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Thread: Dust protection solution required

  1. #1
    Member Sickboy's Avatar
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    Dust protection solution required

    A client of ours wishes a workstation installed in a factory environment. The atmosphere is moderately dusty but the dust is carbon-based and electrically conductive. Are there any off-the-peg cabinets designed for a midi tower case in this situation?
    TIA

  2. #2
    Extreme Member! BipolarBill's Avatar
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    I would imagine not. That is a special purpose application. I would the regional Intel/AMD vendor for some ideas.
    MS MCP, MCSE

  3. #3
    Senior Member thxmanu's Avatar
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    I knew a person that installed furnace filters on the systems intake ports. Pretty simple but I don't know if it will help you.

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    Mod w/ an attitude Sterling_Aug's Avatar
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    The best solution that I know of would be to pressurize the case with clean, oil-free air to prevent the dust from entering the case. A positive pressure inside would blow out thru any crack/holes/openings. It won't be easy.

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    Any chance of putting together a cooling solution that doesn't require fans... or at least doesn't draw air into the system?

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    Mod w/ an attitude Sterling_Aug's Avatar
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    Water cooling using an external radiator.

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    Extreme Member! BipolarBill's Avatar
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    MS MCP, MCSE

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    Ultimate Member Rocketmech's Avatar
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    dust is carbon-based
    I'm not sure what you mean by carbon-based , but it sounds explosive. If thats the case then your going to need an explosion proof cabinet , possibly N2 charged . Every industry has engineering guidelines for explosion proof requirements , which usually follow OSHA standards , not to mention the companies insurance carrier requirements. If they already have motor running equiptment in the area the pc is needed, then the same type of requirements would be inplace , something like NEMA type 4 or 12 .
    Since I work in an explosive enviroment , I see these types of containments all the time. PC's are always inside a sealed pressurized building or shed using HVAC since personal will need access, other electronic controls are sealed and purged with N2 .

  9. #9
    Ultimate Member Rocketmech's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BipolarBill

    Being the grease monkey I am ... that is the coolest mod I ever did see .

    and can 2nd as a oil filled heater , not that I need one

  10. #10
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    You're going to want to look at some industrial style enclosures. You can't source those from normal venders because the market is too small and specialized.

    It would be easy to set up something fairly well sealed and using a Zalman Resorator 1 (SysOpt reviewed it) cooler, but the power supply would also overheat. And most "passive" power supplies also use at least some internal convective cooling, leaving holes for dust to get in.

  11. #11
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    This is a tricky one. I do a little work for my mechanic from time to time and the situations are similiar (rotor resurfacing machien is ~10 paces from one of this PC's). My advice to him was to keep the office doors close as often as possible and to replace his furnace filters often (a seperate forced-air furnace heats the office space).

  12. #12
    Member Stupidav's Avatar
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    What worked for me in a very simular situation, was to put the PC in a Clean enviorment and use a seled KVM Extender.

  13. #13
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    Something along the lines of this:

    http://www.industrial-computer-enclosure.co.uk/

  14. #14
    Member Sickboy's Avatar
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    Thanks for all the advice gentlemen, particularly Bill and causticVapor. I'll investigate both routes.

  15. #15
    Member Sickboy's Avatar
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    Stupidav
    How long was your KVM extender? We need somewhere in the region of 20m.

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