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PCs For A Workshop Environment?
bryanporter writes "I'm a geek-turned-homeowner, and am in the processing of setting up my workshop for doing odds and ends around the house. I want to install a cheap, decent PC out there for looking up building plans, shopping for tools while I'm on a job, etc. The shop is going to be in a wooden outbuilding with a shingled roof but the building won't be heated or cooled (although I don't plan on using it much in the summer)." Read on for a bit more on what he's looking for -- what would you suggest for computing in a hostile environment on a non-industrial budget?
"I plan on doing things like sawing wood for shelves in here so dust will also be prevalent. Can any of you Slashdotters recommend components for building a machine resilient to cold weather and lots of dust? I was a PC upgrade/repair technician in a former life, so building my own machines is not daunting in the slightest (I've built all my own home machines). The ruggedized machines I've found online are all too pricey, and all seem more designed for avoiding shock damage than environmental dust and cold."
How about building a small dust-proof closet for the computer and video-out display wirelessly? And add a glass-shielded desk (you see those in some retail shops/banks) where your LCD will be lying on its back facing up, covered by a layer of glass. Wireless keyboard and mouse can be regularly cleaned/dusted off or even replaced.
:)
Failing that, maybe build some sort of a curtainized shed, so you work on the computer inside, like those scientists in the contaminated zone
While most people put the roof back on their convertibles when it's raining, some take out the umbrellas.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
Just buy a cheap PC... You would be surprised at the hostile enviroments a PC will live in...
Most important feature of the PC - filters for the intake fans. Keeping the dust and grime out will go along way making a PC in the shop or garage last a long time...
Check out Outdoor Computer Cases
We used to make plexiglass cases for use in the mining industry. Basically just a bit bigger than the system unit, Grommeted cable holes, and shrouded, filtered fans in the plexiglass case giving positive pressure to combat dust ingress.
Previous posts made the point of sealing up the computer and monitor... all fine and good. Be sure to get a keyboard that's sealed, and an optical mouse, or a touchpad. There are "roll-up" keyboards that have no exposed moving parts. Also, if you can enclose the computer & monitor in a housing that has a "positive pressure", you'll avoid a lot of the trouble dust. Try to find a way to blow clean air into the enclosure so that no dust can get sucked into the cabinet.
I'm in connecticut on my back deck it's cover but has no sides it's 34 degrees Im using a Power Mac G4 400 Mhz and a dell 15 inch crt I have woke up in the3 morning with snow on my key board I never shut it off just let it sleep It's running like a charm get a mac
http://Lenny.com
Run a Cat5 and get yourself a Win or X or VNC terminal. Fanless, really rugged. Not too expensive to get a older model ( or used off ebay ).
Keep the 'real' hardware back in the house where it can be protected...
You can also get sealed keyboards for pretty cheap these days.
LCD screens deal better with bad environments then CRT as they run cooler, but they aren't what you would consider cheap.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
You could carry a laptop to your outbuilding as needed -- bring it in when it's cold -- and something like an Apple iBook (with its cover closed) is relatively durable impact-wise; I've seen them survive after being dropped.
That sounds a little over budget to me.
I was thinking getting a cheap p2-p3 system, whatever you can find lying around. Sometimes you can find them in the trash. just stick some of these babies on them (fan filters: http://www.directron.com/fangrill80bb.html) where ever there is holes in the case.
Get a cheap ass optical mouse. Try to find one that has an completely enclosed optical device. If it doesn't no big deal, you can find them for $3-4 at pricewatch.com.
Get a keyboard leaflet, this is a must. http://www.kador.com/leaflet1.htm
you can get one here for free, if you don't mind being "creative"
Finally a can of compressed air from your local office supply and your set.
"...a wooden outbuilding with a shingled roof but the building won't be heated or cooled..."
It will be if you use an overclocked Duron or Prescott...
Windows has detected an undetectable error.
This post is so completely inaccurate, I don't know where to start. I can't believe it was modded "Informative"... oh wait, yes I can. I'll tackle a few points....
"Building a computer resilient to cold weather should not be a problem in the slightest. In fact, many computers would run effectively much much better in a cold climate. A big factor in the overall heat that the CPU gives off has to do with the ambient temperature"
The CPU will work fine in the cold, but you're missing the point. The things that will be most affected by the cold are moving parts... fans, and hard drives in particular. When it's really cold, those hard drives might not spin too well. There's also the moisture issue which is going to have bad short term (possible shorts) and long term (corrosion) effects on everything.
"If you buy slightly new hardware, chances are they are going to give off an immense amount of heat...which is a problem facing microprocessor makers in general, the rising heat problems. Trust me, a Pentium 4 or AMD64 would love a cold climate."
The AMD64s are renowed for their low heat dissipation. They run at an even lower voltage (and often at a lower clockspeed!) than AMD's previous CPU generation, the AthlonXPs. They also have laptop-like ability to throttle their clockspeed when the CPU is idle, reducing heat output even further.
"the only thing that the cold will aversely affect is the initial bootup of the machine. Like a car, a computer requires the most energy in the first moments of startup. If you are booting up a computer in a cold environment (a cold cold boot hehe), you may have some problems"
No, you're totally wrong. A computer does have an initial spike in power draw during bootup (because it's spinning up the drives and fans) but this is less than the power it draws under full load (100% CPU and video usage - ie, gaming).
And the car battery analogy is totally inappropriate. A car battery can have problems cranking out power in the cold because the chemical reactions in the battery that produce electricity happen more slowly in the cold. That's absolutely not what happens in a computer, where the power supply is simply transforming power from AC to DC. Get it? It's not producing power; it's taking it from the outlet in the wall, transforming it, and sending it to the motherboard and other peripherals. The effect of cold temperatures on the PSU is minimal, if anything.
There's nothing wrong with not knowing something. The problem is not knowing that you don't know something. I don't know Python or Perl, but that's okay... I don't try and hand out advice on those topics.
"Although the computer will run fantastic (i wish my room was freezing cold!) in a cold climate"
Let me guess: you're an "avid" overclocker. That tells me a lot. I'm surprised you don't have your system specs listed in your sig.
OtakuBooty.com: Smart, funny, sexy nerds.
First of all: Do not run cat-5 between buildings. Unless you have the ability to figure out and prevent ground loops, you are asking for trouble. Use either fiber or wireless. (or 10base5, if you can find it anymore, but shipping from eBay is likely to be more than other solutions)
Next, put the computer off your clean room. Cutting wood implies that you will be putting a finish on it latter, and finish should always be applied in a separate room that is well filtered and ventilated. (and heated!) Now you don't want your computer in the fumes from some finishes (you never know what will eat plastic), but you otherwise want exactly the same environment for both.
If you want to use the computer in the main shop, start with a wide format printer so you can print your instructions off. (this can be in the house) Then consider a projector, through a window from the clean room to a wall elsewhere. Requires some forethought of how to place things so it will work, but otherwise useful. If not that, run an LCD through a wall. Use the cheapest keyboard you can find in the shop so you don't care when it goes.
Last, search rec.woodworking. (google groups used to be good for this) This subject has been brought up many times.
Actually, the typical computer enclosure is a negative pressure environment with the fans creating a relative vacuum inside the case. Putting nylons (or any other kind of filter) on the fan does nothing except collect whatever dirt and debris made it past the motherboard and other components in the system. Industrial enclosures are usually positive pressure designs, with the fans blowing inward (so that filtering the fan keeps contaminants out) and furthermore because the case is under pressure it keeps dust from coming in any small holes. If you're going to filter a regular computer case, you will need to seal the case completely except for an intake vent, which would have the filter.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Mainly due to their low price (can be had for about 400$), and their much smoother exteriors (less cracks for dust to find its way into).
Grab yourself a shuttle or jetway, if you dont need a cd-rom/floppy you can leave the sealing front plates on them, having only the rear fan's outake as an open oriface, and pushing your price down to nearly 300$ (www.zipzoomfly.com).
after that your pretty much home free, every few months you can slide the cover back (three thumb-screws or less) and give the interior a quick air-dusting...
Since the size is small, it can be safely tucked away somewhere more secure than a full fledged tower might go, and can be kept all the more less exposed to dust and other harmfull airborne materials.
Heat is rarely a problem with all but the oldest and newest models, so as long as you keep the arc weilder away from the power cables you should be fine!!
Invest in a wireless keyboard/mouse, and youve reduced your clutter/liabilities that much more.
--Idiots, Every single one of YOU, A flaming mass of conglomerated morons, hey wait a second, isnt that how RAID works?