PC Cleaning Station

[ComputerPro]

Forgot to mention. We have tried many, many distort solutions. We prototyped this multi tubed octopus looking thing back around 2003 lol. It was a hands off automatic kind of thing. None worked better than plain suction with pinpoint air.
I saw a mention of recycling air back into the box. I wouldn't do it. We have found it best to have the small opening in front of the main box with a flexible plastic to make the opening even smaller. Our dust collector pulls from the bottom of the grid. Why fight gravity right lol. Also when you blow the dust around you want your inflow coming from the front outside of the box so dust doesn't escape into your shop.

 

[Altster]

That reminds me how does one tackle the dusty tar build up inside a machine. my compressor doesn't touch it and I am not keen on getting my hand dirty!?

Go to the hardware store and pick up some cheap paint brushes. That's what I use to help with cleaning out the innards of a computer. Since they are (usually) very soft they come in handy when cleaning out most anything - including laptops.

 

[Altster]

Wow, pretty elaborate setup(s) but I understand why the expense. Since I also build plastic models I like to use spray paint when I can to paint the models (cars mostly). There are many references to building inexpensive paint booths online and I suspect that many of them would "well" server our requirements. Luckily for our shop we have a back room where the stand-up compressor is located and we just use that room as our dust collector.

 

[acscva]

I would be very careful with Paint Brushes as they will cause static and that means fried components.

 

[DocGreen]

@ComputerPro I'd never really thought about the need for dust collection (beyond air filtration). Do you end up getting a decent amount of dust collected in the bottom?

 

[ComputerPro]

@ComputerPro I'd never really thought about the need for dust collection (beyond air filtration). Do you end up getting a decent amount of dust collected in the bottom?

If you mean the bottom of the dust collector unit (not the cabinet) then yes.

The canister collects all the computers dust and dust bunnies. Some of it goes into that clear bag and some goes into the canister on wheels. Its a cyclone unit for woodworking really made to separate fine sawdust from wood chunks.

When you blow out a PC with compressed air (or a leaf blower) if its dirty it creates a whole cloud of dust. I designed the cabinet so very little if any leaks out back into the shop. It also depends on how you spray the air. We use short controlled bursts really. Also remember to stop fans with fingers or a tool so they don't spin up faster than their rated speed. Bad for the fan and I'm no electrical engineer but I've heard it may (by way of induction) introduce a spike back into the board. But it's kind of like the wrist strap thing. Once you've done enough hardware repairs your body starts to do things automatically, like grabbing ground first etc.

 

[mikemcg]

Thanks!

Hi Mike

Yes that's the one we have. It does work well for our setup. It's still loud but not as high pitch as a shop vac, and not as loud as the Delta bag unit we had. Has much better air pull though. We got it at a local Woodcraft store, I think it was on sale if I remember correctly, maybe $100 off or something like that. It does empty much easier also.

The biggest difference between a shop vac is the air flow for sure. The dust collector will pull much more volume