An Affordable Air Purifier For Dusty Computer Labs? 610
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?
air purifier (Score:5, Informative)
Re:air purifier (Score:2, Informative)
Re:air purifier should be away from computers (Score:4, Insightful)
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)
1 Old cardboard box
3 scrap box fans
1 "filtree" by 3M furnace filter.
Blend with duct tape and let simmer for 24 hours over lo heat and volia! Big reduction in dust
Best of all clean up was a snap! The whole damn thing cost me less that 5 bucks so I just tosses it when I was done. With a little more work you could build a larger, more permanate version. Not a $500 ionizer (I have a good idea of what is in there and it ain't 500 bucks worth. More like 10-20, but you know market forces good marketing, what have you.)
good air filters, HEPA, allergies, & some myth (Score:5, Informative)
A short description on filters: There is, roughly, how many particles they catch of different sizes and how much air they attempt to filter. (Back to the ionic breeze later) In general, the latter is actually the dominant force in really helping you.
The HEPA standard is irrelevant (and no longer current) in any case where you might be standing in the unfiltered air. It's designed to keep radioisotopes from escaping laboratories. That doesn't mean HEPA filters are bad - but the HEPA standard is tremendous overkill in terms of what's important to you. A small HEPA filter, for instance, might have filtered 99.97% of very small particles out of 10% of the room air in the time another filter would have filtered out 80% of 90% of the air. (Math: about 10% vs. 72%)
That said, traditional furnace filters still suck :) as they barely do any filtering at all. In fact, I have a box of 20x25 for sale at http://www.xig.net/sale/ [xig.net] near Chicago. Filtrete is a wonderful solution that doesn't cost very much - and while the parent post mentioned this, I'm not sure they put enough emphasis on it. I ended up replacing my furnace fairly soon after moving here for other reasons, and I have a Honeywell F50 electronic filter on my furnace. It's not even a very efficient filter compared to HEPA, but it uses the gigantic fan that's on my furnance, so in the end, it's better.
There is a basic difference between electronic and physical media filters that _in general_ means electronic filters work better on smaller particles and media works better on big ones. The ideal solution typically is to put a large media filter in front of the electronic air filter - which is exactly what my F50 does. (There's a washable metal mesh filter) I believe this is the nature of the Ionic Breeze controversy - that it is ineffective on industrial debris in the air, but effective at pulling out allergen-sized particles. (Yes, allergens come in many sizes. But they're all pretty small. And, you're probably not allergic to dust mites, but to dust mite FECES - just in case you weren't sure it was tiny) I certainly think a fan might help it, but in my bedroom, for instance, it probably wouldn't matter because there's a ceiling fan and quite a bit of airflow (partially from ~ 12 case fans so it varies depending on exactly where...) My supposition is that it was designed with some sort of "average" room air circulation in mind.
If your goal involves making it easier for someone to breathe, make sure you catch those pretty small particles - Filtrete at least, electronic ideally. If you have allergies, there are lots of other things that help tremendously - like (now NOT just plastic!) covers on your mattress, hardwood floors, washing bedding in hot water... (Perhaps I'll turn this page into a webpage. Heh. I'm happy to answer questions, though, in the meantime. If I do, it'll appear at http://www.xig.net/allergy
Disclaimers and notes: I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, I don't have an Ionic Breeze (they cost HOW much?), nor have I read the relevant Consumer Reports articles. I do think CR usually does great work, and I purchased my washer, dryer, and dishwasher from their reviews, but anyone can make a mistake. I do have pervasive airborne allergies, and have made a great many modifications to my surroundings to improve them.
Re:air purifier (Score:5, Informative)
I didn't get it at Sharper Image, though, it was on special at Wal-Mart.
Re:air purifier (Score:5, Informative)
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)
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)
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)
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 :)
You obviously don't have one. (Score:3, Informative)
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:4, Informative)
As for the guy who says that Ionic Breeze doesn't work isn't familiar enough with the technology. Electrostatic air filters have been in effect for years with forced air systems. However, with proper design it can charge air/dust particles and accellerate them out the other side. I did something similar as part of my ionic engine science fair experiment in 1982 (I used a 200,000 volt differential and iodine gase as my propellent). Worked quite well.
What nobody is discussing is that these systems generate low to moderate amounts of ozone. While it's great to have in the upper atmosphere, ozone in your breathing air is quite corrosive to your lungs. If you suffer from ashma, I'd go with a filtration unit over an air ionizer.
RD
Re:air purifier (Score:5, Informative)
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)
Re:air purifier (Score:4, Informative)
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.
(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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
Re:air purifier (Score:3, Informative)
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)
T
Re:air purifier (Score:2, Funny)
I have 2 breezes- cleaning frequency might be prob (Score:2)
They do work well though and don't require filters.
How important/Go asbestos filtering/hepa (Score:3, Interesting)
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
Re:How important/Go asbestos filtering/hepa (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:air purifier (Score:2)
Windex (Score:2, Funny)
Sharper Image (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Sharper Image ("Wonderful Reviews"???) (Score:5, Informative)
You might look at air cleaners of the type used in woodworking shops... they'd be a bit louder than the Ionic Breeze (understatement), but they'd actually do something useful for the money spent.
Re:Sharper Image ("Wonderful Reviews"???) (Score:2)
Bzzzt. Try again.
N.
Re:Sharper Image ("Wonderful Reviews"???) (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Sharper Image ("Wonderful Reviews"???) (Score:5, Funny)
if you're gonna use big words at least learn how to spell them.
HEPA filters (Score:4, Informative)
ULPA is the *best* option (Score:3, Interesting)
Common sense helps (Score:5, Informative)
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)
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.
Radioshack has something, and it actually works. (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:Radioshack has something, and it actually works (Score:5, Informative)
Radio Shack vs Sharper Image (Score:5, Informative)
I love my Environizer and recommend it to everyone who wants cleaner air.
Re:Radio Shack vs Sharper Image (Score:2, Insightful)
Fans are NOT GOOD on ionic air cleaners!!! (Score:4, Informative)
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.
Re:Radioshack has something, and it actually works (Score:2)
Seems like this would be an important number.
First Things First (Score:5, Funny)
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.
Re:First Things First (Score:5, Interesting)
And everyone knows that a room full of naked computer geeks is just plain yummy. *cough*
Re:First Things First (Score:3, Insightful)
Similarly look for environmental issues - crumbling concrete floors for example.
Failing that you could just buy fanless PC's in future 8)
Re:First Things First (Score:2, Funny)
I'll bet it's all you. Here's the experiment to find out:
Wrap your self from head to toe in saran wrap. After a month wrapped in saran wrap, if you don't notice a drastic decrease in dust, I'll give you a dollar.
Re:First Things First (Score:2, Funny)
Or even better, wrap Roy Orbison in clingfilm! [fsnet.co.uk]
Re:First Things First (Score:3, Funny)
Who cares about dust? (Score:3, Funny)
Potential solution for many a dust-bunny host (Score:2)
Cats (Score:4, Funny)
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)
Should be about $25 at your local mart, in the spring and summer. Hard to find the fans in the winter.
Re:Cheap DIY (Score:2)
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)
HEPA filter (Score:3, Informative)
have you tried (Score:2)
Re:have you tried (Score:3, Funny)
paper towels (Score:3, Interesting)
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)
Panasonic for room air filters (Score:4, Informative)
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)
.. but HVAC supplies plenty of dust. (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
Sharper Image Ionic Breeze (Score:2)
And its a royal pain to clean.
Electrostatic Air Filtration (Score:5, Informative)
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.
Re:Electrostatic air cleaners are health hazards (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Electrostatic air cleaners are health hazards (Score:3, Informative)
That article talks about air cleaners, not air filters. These are ozone generating machines you'd use if, for example, someone took an explosive dump in your car. It uses very high amounts of ozone to physically removed odors and clean the air in there.
Ionic Breeze's are electro
Bionaire (Score:2, Informative)
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)
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)
Cats (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, can anyone suggest a cheap filter to remove cats?
Re:Cats (Score:5, Funny)
grep -v -w cats ?
sed 's/cats//g' ?
Cats? (Score:2)
A Friedrich C-90A is your best bet (Score:2, Informative)
FIltration (Score:3, Informative)
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)
Re:Air Filtration (Score:3, Funny)
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...
Re: CFCs and Ozone (Score:3, Informative)
My understanding is that the CFCs themselves do not break down ozone.
What happens is that, in the upper atmosphere, sunlight breaks down the CFC, releasing, among other things, chlorine (the first "C" in CFC).
The freed chlorine is what breaks down the ozone.
In your room, the CFC is not going to break down (at least not in any measurable amount), and so will not break down the ozon
Well actually, (Score:5, Funny)
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)
Seek out an expert. (Score:2)
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)
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.
Re:Hope you use breathing masks... (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes, we wear dust masks when outside collecting / grinding samples, and also have a 6 monthly respirable dust check, where we get to wear a minature version of what I've described above (battery air pump , cyclone, filter) around for a day to check on the amount of respirable dust we breathe in. Every 5 years you're required by law to have a chest x-ray to check for silicosis if you still work in the industry.
It's generally only particles below 10 microns that you have to worry about breathing in, as they're the ones that *never* come out again. Particles bigger than 10 micron get removed via mucus and cilia in your nose/airway/lungs without much hassle. Luckily, 10 micron particles and below generally don't stay suspended in the air too long, they drop out pretty quick.
And anyway, we try not to go outside the lab too much. (Ahhhh! the light! It burns, it burns!!)
Re:Hope you use breathing masks... (Score:5, Funny)
Can't you spell the word out? For Pete's sake, it's only 45 letters long:
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconio
Friedrich air purifier (Score:5, Informative)
Here is a link to purchase it: Friedrich C90A [air-condit...merica.com]
Filters, cats and pipes (Score:2)
That's right: filters [catb.org], like cat, are most often used as part of a pipe.
*ducks*
My solution (Score:5, Funny)
Sharper Image Ionic Breeze (Score:2)
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
Air purifiers: Just the facts (Score:2)
air filters / cleaners (Score:4, Informative)
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)
Max
Where is the dust coming from? (Score:3, Insightful)
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)
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)
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)
Re:Slightly off topic (Score:5, Interesting)
But back to the topic, how about building a plywood or MDF box for your computer, with weatherstriping on the door. Size it to take a standard furnace air filter (intake), and put a bathroom ceiling fan in it to blow the hot air out. Shouldn't be too hard to make, shouldn't cost too much, and you'll know when the filter needs changing just by looking at it.
Tip (and this applies to your furnace, too): Spray the filter with Endust. It'll pick up way more dust that way.
Re:Slightly off topic (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Slightly off topic (Score:2)
Definately a nice thing.
N.
Re:Slightly off topic (Score:2)
I've been thinking about doing this for a while, but I'm not sure if it's safe.
Re:Doesn't make economic sense (Score:4, Insightful)
One of the managers at a company ( which is no longer ) that I worked it looked at things like this.
I am an engineer. This is how I see it.
You lose a power supply. No big deal - but in the process of losing the power supply, you corrupt your system. Big deal. This could be very costly to recover from.
Now, even if you were lucky and the system suffered no damage from the failing power supply, you have the time to account for to take the system offline, obtain, and replace the supply. Time is expensive. You are now losing on two paths: You can not use the machine, and you are expending time finding parts and fixing the machine.
Personally, I find it much much more expedient to provide the infrastructure for trouble free operation than to let things fail and try to fix them. Yes, the power supply is cheap. So are engine bearings. But saving money by scrimping on oil changes is hardly a way to "keep companies running smoothly and profitably", rather, as an engineer, I see this the quickest way of running a company into the ground with soaring overhead maintenance costs.
Given my own knowledge of the costs involved and failure statistics, I would opt for prevention, but should the company see fit to make me subordinate to someone who sees fit to override my judgement, I would obey, but find somewhere else to work, for the higher-ups are apparently clueless about the mountain of maintainance costs heading their way - and have no idea how much the management skills they hired is really costing them.
I normally would not be so straighforward, truthful, and harsh in my reply, but you did post AC, so I feel you are fair game.