Computers

[DannyBoy]

What do you have in your shop and how do you protect it from dust? I'm looking to upgrade from an 7yr old dell inspiron and would like some recommendations...

[DALSAW]

I have a Panasonic Toughbook 19 that I picked that I got used from GovDeals.com, heres the link. My link Its certified to military spec. So it can take pretty mutch anything you throw at it. Probably the best computer that you can find for shop use.

[Vic]

I have a cheap Dell Vostro. If you want to stream a duo core is a must. As far as how I protect it? I really don't, I just have good DC.

[CubsFan]

I think that the best thing you could do for a computer is put it in another room and run cables through to your shop. The computer is always going to have its fans running to pull cool air into the case. So any dust that's in the air will continually circulate through the case and will accumulate over time. The monitor should be fine, since there aren't any fans moving air through it. Keyboard and mouse will get dirty, but can be easily cleaned with a puff of air.

If you have really good dust collection, this may not be an issue. I have very poor dust collection, so it's a big issue for me

[jvt]

I have a spare MicroATX desktop PC with an LCD in my shop that is enclosed in a custom plexiglass box. The plexi has vent holes throughout the box with fans mounted to assist in airflow (make sure you have at least one fan blowing into the box). However between the fan and the holes on the plexi is a piece of filter (I cut up a furnace filter because it is what I had laying around). Clean out the filters once a month or so and I haven't had any heat issues, however it doesn't usually run all day either.

Good luck.

[PaulMarcel]

A Toshiba Satellite laptop. Have a wall mount for it when I decide to bring it down there. Generally don't get clouds of dust so I've never noticed a problem on the fan filters. Prolly wouldn't be a bad idea for me to hit it with a little light compressed air, either. I want to do what CubsFan said and run a monitor HDMI out to the shop (about a 25' run) and one USB cable to a hub for a shop keyboard and mouse. Thing is, the laptop is so convenient on the mount that I get lazy

If you're concerned about bad air making it into the laptop, buy a muffin fan at an electronics store. It'll have a small filter on one side. Stack some fine filter media on it (the stock filter keeps the media from getting sucked in) and mount the fan to blow on the computer's intake. That way it should take in mostly clean air; kinda acts like a diary door in a walk-in cooler

[rdwsdw1]

I worked in desktop support for 8 years before moving into my current position and the number one thing that caused hardware malfuntions was heat. There are two basic causes to heat buildup in a PC the first being the intake/exhaust ports being obstructed and the other being a buildup of dust inside the case. The dust acts as insulation and prevents the components from disapating heat effectively. You can have all the fans you want running inside a case but if you have a layer of dust eventually those components will overheat and fail. This applies to the PC itself and to the monitor. I have seen on two seperate occassions older tube style monitors actually short out and spark one of which caught fire.

For me the simplest solution is to use a laptop and only use it in the garage when I need to. One idea I had was to build a cabinet to store a pc in. I would use a bathroom vent to draw fresh air through the wall from basement directly into the cabinet. This would ensure fresh, clean air was always circulating around the PC.

[Bobby]

Try the ShopShield Dust Cover for your computer; I took a brochure for something similar at a woodworking show awhile back. I used to have my shop in my apartment bedroom so my computer fan would draw in fine dust that would eventually kill the motherboard. Now that I have a 3-car garage shop I haven't had a computer in there but now I'm thinking of getting one just for the shop.

Bobby

Email me

AWSD

[samhell]

I go into the shop to get away from computers (they are my day job) so my rule is NO computers in there. If I need to look at something I'll print it out. If I HAD to have one it would probably be a toughbook or something from IBM. We go through a LOT of notebooks at work with our primates (eg, sales people) and the IBMs are the only ones that hold up. Note also they are the only notebooks you will see on the space station.

[sdkidaho]

I worked in desktop support for 8 years before moving into my current position and the number one thing that caused hardware malfuntions was heat. There are two basic causes to heat buildup in a PC the first being the intake/exhaust ports being obstructed and the other being a buildup of dust inside the case.

Good information.

Any desktop pc you buy would probably run whatever software you'd be using in your shop so you don't have to spend a ton of money on a computer. A laptop as mentioned is a good idea as you can take it with you and use it elsewhere and keep it out of the shop when not in use, but if you want to leave one there - just cover it with a sheet while not in use, it'll do fine. Once every 3 to 6 months open it up and blow it out with the air compressor to keep all the dust that builds up inside in check.

[PaulMarcel]

Try the ShopShield Dust Cover for your computer; I took a brochure for something similar at a woodworking show awhile back. I used to have my shop in my apartment bedroom so my computer fan would draw in fine dust that would eventually kill the motherboard. Now that I have a 3-car garage shop I haven't had a computer in there but now I'm thinking of getting one just for the shop.

That shop shield looks perfect. I just dropped some conduit to put a remote monitor in the shop instead of leaving my laptop in there. Never had a problem leaving the laptop in there, but his will work out better. I was thinking of filter media for the vents, but this is perfect. Thanks!