Organizations depend on their electronics to help them deliver quality products to their customers. Those electronics can’t do their jobs, though, if they’re coated and clogged with dust, grease and who knows what other airborne particulates. Enclosures can protect the equipment, but the electronics still need air flow to operate. That’s where a filtration system comes in.
A quality filtration system can safeguard electronics from particulate intrusion while still providing air flow to keep the components cool and running smooth.
Let’s take a look at the different hazards the filtration system can guard against, as well as how they work and which filters are best.
Hazards a Filtration System Protects Against
Environmental Hazards
It doesn’t matter where an organization places their electronics–the equipment will encounter hazards that could damage it.
Yes, that means even in the middle of the office that gets cleaned every day. There are still a number of airborne particulates floating around that are able to get into the system, coat its internal works and eventually gum it up. Here are just a few examples of the dangers floating and splashing around a facility:
- Machine shop – Metal dust, metal shavings, smoke, oil mist
- Concrete plant & mining – Sand & gravel particulates, dust, fly ash
- Paper & corrugated product manufacturing – Fibers, adhesive aerosol
- Bakery & confectionary – Flour, sugar, yeast, baking powder, dehydrated milk whey
- Agriculture – Hair, feathers, feedstuff, mineral, chemical & fertilizer dust
- Food & beverage processing – Chlorine from water reclamation, ingredient dust
- Sawmill, lumber yard & furniture manufacturing – Sawdust, wood chips, dirt, chemical treatment
- Textile manufacturing – Fibers, dust
And that’s just a few examples. There are countless other hazards throughout the office, production floor, warehouse and facility in general.
How Filters Work
Many enclosures, including almost all DustShield products, feature a fan-driven forced air system to create a positive pressure system. The fan brings air into the enclosure through the filter.
The filter traps the airborne particulates on the outside so only clean air and the absolute smallest of particulates (if the filter is good–more on that below) can get into the cabinet. The air can flow freely around the electronics, allowing it to “breathe” without sucking in damaging particulates. As the fan draws in more air, it forces the internal air out via the exhaust, cable and/or printer paper ports/openings.
An organization can’t just set up an enclosure and forget it, though. The filters need to be clean to allow clean air into the cabinet. This means the organization needs to replace the filters at regular intervals–which will vary by the organization and the environment. For some, changing the filter every other month would suffice. For others, the filter will need to be changed monthly to ensure it remains effective.
Which Filters Work
Not all filters are created equal. At DustShield, we outfit our filtration systems with heavy-duty filters that block out 98% of all airborne contaminants that are as small as .1 micron. For reference, quality surgical masks are effective to .3 microns–particulates that are 3x as large as what the DustShield filters will block. In addition, these filters are six times more effective than permanent, washable electrostatic filters.
For organizations where smoke and other vapors are an issue, there are special filters available that work like a sponge and capture those contaminates as well.
Every DustShield enclosure features a filtration system to keep out particulates and extend the life of your machines. We offer replacement filters to assure organizations they’re getting the correct filters for their systems, rather than off-brand products that won’t fit right or won’t block enough particulates.
Contact an enclosure specialist at 417.736.3746 or sales1@amprod.us to learn about our solutions and how they can extend your hardware’s life.
