Antec 1200 Filter project

[BraveSoul]

Hi all, im sure everyone faced a dust crises at one point or the other. Well, i probably got the dustiest room in the house, and computer being on most of the time always thought of putting its 120mm fans into good use besides cooling inner components. Antec 1200 got good airflow but the filtets that came with it were only good at catching bigger dust particles, so they had to go and in was a thicker home AC type of filter thats easy to find at ur local homedepot.
First filter mod was simple, replacing the original filters with a thin, charcoal filter which was easy to cut into preferred shape and insert into original filter's slots, but cleaning them was not, plus it didn't let through as much air as with original case filters.
Second mod i used a thicker non charcoal filter(green) which did a decent job and was easy to clean, but smaller dust particles were still getting through.
Third and hopefully the most useful mod Goal: increase/maintain air flow, and trap more dust by using both filters and increasing filter intake area
here r the filters

second mod, looked good but filters were too close to the fans, smaller dust was still coming through

3 120mm fans move plenty of air

charcoal filter, there is some space between the filter and fans thus increasing the air intake area of the filter to its full dimensions instead of just the round 120mm diameter of fan blades.

second filter, doesn't look pretty but looks are not important since the case is facing a sofa

lights off

airflow is actually better then in previous 2 mods thx afcors to 3x120mm 1x135mm(PSU) and 1x200mm fans exhausting and 3x120mm fans intaking air, but largely because of the increased filter air intake area which did increase because of the additional space between filter and fans

[Nailezs]

i know exactly what you mean with dust getting into your case and all - i got 2 cats, and they get dust and fur all over the place. but dude with those think filters you are going to absouletly kill you're airflow and cooling efficiency!!
i keep a hepa air filter unit thingy going on high by my computer 24/7. seems to help

[CDdude55]

Looks good, nice solution to a common problem.

Dust can be a very annoying thing, my case has no fan filters and i have 4 120mm fans running, so you can imagine the balls of dust i find when i finally gets to cleaning it.

[BraveSoul]

just found this nasty pic online
have that on ur face and it will get pretty hard to breath

[douglatins]

Originally Posted by BraveSoul

just found this nasty pic online
have that on ur face and it will get pretty hard to breath
http://images.techtree.com/ttimages/...05281_dust.jpg

Thats a Delta, so i think it came from a dell server, maybe running for years without cleaning

And dude i can only imagine if you got the non filtered HAF instead LOL

IMHO 1200 filters are good enough, small dust particles arent much of a problem since they don't hold much humidity hence they dont stick, so i nice can of air of brush gets the job done.

[wolf]

I use an Antec 1200 as my file server, she runs a P45 mobo, a Q6600 and 8 hard drives totaling 6tb, I've actually removed all of the stock filters from the front of the case, and set all the fans to their lowest possible speed as I like my server being almost dead silent.

The way I combat dust, which does build up rather quickly, is every 1-2 months I shut her down and take my PC down the road to the local service station/fuel garage, and use the tyre pump to blast the entire case inside and out, which removes practically all dust, especially if you take a brush of some kind (anything with bristles) to help the job.

Anyway that's what I do instead of relying on filters and restricting airflow, but I like your mod, great job

[BraveSoul]

thank you, thats a good method u using , agree with restricted airflow, but the amount that gets in is plenty....
just redid the green filter with a bigget piece and tucked it in, also blocked 4 holes on the bottom of the case (at each end of sidepanels),,, sucking in a bit more air now, but still ugly haha

[_33]

How discrete...

[RejZoR]

That's really an overkill and even though you stop the dust you also kill nearly ALL the air flow.
Unless you're running Delta's at 5000 RPM...

Best compromise are casual grid filters that allow good airflow and moderate dust protection.
Finest dust will still manage past, but it will take a while for it to clutter your case. And that's good.
While still have decent airflow.

[MK4512]

Hmm... Interesting, I didn't know people needed that much (anti) dust coverage, I just hit my PC with the leafblower every few months!

Very well done, though I think you might want to get rid of the outside foam...

[BraveSoul]

a little change here and there
exhausting side panel fan is going inside another case and in comes one of the rear fans to intake air, with filtered, the now open rear slot is blocked.


Result: increased intake, and reduced exhaust hopefully making a more balanced push and pull setup
intake fans:__4x120mm vs 3x120mm before
exhaust fans: 1x120mm vs 2x120mm before, 1x200mm(top), 135mm(PSU), and 5850 video card
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Antec1200 filter project

[douglatins]

It would take some 252CFM deltas so suck some air from that blanket

[BraveSoul]

Originally Posted by douglatins

It would take some 252CFM deltas so suck some air from that blanket

nice , i think it will suck the "blanket" in
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Antec1200 filter project

[BraveSoul]

guess what, green color and puffy look got boring , so a new idea was brewing for a while, to use a house filter, likes ones at home-depot. This filter was actually much easier to tuck in than the green one, only pain was cutting off the top, and carefully tearing the filter out of its carton frame. The benefits: This filter should let more air through, because its folded like a harmonica, so it packs more area of air intake vs green filter. Plus, there is about half an inch between filter and fans, hopefully that helps too. And afcors, it looks better, just dont mind the unevenness and choppy edges :0)


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[ERazer]

just curious hows the air flow? any restriction?

[BraveSoul]

year has past and filter is not white anymore, duh more like grey,
was thinking of same filter but in black color which would make dust more visible so i can vacuum it when it looks clogged
would greately appreciate opinions and different ideas like using a mesh? plastic filters? fiber cotton? a t-shirt? anyone had any experience in filtering something?

Originally Posted by ERazer

just curious hows the air flow? any restriction?

air flow is better vs previous filter, restriction is not going away anytime soon, but there is less of it with this type of filter and perhaps if i extend the filter forward it will be reduced even more