How do you fight dust or my failed attempt at trying :)

First off, the reason I am opening this thread so that users can share their tips on dust fighting so feel free to contribute

To start off I wanted to share an anecdote of my latest try to start things up.

Let me start by saying that this was a failed attempt, but we learn from those too aren't we ?

So, after i got my M17x, i was determined to keep the dust away as much as i can.
I was cleaning the surface it is standing on each and every day and keeping it clean from all the sides.
To my amazement after a week of usage i turned the laptop around and saw this:






me no likey!!!
So i went ahead in search of a solution. I searched and gathered every piece of information i could find. Most of it was useless, and then i stumbled upon Computer Dust Filters | DustX Computer Dust Solutions. I was skeptical but decided to try the thing out.
The idea is to stick those air filters on all the places the air comes in to the laptop. Those would be the three areas on the bottom where the fans are.
So that's what i did.





Next, i turned on the computer, fired up Furmark for maybe 30 seconds and compared the results of before and after.

I saw a definite rise in temperatures :

Before


After


I ended up peeling the filters off, and instead stuck them to the buttom of my cryo lx, in hope that it would push filtered air inside.
Today after a months or two, i can see them pretty dirty, so i guess it's kinda working..


So, my try mostly failed but i would be happy to hear tips from the excellent crowd here.

Cheers all!

 

Nice try, Bro.
However, with the current design of the AW systems (perfect for cooling) dust will inevitably get inside.
The only way I can cope with it is by opening the system every few weeks to blast the dust out from the inside.
This is not too healthy for the fragile CF connectors, but I also noticed that if you don't do it regularly, dust gets baked to the bottom of the GPU's and is very difficult to remove later on.
Also, the fans are prone to break sooner with more dust trapped inside (hairs, carpet fluff, etc can easily damage those)
It's a second time in 9 months that I have a fan rattling because of dust.

 

Funnily enough I dont have this issue so much with my m9750, it has those filters (or something very similar) on the bottom cover. I only ever have to remove dust once every 4 months or so and even then there isnt that much in there

 

The best way to get rid of it is a can of compressed air, qtips and some patience. Pop off the keyboard, control cover and unscrew the GPU's (don't have to pull off the crossfire cable, just place the GPU's a bit to the side) and go to work on the fans by first blowing compressed air at an angle so the dust blows off. Then take q tips and begin cleaning. Once the large chunks of dust are off, take a damp qtip and repeat cleansing of the fans. This will take off the residual dust left behind and should give you very clean shiny fans. I've done this a few times in the past so it's become habit.

 

PITA to disassemble all the time. I would only go that far once in a great while. Just spray out the exhaust ports and intake ports regularly and then goto town like joker said maybe once every 6 months.

 

Hey guys, say you wanted to clean the dust out of an M11x but you were afraid to open it up cause you are afraid of breaking something. What do you do then? (While I do know how to take apart computers, I am still pretty new to it and I really don't want to mess around with a 1000 dollar laptop.)

 

Alienware are really sturdy, opening the case wont break anything Just be careful!
Personaly I have a can of air compressor just beside my computer. I try to spray air to blow the dust away every once in a while.. But yeah, I mean, it's not that bad to have dust in the fans

 

that's more or less what i've been doing to mine as well. I am opening it once a month more or less to clean the dust.
I guess i was hoping for some magical dust repellent or something

 

You could try creating a consumer application of this technology: ScienceDirect - Journal of Electrostatics : Particle removal by electrostatic and dielectrophoretic forces for dust control during lunar exploration missions

 

Now you're talking !

 

*Air condition or dehumidify your computer room to normal RH.
*Vacuum vents daily or weekly depending on conditions.
*Clean heat sinks as often as needed.
*Change the air filter on your furnace regularily, and vaccuum room
*Room air cleaner to remove more dust
*Lap top coolers are a great idea but they also force more dust into computer.
*Leave computer in bag until it warms up to room temperature in the winter time if you travel.
*Any moist air in computer will turn dust to a clay like characteristic and bake on heat sinks
*Keep a positive pressure in your computer room. (more supply air than exhuast)


*place register vents in your computer room to capture more dust before it enters the room.

 

Also make sure to change air filters in you AC once a month. Most will last longer but in the long run it will decrease the amount of dust circulating around your house.

 

good tips people, keep em comin'!

 

Unscrew the bottom panel and blow compressed air through the exhaust vent of each fan. Do this every month to ensure that dust doesn't nestle inside the cooling system.

 

Dessicant filter in carry bag to reduce moisture from humidity

 

I have a reusable, electrostatic filter in Air returns for the AC and I clean them monthly. Hardwood floors helps keep the dust down and it forms clumps- dust-bunnies.
Also I noticed this really great material found in my Lian Li case for the desktop. They use it as a dust filter for the case slots and it seems to work pretty well at keeping the big dust bunny material at bay.
At least it doesn't impede air flow like the above filters you tried. However being that it is plastic and allows air to flow, it won't prevent all the dust from entering. More like a large particle dust deterent.
Will take a quick pic of the material if you are interested.

 

Sure, I'd like to see it.

 

i like the dust on my system .... it gives it some character lmao. j/k

 

The stuff is hard to take a pic of. It feels like plastic screen for a window, but the holes are much much smaller.

It is coupled with the plastic slot covers that look a lot like the design on the bottom of the AW. Now if I only knew where to get some of it.

 

I am experiencing a lot of problems with dust recently, what I want to start doing is using normal home furnace filters cut them out to make my own filters of any sort.

 

Wattos has a video tutorial on Youtube on how to clean the M15x.

Here you go :-

YouTube - Cleaning the Alienware M15x

 

Hi, just got a concern and was wondering how people deal with it.

I've recently moved to a new address at university and my room tends to get quite dusty. Not sure why, when I was at my previous address it wasn't a problem. Anyway I started up my M15X the other day and the fans wouldn't turn off. I looked underneath and the vents were full of dust as were the fans. I now have to clean it very often to stop the dust building up. Just wondering if anyone else has the same problem and any ideas of how to prevent it.

Thanks for looking.

 

I don't think there is really an effective to prevent dust from entering your computer except wiping down the room itself.

 

I guess you could cover you laptop with cloth or something whenever not in use.

 

preventing dust from getting in our systems
is about as hard as prefending smoke rings from covering our whalls and pictures if you hvae a smoker in the house
it just cant be doen

i get alot of dust build up also

i just take a can of compresed air remove thebottom panel of the system every few weeks and spray it out hit the hands and evyering
works preatty good for me

 

Yeh I figured that may be the best way. I guess I'll invest in some compressed air and just clean it when needs be. Thanks for the help.

 

You guys go through wayyyy to much work, my way is much simpler. I just buy a new laptop every year and sell the old one on EBay, similar as I do for my car when it get's dirty

Actually I just powered down my M17x and turned it over and examined the fans/vents. No sign of dust or dirt. I have had this black beauty since July 2009 and have periodically used canned air to clean it and that is all. I also have it on a cooling pad with dual fans. I do believe that what has kept it relatively dust free is that I unplug it every night and put it into it's cloth sleeve. Does that make sense?

 

Even though I put mine in a cloth sleeve and then in its cave (aw orion bp) when not in use it still builds up some amount of dust, I think the best method is to clean it once a month. Meaning full dissasembly and spraying down each part with compressed air. I've had mine since the date in my sig and my beast is spotless, If I were to sell it right now the new owner would believe it is b new. I look at my beast as an investment, I don't know about ya'll but I plan to take care of mine in case I do want to make my money back lol.

 

You sound like you will take good care of your M17x. I have had mine a year longer than yours and when I turned it over I had fully planned on taking the bottom cover off to clean it but when I beheld how pristine it still looks, I realized there is no need. I would be more concerned that more problems would occur from me messing around with it's innards

 

Yea, I try to take care of my things as best I can especially this expensive beast. Occasionally I notice the dust build up on the underside and when I do I just run a damp q-tip over the grills to get that dust up and then proceed to spray it however I found the best method is to just take it apart and clean it thoroughly. + you get more experience by taking it apart yourself and begin to actually know what you just invested in. Honestly, just my 2 cents.

 

every 2 weeks or so i turn my beast over and give it a good suck with the vacuum cleaner.I used to give it a blow job with air compresser at work.
But the dust would end up somewhere inside the PC!!

Sucking is better than blowing,i think.

 

In my case, I've not had much of a dust problem with my m11x. Maybe it's due to the fact that it's such a compact design and I port it around various places such as the library, my girlfriend's, home, etc. I opened up the hard drive access panel last night to do an upgrade and I didn't have much to clean out. I think the dirtiest area is usually the 335m card's fan. I usually just spray that out with canned air.

 

After use, I normally put my laptop in the alienware cover supplied, helps a bit I hope

 

Me too, it does help! no dust issue with my m11x
Different story with the m17x tho, but I can't balme dust when I didn't even had time to clean the appartment for a while... anyway, I'm used to vaccum dust once and a while from the vents...