Anybody have a computer in shop?

[Joe Suelter]

Just curious to see how many have computers set up in their shops. I would like to do so, but am not sure about the dust and crud getting inside. I typically leave my machines on 24/7, just not the monitor. How do you keep dust and debris out, or do you even bother? I have wanted to check something many, many times here at the Creek, but my computer is way upstairs, and I'm just too lazy to walk up there! I have multiple computers and would like to move one down in the shop. Thanks for your input!

[Chuck Wintle]

I would be worried about dust getting into the cdroms's etc. what if sometype of dustproof external enclosure was made and for the keyboard you can buy a flexible plastic overlay to prevent dust from getting in.

[Steve Clardy]

Yes. My one and only is in my shop office. I disconnect the box at least once a month and give it the air hose treatment. Gently though.
The fans suck everything into it and gets to be quite a mess.
Steve

[Joe Suelter]

Steve, do you have yours in a seperate room in your shop? Mine will be right in the thick of things, as I have fairly small shop space. I have a cabinet that is closeable that I could put the tower in, but dust still finds a way in there. I also have an air filter that pulls probably 90% of the airborne dust out, it's the other 10% or so that will create problems.

[Mike Evertsen]

I'm moving an older one out to shop I'm going to build a small office around it to try to keep dust build up,,,,,,

[Steve Roxberg]

I'm moving an older one out to shop I'm going to build a small office around it to try to keep dust build up,,,,,,

Mine is in the shop and actually doesn't have the cover on it. I believe it keeps the components cleaner and cooler, and the dust is very easy to blow out with canned air.

[Don Abele]

Having spent the better part of the last 10 years building and repairing computers (as a hobby), I can tell you that just in a house they can get really dirty inside (especially from soot/smoke). I've yet to come across one with damage from the actual dust/dirt. So having a computer in the shop should not be a big deal. Yes it's going to get dust in it, but that will not physically harm anything. The issue with the dust is heat build-up. The more that's in there, the more heat will not disperse. So just be sure to do periodic cleaning using LOW pressure air. As for the CD drive, if the optics get dust on them, you'll get read errors (same for the floppy and read head). Again, just blow it out. Your hard drive is sealed, so no problems there. Keyboards are pretty hardy and dust isn't going to do anything but make the keys stick. Again, :) , just blow the dust out. The monitor is going to attract dust A LOT. Both on the screen and inside (from static charge). So it'll need more periodic cleaning. Yup, just blow it out :p

Be well,

Doc

[Jim Becker]

I don't currently have a computer "in" the shop, although my wireless LAN will easily reach the shop building if I wanted to take one of the notebooks out there for some reason. When I eventually get the upstairs finished off, I'll have my office up there and several machines to choose from.

Besides, it's quick and easy to check email and so forth when I come in to the house for a "break" every now and then...the office is just down the hall from the "library". :D

[Joe Suelter]

Good info, guys, thanks. I'm mainly concerned with "too" much dust, possibly causing a fire? It's probably not very likely, I'm wondering if I should start shutting that computer down every night once it's moved in there. It is an older machine, so I'm not really worried about it, I just want to be safe. I usually blow my main computer out every couple months, and it really doesn't attract that much dirt, just mainly the power supply...that's what I'm worried about with the other one. I may just be over protective! :eek: What do you think???

[Jason Roehl]

One other concern I was just reminded of---temperature extremes. If your shop is not heated or cooled to a constant temperature, the heating/cooling cycles can loosen components, whether that's expansion cards or memory chips or other non-soldered IC components. I just came home from Thanksgiving to a "Frequency too low error" on my monitor--turned out to be that the video card had worked it's way loose. The house thermostat had been turned down to 55F, must have been just enough to pop it slightly loose.

[Joe Suelter]

Never thought of that, Jason, but my shop is heated/air conditioned.

[John Miliunas]

Mine is in the shop and actually doesn't have the cover on it. I believe it keeps the components cleaner and cooler, and the dust is very easy to blow out with canned air.

Steve, not trying to be contrary, but unless you have some outside influence, such as a fan or something blowing on your open case, I'd lay odds that it's NOT cooler than with the cover on it. I used to do a fair amount of "hot rodding" on PC's and tested all kinds of different fan configurations in conjunction with an internal temp monitoring program. In all instances, I found that even the stock fan layout kept the unit's insides cooler with the hood *on*! I later found out that most OEM's go to some great lengths in designing their cases and component layouts to promote an efficient flow of air past critical components. True, some areas may indeed feel cooler with the hood popped off, but that doesn't necessarily mean the critical pieces are getting the proper flow. Yes, popping the hood on and off to clean is kind of a pain, but I will typically leave the case screws off and just seat the cover in place, making it relatively painless to blow it out from time to time.

Also, as a side note: Do NOT use a vacuum cleaner to get the dust out! Vacuum cleaners have a great tenacity of creating static and that can toast your box in a hurry!

BRW, yes I do have a PC in the shop, as well as a stereo, 5-disc changer, VCR and TV. A light shot of compressed air (with the overhead air cleaner going! :D ) keeps things clean and cool. :cool:

[David LaRue]

You can put a computer in the shop, but based on previous experience with computer diagnostic equipment in auto garage, here is what we did to make them last:

* Used a hall effect keyboard. These are the one that do not have contact switches, but have a switch that activates by moving a field past onther. They sell these key boards at large computer stores, and online for about $15. Old HP Vetras had then standard (no windows key however) Virtually indistructible keyboard. (I can't stand the plastic covers)

* Filtered intake with and exhaust. You need the replaceable filters on the front intake, and rear exhuast on your case. Our were hosed in an enclosure.

* In the past to meet UL / CL requirements they need to be off the ground by something like 18" so water did not get in them. Not sure about that requirement anymore. But it may be necessary if this is a commercial shop.

* A good surge protector / with APC. When your dust collector, or compressor cycles on and off it does nasty things to the power supply & sometimes the HD. So spend $45 and get a 600va unit.

* An optical mouse. No mouse ball to bick up saw dust and other gunk.

Hope this helps.

Dave

[Joe Suelter]

Wow, thanks David. Lots of great info there! I do in fact have a spare optical mouse, I hadn't thought of that! I'm gonna go for it this weekend! I'll do like John said, and just keep the cover on without the screws, that way I can clean her out from time to time. Thank you all very much for the response on this one.

[Don Abele]

An alternative to no screws holding the case on is what I use on all my systems - thumb screws. They are cheap and come right off easily and I don't have to worry about the side falling off accidently.

The best source I have found is cyberguys (http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?T1=161+0195) $1.59 for 6 of them. They also sell them in packs of 50 for $11.95.

Be well,

Doc

[Lynn Kasdorf]

My shop comuter doubles as the Starband satellite ISP machine that serves the house network. It is a pretty poky old machine that I threw togther for next to nothing.

I leave the cover off, and periodically blow it out with compressed air.

The things that suffer are the floppy and cdrom drives.

I've been planning to build a sealed cabinet with good filtration, but it is pretty low on the list...

[Jerry Ingraham]

Having spent the better part of the last 10 years building and repairing computers (as a hobby), I can tell you that just in a house they can get really dirty inside (especially from soot/smoke). I've yet to come across one with damage from the actual dust/dirt. So having a computer in the shop should not be a big deal. Yes it's going to get dust in it, but that will not physically harm anything. The issue with the dust is heat build-up. The more that's in there, the more heat will not disperse. So just be sure to do periodic cleaning using LOW pressure air. As for the CD drive, if the optics get dust on them, you'll get read errors (same for the floppy and read head). Again, just blow it out. Your hard drive is sealed, so no problems there. Keyboards are pretty hardy and dust isn't going to do anything but make the keys stick. Again, :) , just blow the dust out. The monitor is going to attract dust A LOT. Both on the screen and inside (from static charge). So it'll need more periodic cleaning. Yup, just blow it out :p

Be well,

Doc
I've had bad luck with c/d players in my shop which I attributed to dust. Is it a different case with the c/d drive in a computer?

[Don Abele]

A computer CD drive may be a little more protected in that the door keeps a lot of the ambient dust out. Where most audio CD players open up. Bottom line is that both are going to get dust on the optics and when they do, they will skip. As I said earlier, periodically blowing the dust out will keep things running fine.

Be well,

Doc

[Joe Suelter]

Good call, Don. My old computer has those on it from the factory (Compaq). They are super easy to remove! I'll definately leave the cover on though, it can only help! Like I stated before, I'm not too worried about the components, I'll probably neve use the CD drive in that machine, and very seldom ever use the floppy drive. The only thing on this machine that I will ever use is Internet Explorer. Everything else I can run on my other (main) system. I use a program called PC Anywhere, so if I wanted something off CD I could have the CD in my main computer and switch over through PC Anywhere and control that computer via the shop computer. For the computer geeks out there, me included, this is a superb program! It's put out through Symantec (same as Norton I believe). It allows you to be a host for another PC, or remotely control it...lots of cool features! Once again, thank you all very much for your help in making my mind up for me!

[Jim Becker]

Everything else I can run on my other (main) system. I use a program called PC Anywhere, so if I wanted something off CD I could have the CD in my main computer and switch over through PC Anywhere and control that computer via the shop computer.

Joe, just be sure you use all the security avenues available to you with PC Anywhere running, especially if you are using DSL or Cable Modem for Internet access. A hardware firewall at a minimum should be in place in addition to security settings in the appliation or you could find your privacy and security compromised "really, really fast". But I'm sure you know that already and this advise will hang out for those new to the wacky risks of being "connected".

[John Preston]

The guy I buy ww tools from has the coolest keyboard on his service counter. It's about as thick as a mouse pad, and you could roll it up just about like one. the thing is completely waterproof, and he says it bought it off the web for less than 50$.

[Don Abele]

John is this it? $22.95 at cyberguys (http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?T1=138+0360) (no affiliation, just use them a lot).

Be well,

Doc

[John Preston]

John is this it? $22.95 at (no affiliation, just use them a lot).

Be well,

Doc

that's it, his has no number pad, so takes up less space, but it's nice. Might not want to type a book with one, because the keys don't touchtype as well, but after all, it is in a shop.

[jack duren]

i keep mine in the shop. well till the wife made me take it out. it was there for 2 years straight. never had any glitches while there. blew it out about once a month....jack

[John Miliunas]

i keep mine in the shop. well till the wife made me take it out. it was there for 2 years straight. never had any glitches while there. blew it out about once a month....jack

Jack, the question begging to be asked: Why did the wife make you take it out??? :cool:

[jack duren]

Jack, the question begging to be asked: Why did the wife make you take it out??? :cool:

between running a small woodworking shop at night in the garage and trying to keep up with posts and woodworking related emails it was taking almost all my time. she finally put her foot down and made me move it to the guest bedroom. ok its a little inconvient now but im on the computer less.

with having a computer,stereo,refrigerator and a rest room 20ft away it was kinda hard not to stay in the shop. not as nice now theres alot of stairs between the shop and the computer now :mad: :D .....jack