Computer in the shop?

[Barry O'Mahony]

Hi all,
I finally got sick if my slow 500 MHz PIII PC in the home office, and just finished putting together its new replacement (3.0 GHz dual-core PentiumD). So one thing I was thinking of doing was moving the old one out to the shop. I already have a CAT5 wire running between the shop and the office (in fact, my satellite modem is located in the shop), so I could easily acess Visio files and music files stored on the office PC (I usually do plans in Visio). The local Goodwill store always has tons of old-style CRT monitors dirt cheap, that I wouldn't worry too much about getting damaged. I just need to keep too much dust from intruding into the chassis.

Anyone else have a PC in the shop? Pro's / Con's?

[tod evans]

the one i type on is at the shop, flat screen/cordless mouse-n-keyboard,antek case, no problems in a little over 2 yrs...02 tod

[Steve Clardy]

My main one is in my shop office. Gets lots of dust. I just blow it out every 3-4 months.

[John Miliunas]

I've got one in the shop, which gets as much/more use than the ones in the house nowadays! :D Great for keeping up with SMC, emails, etc... CRT monitor, speakers, scanner and even a B&W laser printer. No problems and running the system for over a year now. :) :cool:

[valerie williams]

Barry,
I dont know much about computers other than how to fix em, so not much help from me, but I am assumeing you have either Direcway, starband, or maby wild blue internet? I am sure you know how to do it, but if you have trouble please do not pay someone to fix it, Mike and I have dealerships in d-way and starband, and he is a certified installer. He could help you with any routing or even technical problems you have with it.
Huggs
val

[Mike Zozakiewicz]

I have had an old gateway laptop on my bench for about a year with out any issues, like Steve, I just blow it off/out every few weeks.

Mike

[Tom Andersen]

How do you guys protect your radio/CD player from dust? I use a clear plastic bag but it's a little annoying. Maybe I should just forget about the bag.

[Steve Clardy]

How do you guys protect your radio/CD player from dust? I use a clear plastic bag but it's a little annoying. Maybe I should just forget about the bag.

My radio, 5 cd changer is in the shop bathroom.

I had an old 8-track tape player, radio, that collected shop dust for 30 years, till it died last year.:o :)

[Ed Lang]

My Laser and ShopBot share the same CPU. It gets covered with dust and I just blow it off and keep the power supply fans clear. It is a less than one year old Dell desktop with LCD monitor. Most Shopbot owners just put the CPU next to the CNC machine and let the chips fly.

When I ran a small engine shop I had a computer on the front counter for looking up parts and my point of sale program. One day it didn't boot up and after taking it apart I found a mouse had build a nest on the motherboard! The liquid waste from them had just gotten too much for the motherboard. I had nothing to loose so I took the motherboard out and washed it with simple green and hot water in the sink. Used compressed air to dry it and reinstalled it. It was working when I stopped using it some years later.

Good luck and be safe

[Tyler Howell]

How do you guys protect your radio/CD player from dust? I use a clear plastic bag but it's a little annoying. Maybe I should just forget about the bag.
I don't
Rock on.

[tod evans]

I don't
Rock on.


same here, if the cd starts giving me fits i`ll take the air to it and it lives right above a sander..02 tod

[Don Baer]

Thye computer gets blown out on an infreqent basis. The 6 CD changer, tuner and amplifier are in a cabinate with the door closed. The TV just gets dusted when the screen gets so covered with dust I can't see the picture anymore...;)

[Patrick OBrien]

I have 3 P4's in my Shop. One for Music (recording & Playing), one to run my laser and one as a backup for the laser. I have a Cat5E backbone run between my house and my shop, which gives me access to all my files, regardleass of which workstation I'm on. Given that laser work is probably cleaner than general woodwork, dust is not a problem - but I blow it out regularly with a light compressor. Having access to the Internet is almost mandatory for anyone in the business world these days. One note: make sure you put lightning protection on your CAT5 if it exits your facilities or if the two buildings are not tangent. TWX makes a CAT5 LAN Lightning Protector for about 90.00 each. Be sure to ground them - save you big bucks if you get a lighting strike. Hope this helps.

[Byron Trantham]

I have an old Boom Box with CD player. I just blow it out every once in a while.:D It's been out there for seven years or more. The CD player still keeps in runnin'

[Keith Foster]

Shops wired with CAT5 and there is a PC out there (cable too), just not hooked up yet. It's one of the many projects I have yet to do. :rolleyes:

[Barry O'Mahony]

One note: make sure you put lightning protection on your CAT5 if it exits your facilities or if the two buildings are not tangent. Yup. I have Tripp-Lite CAT5 surge suppressors on both ends of the cable.

BTW, I picked up a fairly recent vintage (2003) Gateway CRT monitor at the Goodwill for $19.99, and a keyboard for $3.99. 'not something I'd want to use every day, but fine for occasional use.

[Don Frambach]

I bought an old Itronix portable computer that was designed for "field" use on ebay two years ago for about $100. I suspect they're even cheaper now. It is shock resistant (not too important for me) but also very water and dust resistant.

Here's a link to a description and photo on the itronix web site:
http://itronix.com/products/notebooks/xc6250pro.asp