iMac + air purifier = ?

[Morrius]

I have a small, tabletop air purifier in my apartment. I find that it helps cut down on my allergies and reduces the amount of dust around. The machine pulls air in through the front into its filter, and then blows it out the side.

Now, I've lost a computer or two to dust in the past. The heat sink fan on top of the processor got clogged and failed, and it overheated so much that it started shutting down spontaneously. So, what would happen if I put a computer and an air purifier together? Not literally, mind you. If I take, let's say an iMac, and then put the air purifier next to it so that the clean air output blows across the vents in the back of the computer, would this produce a tangible benefit?

 

[Mister Bumbo]

In the long run - Sure, cleaner air always results in less crap in your computer. But I wouldn't see it as a substitute for not vacuuming the vents every now and then.

Does it only use filters/HEPA?

I know some air purifiers have ionisers in them, and I'm not sure if that could complicate matters to pretty much aim ionised air at the computer air intake, as the ionisers change the charge of the air particles. It could be that if this is the case that the "changed charge" of the particles actually make them stick to the computer's innards even more. (As the ionizers are designed to attract particles to special plates or whatever by changing the charge of them.)

So if it does have an ioniser I'd check that up and see what I could find, perhaps find someone with experiences in said matter. If it's just a filter cleaner I say why not - would surely help.

 

[Morrius]

Thanks. And no, this one that I have does not contain an ionizer.

 

[ivoruest]

It will definitely help. I have an AC unit in my room and the room gets a lot less dusty nowadays. But still, sometime you will have to vacuum your system.

 

[harcosparky]

Of course it will help, even more so if you direct the cleansed air across the inlet vents on the bottom.

I have three large tropical birds ( parrots ) and they create a ton of dust.

I built my own " laminar flow hood " above my desk.

it is a series of fans pushing air through filters then down over the work surface.

This insures clean air around the electronics.

Does it work? Most definitely, after a day or two a table in the same room will get a light film of dust, yet the table with the overhead filtration and air flow gets nothing.