer sold by Radio Shack(made by Honeywell) is a pretty good product. There are two huge differences between the two air purifiers sold by RS and Sharper Image: 1. The Honeywell Environizers have a silent fan built in; the SI product does not. Having a fan means you can clean a much larger volume of air. 2. Price. RS has much lower prices, at least $100 less than the competition for a comparable product.

      I love my Environizer and recommend it to everyone who wants cleaner air.
      • Not only that, but the Environizer's cleaning rod can be removed and jsut rinsed off... IIRC the ionic breeze thing needs to be wiped with a rag/paper-towel etc. Just make sure to read the instructions, there's a step int here to clean the wires so it doesn't buzz. You have to flip it upside down several times to slide a cleaning thing up and down the wires...

      • Fans are NOT GOOD on ionic air cleaners!!! (Score:4, Informative)

        by caveat ( 26803 ) on Monday April 28, 2003 @07:54AM (#5823754)
        Having a fan means you can clean a much larger volume of air.

        MORE air yes, but it's not going to be nearly so clean. Longwinded explantion that goes into theory follows:
        Ionic filters have a theoretical 100% efficiency for all particle sizes. How these ionic air filters work is an excercise left to the reader (apply - charge to incoming particles with a -1,000V grid, place a +1000V grid close by, all the ionized - charged particles stick to the + grid); there are scientific instruments to select a very specific size of dust particle that work on the same principle. Instead of two charged plates, they use a rod and sleeve electrode system with + in the center, and they have a very small exit slit at the bottom; the voltage across the rods is very carefully controlled along with the carrier gas flow rate (the dust has to be in some medium), and only one very specific size comes out the slit at the botton (+/- 1 nm). (TSI 3080 Electrostatic Classifier [tsi.com])

        The theoretical equation for this instrument describes the arc taken between the two electrodes for a given size particle in a given carrier gas at a given flowrate and voltage difference. The carrier flowrate is absolutely critical, a few tenths of a percent deviation will throw your size off by a few *tens* of percent. Assuming these ionic filters are going for 100% efficiency, and they aren't running some insane delta-V like -5000/+15,000, they need a fairly low flow rate to allow all the particles time to drift over to the collector (small particles won't move very fast through dense air in a relatively low electrical field - c'mon people, i know it's early, but think about it - smoke diffuses, water droplets from a spray bottle drops from the air a lot faster) - so to make my point finally, the Ionic Breeze uses the electrostatic air flow, which is actually probably a lot better than a fan-driven filter. The fanned filters can clean more air, but they're going to leave a lot of the smaller crap untouched...I actually wouldn't be surprised if a HEPA filter was actually more effective than a cheap ionic filter.
    • Are there any numbers on the number of square feet these things clean?

      Seems like this would be an important number.

  • First Things First (Score:5, Funny)

    by Gefiltefish ( 125066 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:39PM (#5822185)

    Since a large portion of the dust that we encounter comes from dead skin cells that are shed from our bodies, a clear solution presents itself:

    Convice some of those dirty bastards using your lab to wash once in a while.

    Need for air filter: GONE.

  • Who cares about dust? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:40PM (#5822192)
    In a computer lab, I'm more concerned about the general flatulence and B.O. generated by most computer science majors. On a hot summer day, the smell can peel paint from the walls.
  • Used dryer sheets. Tape them over your inlet vents in your case/power supply/whatever. Watch the temperature.

  • Cats (Score:4, Funny)

    by Devil's BSD ( 562630 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:41PM (#5822203) Homepage
    Anyone with cats knows the feeling. Can you suggest a reasonably priced answer to dust-borne failure?

    Scissors only cost a buck at Wal-Mart... Or you could go the more expensive electric haircutter route for about $15. Or, you could actually save money by getting rid of the cats.

  • Cheap DIY (Score:3, Interesting)

    by jhines ( 82154 ) <john@jhines.org> on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:43PM (#5822213) Homepage
    One or more 20x20 furnace filters, and a box window fan. Some duct tape, or bungee cords.

    Should be about $25 at your local mart, in the spring and summer. Hard to find the fans in the winter.
    • I do that in my basement after construction projects or other dust generation activity. The air pressure holds the filter in place. No duct tape needed. I leave the fan on 24 hours a day until the dust has cleared.

      The $0.47 filters will catch dust particles large enough to clog up a computer. Small dust just flows right through the computer, unless it is sticky like smoke. I use the $2.50 filters to catch smaller dust particle that only bother me.

      I hardly ever need to buy filters. The secret is t

  • PMS (Score:5, Informative)

    by StikyPad ( 445176 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:43PM (#5822215) Homepage
    The military's solution is called Preventive Maintenance (or PMs for short - yes, it's real). It basically boils down to wiping off the dust on a regular basis, just like you would with the rest of your house. It's not fun, but it works, and it's well under $500.

  • HEPA filter (Score:3, Informative)

    by afidel ( 530433 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:45PM (#5822223)
    Get a HEPA filter with a washable dust prefilter. Walmart sells several and you can get them rated for 20X20 foot rooms for $200, if your room is bigger then get two and set aside whatever is left over for replacement filters. Plus if your environment is that bad you should be cleaning the area for the workers sake, equipment is cheap to replace, sick or disgusted workers are not.
  • have you tried a doormat?

  • paper towels (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ejaw5 ( 570071 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:45PM (#5822228)
    I've had to deal with dust accumulating inside my athlon box, occasionally cloging up the GPU fan.

    Here's what you do: "filter" all the intake holes in the side/back of your computer cases with paper towel sheets cut to size (Bounty works great for me, but dust can sometimes be a Brawny mess), both inside and outside wherever feasible. Air still flows through, but less dust comes inside. Haven't noticed an increase in operating temperature.

  • See if your manager... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    will spring for a french maid with a short miniskirt, high heels.

  • Panasonic for room air filters (Score:4, Informative)

    by cporter ( 61382 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:47PM (#5822233)
    Panasonic makes some small, effective [panasonic.com] air purifiers that have filters for odor as well as small particles down to 0.3 microns. I bought the F-P20HU1 [panasonic.com]for 600 sq ft apartment. Not sure about dust but it's great for seasonal allergies and kitchen odors. Panasonic claims life of 1 yr for odor filters and 3 years for HEPA.

    They're only about 6" deep with a front intake and top exhaust so you can push them right against the wall.

    List prices in the $199 - $239 range. Check out appliances.com [appliances.com] or even better, Froogle [google.com] for retail pricing.

  • Particle Size (Score:2, Informative)

    by jbyron ( 667449 )
    HEPA filters are great for removing very small particles (like pollen) but they don't do anything for larger crudites. Hair and other dust settles so quickly that a HEPA wont get it unless the wind speed in your room is over 40 mph. And most HEPAs are rather noisy. For cat hair, a simple fiberglass filter near the computer will work fine. And a vacuum cleaner.

  • .. but HVAC supplies plenty of dust. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by mr. methane ( 593577 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:50PM (#5822250) Journal
    Your HVAC system will continue to supply plenty of fresh dust, so without a large filtering system, it's hard to have much of an effect on it.

    I had a similar problem with a dusty store basement, and the solution was (please don't laugh) a chrome air cleaner (sized for a Holley 750 double pumper) attached to the blower fan. The automotive air filter was really cheap, replaceable, and quite effective. They have a big enough surface area that you have very little flow restriction. We did end up using a larger-diameter fan, which had a side benefit of making the server quieter.

  • I have a Sharper Image Ionic Breeze. For $350 it does a decent job of cleaning allergens and some dust out of the air, but it will NOT keep your home office dust-free.

    And its a royal pain to clean.

  • Electrostatic Air Filtration (Score:5, Informative)

    by MBCook ( 132727 ) <foobarsoft@foobarsoft.com> on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:51PM (#5822254) Homepage
    I would think that a form of electrostatic air filtration would do the best job. Sharper Image has two or three (here [sharperimage.com], or here [sharperimage.com]) would be the kind of thing your after. There are different sizes, etc, but this is probably the best thing you can get. On top of this, you might want to invest in some of those fan filter covers for computer fans that are made of fabric or whatever to keep dust out. There are some here [coolerguys.com], here [plycon.com], and here [caseetc.com]. I would think that the combination of these things would keep you pretty low on dust. That said, make sure to clean the air purifier and check the fan filters every once in a while to make sure they're clear or else thing might end up worse than before. Once the room is clean (after the first week or whatever) and you've cleaned everything out, I'd imagine that you'd wouldn't have to check the fan filters much at all (maybe only when working on that specific PC) as long as you keep the electrostatic air filter going on clean.

    Also, see if you can talk to whoever in incharge of the heating/AC system in the building to see if there is anything they can do. Maybe Allergy Free [allergy-free.com] has a filter that would work with the system or maybe you could get together the with the other groups of people in the building and buy an electrostatic air filtration system for the whole building. They work great on both dust and allergies. These are just wild ideas from brainstorming, they really aren't that realistic I guess. The first paragraph though will probably work well.

    PS: We have electrostatic air filters installed in our house. We also had them installed in the house we had before this one. Our family has allergy problems and when we clean them, you'd be amazed the colors the water turns from what comes off them. They really do catch alot.

    PPS: Or you could just watercool everything and run it all through one massive radiator. But this would be a bit more than $500. More pipedreaming.

  • Bionaire (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I did a TON of research on this as my allergies have been driving me nuts the past couple of years and I really didn't want to spend $500 on an air cleaner. Basic story:

    Ionic Breeze is worthless according to just about every consumer reporting group out there. They can't see that it filters anything at all.

    Washable filters don't work very well and you are going to need to buy filters about once a year to get decent filtration.

    I ended up buying the Bionaire ULPA filter that works great. It is very quiet (

  • Ionizer schmionizer (Score:3, Insightful)

    by smcd ( 634 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:52PM (#5822262)
    Just because Ionizers collect dust doesn't mean that they are worth the money. I believe their benefit is still questionable - however I'm no expert. A proper HEPA filter on the other hand might work but they tend to be very expensive for a substantial size room and you have to keep the door closed to be effective.

    A wet towel laid on a surface in the middle of a room will probably collect dust as rapidly as an Ionizer - even better if you blow a hair dryer at it. :)

    The best way to avoid dust collecting at your computer is just to reduce the dust floating in the air. Although most dust is dead skin, scrubbing harder in the shower as one poster mentioned has only psychological benefits. :)

    The real solution is to eliminate items in the room that gather dust and clean the room frequently with a vacuum with a HEPA filter so the vacuum does not just recirculate the dust around the room. Also, if you are "dusting" the room, don't just a feather duster (as if) which throws the dust into the air, but instead use a wet cloth to wipe surfaces. If you have a vent blowing air into the room (e.g. central hot/cold air), make sure to cover the vent with a dust filter.

    Don't leave the windows open and make sure you put the cover back on your PC!

    Good luck.

    - Sean

  • Air Purification (Score:2, Informative)

    by Ask-A-Nerd ( 590961 )
    Well, in my opinion the Ionic Breeze has the right idea BUT NO Where near the Power and Air Circulation that a Computer environment needs. Additionally as metioned they COLLECT DUST. One of the BEST methods I have seen is with an Air Purification Unit from ALPINE. It takes the Ionic Breeze one step further, and although noisy as a result (powerful fan) to move the ion charge through the air... And IT DOES NOT collect dust although it does have a large particle filter on the back to keep your papers from get

  • Cats (Score:4, Funny)

    by antiquark ( 87200 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @10:56PM (#5822290)
    Anyone with cats knows the feeling.

    Yeah, can anyone suggest a cheap filter to remove cats?
  • With the largest percentage of particulates most likely human (dead) skin, you might want to attack the problem directly, instead of trying to deal with it after the fact. Gain more control over reducing the source, and you may find your current filtration system(s) more than adequate.

  • A Friedrich C-90A is your best bet (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    At $499 it is just barely in your price range, but it is one of the top-rated small air cleaners. It is electrostatic like the Sharper Image model, but includes a large fan to move air over the plates, making in much more effective for a lab environment. I believe that it is rated for an area of up to roughly 500 square feet. You can just throw the electrostatic plates in the dishwasher once every couple of months, and you really don't need to replace the charcoal filters unless you are trying to remove

  • FIltration (Score:3, Informative)

    by SeanTobin ( 138474 ) * <byrdhuntr AT hotmail DOT com> on Sunday April 27, 2003 @11:01PM (#5822316)
    This may sound a bit odd, but I've done it on a few computers (where the case permits) with abnormally good results.

    Take a coffe filter, cut to size, and tape it infront of/behind all the air inlets to your case. Even after a year of sitting on carpet in a dusty area, the interrior was devoid of fuzz and dust pup^H^H^H bunnies.

    Now, the last time I did this was in the pentium 133 area... Be sure to monitor processor temperatures for a few days to make sure you are getting adequate cooling.

  • Air Filtration (Score:5, Informative)

    by Sooner Boomer ( 96864 ) <sooner.boomr@gmail.cTIGERom minus cat> on Sunday April 27, 2003 @11:03PM (#5822320) Journal
    Don't know exactly how your computer room is set up, but here's what I did. There are two basic types of "filters" - mechanical and electrostatic. The mechanical filters work by trapping the dirt onto the filter. Throw away the filter, throw away the dirt. The electrostatic filters work by placing a charge on the dust particle. The particle is then attracted onto a nearby surface. This nearby surface may be part of the filter element (like with a permenantly-charged electret filter or a powered electrostatic filter), or it may get stuck to a nearby wall, ceiling, or piece of furniture. This is what happens with a lot of the "ionic" filters. The dust is out of the air, but it's not really removed from the environment. What I have on my central AC unit is a disposable pre-filter (like a conventional AC filter), a high-capacity HEPA filter (a cartridge that looks like a bunch of folded-up paper towels), and a powered electrostatic filter. I change the pre-filters monthly (they're cheap), change the HEPA filters once a year, and wash out the electrostatic element every 3-6 months. This keeps my computer and other electronics fairly clean, even with multiple cats. One way to tell is by the amount of stuff that gets attracted to the TV screen; not much. The only disadvantage to a powered electrostatic filter is the possibility of the creation of ozone.
    • The only disadvantage to a powered electrostatic filter is the possibility of the creation of ozone.

      Wait. Not to sound like a dumbass, but isn't this a *good* thing? I thought there was a shortage of ozone due to cars or cow farts or something like that...

  • Well actually, (Score:5, Funny)

    by labratuk ( 204918 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @11:04PM (#5822322)
    You've stumbled across the solution yourself.

    Obviously the dust is collecting in these machines. How do you 'remove' dust? You collect it.

    So, all you have to do is build a bunch of redundant computers*, and design them with really bad air flow, so dust gets trapped everywhere in them. Once a month, open up these machines and turn them upside-down over a dustbin (outside). Voila.

    *Imagine a Beowulf cluster.

  • Don't Try This Method (Score:5, Funny)

    by handy_vandal ( 606174 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @11:04PM (#5822326) Homepage Journal
    I once watched a co-worker use a shop vac inside a very dusty PC. The shop vac sucked a chip out of its socket ....
  • I've got the Honeywell Hepa (that round thing that makes a lot of noise -- never did replace the main inner filter -- probably distributing around 10 year old cat dander); three Sharper Image ionizers (one for my basement, one upstairs, and, well, one out of commission -- great, but expensive to buy, and cheap to maintain).

    I'm currently in the market to find a nice high room volume air cleaner, so naturally, I went to Air Cleaners.com [aircleaners.com]. The guys are funny loons, but they know what the hell they're talking

  • Try a pressurising fan (Score:5, Informative)

    by ColaMan ( 37550 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @11:20PM (#5822404) Journal
    I'm not sure on your lab setup, but if the dust is *outside* the lab, try a pressurising fan setup.

    Get a 2 inch outlet cyclonic type air filter, typically used in tractors, bobcats and small motorised machinery.
    Hook it to the suction of a blower fan, outside your lab.
    Duct the exhaust of the blower *into* your lab.
    Try and close as many doors and windows as possible.

    The blower will pressurise your lab with clean air, which will try to escape out all the nooks and crannies in your lab, keeping the dust outside.

    Don't forget to check the filter every couple of weeks until you get a handle on the maintenance interval required, and don't get a cyclonic filter too big for your fan, as they need high airflow to spin out the dust particles effectively.

    This works for a coal lab of ours that is located very close to a 100,000t stockpile of loose,dusty coal. The dust is bad enough that if a blank piece of paper with a pen on it is left outside the "clean room" (still inside the building) you get a "shadow" of the pen on the paper in about 6-8 hours.

  • Friedrich air purifier (Score:5, Informative)

    by kaybee ( 101750 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @11:26PM (#5822431) Homepage
    If you have a subscription to Consumer Reports, they did some tests of air filters. Contrary to other replies to this post, they found the Ionic Breeze to be next to useless. Maybe their test environment did not properly represent the real world, or maybe they are right. In any case, they said that the Friedrich C90A removed more dust than any other air filter that they tested. It operates with electricity like the Ionic Breeze, but has a powerful fan and more filter stages. No filters to buy, but it is definitely bigger and less attractive than the Ionic Breeze.

    Here is a link to purchase it: Friedrich C90A [air-condit...merica.com]

  • I don't have to keep buying filters, but that may just be a pipe dream." Anyone with cats knows the feeling.

    That's right: filters [catb.org], like cat, are most often used as part of a pipe.

    *ducks*

  • My solution (Score:5, Funny)

    by fruity1983 ( 561851 ) on Sunday April 27, 2003 @11:30PM (#5822449)
    Take the fans out of your computer, it wo

  • I can only echo what I've already read in this thread. You don't specify the size of the room you need to cleanse, and you don't specify if you have any special requirements (allergies demanding HEPA or smokers, or both).

    The Sharpter Image Ionic Breeze [sharperimage.com] has been a godsend in my household since 1999.

    I bought it because my girlfriend's HEPA filter sounded like a vacuum cleaner 24/7 and I had trouble sleeping with it... for 2 years. When I moved out of the college housing to get a real job, I got one of th

  • Go to cadr.org [cadr.org]. They maintain a list of air purifiers and their performance measurements. I ended up getting a Hamilton Beach model, and have been happy with it, but your needs may vary. (Note on cadr.org that the highly-hyped Sharper Image model actually does a very poor job of cleaning air.)

  • air filters / cleaners (Score:4, Informative)

    by mrbill ( 4993 ) * <mrbill@mrbill.net> on Monday April 28, 2003 @12:06AM (#5822581) Homepage
    After doing extensive research on the subject, and looking at tons of stuff that was available, I ended up plunking down $250 last November on a Sharper Image Ionic Breeze, the "Compact" Quadra version.

    It hasnt completely reduced dust in our hosehold (we have unstained, un-sealed concrete floors, which are the #1 culprit, plus three cats), but its done an incredible job of keeping nicotine stains off everything in the computer room (my wife smokes). I put it next to her desk, and clean the "blades" every 3-4 days with a handi-wipe.

    Definitely worth the money, but they're not the perfect solution for everyone. I'll probably be buying a refurbished full-size version from their online store or eBay soon (I dont see paying full retail price again).

    Beware of stuff that is just negative ion/ozone generators - TOO MUCH ozone can be *really* bad for your health. The Ionic Breeze units put out a TINY amount (your laser printer, for example, probably puts out 10x as much), and the amount it puts out is well under federal health and safety standards.

  • cats? (Score:3, Funny)

    by maxpublic ( 450413 ) on Monday April 28, 2003 @12:23AM (#5822647) Homepage
    Sell the cats to a Chinese restaurant. End of problem.

    Max

  • Where is the dust coming from? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by toybuilder ( 161045 ) on Monday April 28, 2003 @12:37AM (#5822694)
    All this talk of ionic and HEPA air filters is missing the first question: where is the dust coming from? Maybe you can take steps to reduce the ingress of dust into the lab. Maybe you need to punihs people for leaving the lab room door open to the dirty outside air...

    If it's a university computer lab in a realtively modern centrally-ventilated building, it might just be enough to have a positive-pressure airflow of filtered air to push the dust out of the room. You might be able to hang the charge to the Buildings & Ground's account.

  • Some suggestions (Score:3, Interesting)

    by gerardrj ( 207690 ) on Monday April 28, 2003 @12:57AM (#5822759) Journal
    As others have mentioned, you don't state the size or "enclosedness" of your lab, but some thoughts anyway:

    1. Most (90%+) dust inside a home or office is generated by the shedding of human skin and hair or our clothing. Hence, most dust is generated within 5 feet of the fans sucking it in to the computer. In these environments you should have at least low density foam filters (think about the one on your hair dryer) on each intake fan. The case fans of your systems should be positively pressurizing the case so that all incoming air passes through a filter, not through any small openings.

    2. Try to keep the intake fans on the computer cases as high off the ground and as open/exposed as possible. Ex: don't stick the fan in a corner under a desk, this is where air currents will deposit the most dust. In that same vein, your HVAC intakes should be on the ceiling, not near the floor. Moving them can be quite inexpensive.

    3. Don't use ionizers. Ionizers are different than electrostatic filters. Ionizers are designed to change the balance of electrical charge in the ambient air (they spit out electrons). To me that's just a bad thing when highly sensitive electronic parts are about. The more out of balance the charges are, the more likely you are to experience static discharges, and we all know that kills computers.

    4. For larger labs/offices I recommend an electrostatic filter that gets built in to the HVAC system. These things are highly effective at removing the lightest/smallest of dust particles. They are a bit expensive to install, and aren't the easiest things to clean, but they do a great job and you probably have a cleaning/maintenance crew. These devices do put out a small amount of ozone but this is usually not a problem with the normal air exchange that takes place in an average building. If you have a VERY high efficiency(tight) building, consider having an indoor/outdoor air/heat exchanger installed, or have the power in the filter unit reduced so ozone production is minimized(this is usually a jumper setting in the power supply). Most U.S. buildings will not require such measures.

    5. Don't underestimate the effectiveness of a simple furnace filter at the air intake and/or exhaust points from your HVAC system. Paper is the best filter, but reduces flow the most. Foam filters are pretty good, especially the "charged" ones. The cheap "spider web" filters are useless, don't use them. They'll catch large debris, but not the stuff clogging up you case fans.

    6. If this is a very small room, one or more portable HEPA filters will help immensely. I install these in all the smaller server rooms that I work in. Run them continuously(24x7).

    7. If at all possible, have your cleaning crew use HEPA filters on all vacuum cleaners used in your lab. Otherwise, a significant amount of light dust will simply be blown out of the vacuum unit and in to the air where it can be sucked in to the computers. Even better than the HEPA filters is to use a built-in type vacuum system where exhaust air is routed outdoors.

    In my home, I use central electrostatic filters, a central vacuum, and keep my computers on the desk, not the floor. I have VERY little dust accumulation in my systems (or anywhere else).

  • HEPA vs. Ionic (Score:5, Informative)

    by rbrooks_na ( 636899 ) on Monday April 28, 2003 @01:46AM (#5822931)
    HEPA filters were originally developed during World War II to prevent discharge of radioactive particles from nuclear reactor facility exhausts. They have since become a vital technology in industrial, medical, and military clean rooms and have grown in popularity for use in portable residential air cleaners. A true HEPA filter is defined as having a minimum particle removal efficiency of 99.97% for all particles of 0.3 micron diameter. The HEPA rating is determined using a test smoke with particles of 0.3 micron average diameter. To qualify as a "true" HEPA, the filter must allow no more than 3 particles out of 10,000 to penetrate the filtration media.

    Negative ion generators force high-voltage electricity to one or more needlepoints. Electricity is simply electrons in motion and since electrons repel one another, when they reach the needlepoint, they jump off and attach themselves to the molecules in the air forming negative ions. At that point the allergens and other particles are attracted to grounded surfaces where they can get rid of that extra electron, causing them to settle on , floors, furniture and other grounded surfaces, even on your bed. It's important to remember that a simple negative ion generator doesn't capture or collect the particles in the air, it simply causes them to precipitate out of the air.

    Electrostatic precipitators are used to scrub the air coming out of factories, but the same technology has grown in popularity in home ventilation systems and some room air cleaners. They are ionizers designed to charge and then collect particles from the air once they have been charged. First, the air is passed through an ionizer where the particles gain a particular charge. Then that air is passed between plates with the opposite charge that attract the charged particles. Electrostatic precipitators have one major drawback though; they rapidly loose effectiveness as dust builds up on the plates.

    They Ionic Breeze is essentially an electrostatic precipitator with no real means of circulating the air past the ionizer and then past the charged plates making it essentially useless.

    I run an Austin Air Cleaner [natlallergy.com] in my computer room and it does an excellent job keeping it dust-free. The cool thing about it is that the filter needs to be changed only every 5 years and the pre-filter is vacuumable instead of replacable. I've found it to be a very cost effective cleaner compared to most HEPA-filter based air cleaners where you must change the pre-filters every three months and the HEPA filters every year.

  • A bong (Score:4, Funny)

    by gregm ( 61553 ) on Monday April 28, 2003 @03:03AM (#5823129)
    I was thinking... you could blow air into the bottom of a barrel of water, let it bubble up to the top and put it back into the room. I know from a really reliable source that water bongs get much of the nasty stuff out of pot and make the smoke much smoother. Of course I've never actually tried to clean the air in a room with one but it seems like it might work.

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