Keeping the Mac Studio Dust-Free

[HCMarkus]

My Mac Studio sit in a machine closet. Relatively dust-free, the closet also houses the various peripheral storage devices, printer and Wi-Fi router. But The positioning of the Mac Studio's air intake, on the bottom of the computer, combined with the lack of easy access to the Mac's internals, had me thinking... why not filter the air before it gets to the Mac? Appearance isn't an issue, with the computer hidden away in its closet.

So I built this:

IMG_0078.jpeg (2.7 MiB) Viewed 2023 times

Then there's this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/MacStudio/comm ... ac_studio/

Someone on that thread suggests using Aquarium Filters... (maybe you could use your spare Hakan Pop Filter. )

And there is this commercially-available unit:

https://www.amazon.com/Spigen-Designed- ... 8309&psc=1

After my project was done, I was chatting with site moderator James Steele over a burger and showed him the above photo; he suggested that a properly-sized auto air filter might be a great filter element. I love that idea! Who is gonna' try it out?

[James Steele]

Arghhh. I still need to go down to AutoZone with a measuring tape and see how many boxes I can open before they throw me out!!

[James Steele]

It may be complicated in that a lot of car air filters aren’t round today like they used to be. There must be one out there though. Maybe it’s for a boat engine or a tractor or quad runner…

[mikehalloran]

Wouldn’t it be convenient if someone around here used to own an auto parts warehouse? Oh wait, I did between 1986–‘91.

https://www.wixfilters.com/Lookup/FilterBySize.aspx

Any auto parts store can cross-reference 5-digit WIX numbers. NAPA stores probably still carry WIX.

Keep in mind that a Mac will likely suck less air in a year that a car will in 10 minutes of freeway driving. No need to overthink this.

[James Steele]

That's pretty useful, Mike. I haven't taken an exact measurement, but there looks like I may have already found a part number that my local O'Reilly's has in stock. I think it's a pretty nifty idea to set the Mac Studio on top of one of these if the dimensions work and it's stable enough. I get a lot of dust in my studio so might be a good way to keep it clean (or "cleaner') inside than without a filter.

[Michael Canavan]

There's a tradeoff with filters. I would recommend against getting a car filter, for what I guess are not so obvious reasons. A car fan is MASSIVE, and and pulls a lot of air through the tiny filter made for cars. The Mac Studio fan doesn't have nearly that ability, I don't think it's a bad idea to use a filter but I would carve a cheap one up for electric house furnaces up over a car filter. The convention with electric furnaces also is to not use the hypo allergenic super fine filters either (unless you have to for health reasons), it's better to use the cheaper ones and change them more often, because the expensive ones fry the electric motors much faster. With the Studio, you're that much closer to overheating with the reduction in air flow that filters naturally cause.

[James Steele]

That’s a very good point. Not enough vacuum to pull enough air through the filter. Ugh. So much for that idea.

[HCMarkus]

That’s a very good point. Not enough vacuum to pull enough air through the filter. Ugh. So much for that idea.

There's a tradeoff with filters. I would recommend against getting a car filter, for what I guess are not so obvious reasons. A car fan is MASSIVE, and and pulls a lot of air through the tiny filter made for cars. The Mac Studio fan doesn't have nearly that ability, I don't think it's a bad idea to use a filter but I would carve a cheap one up for electric house furnaces up over a car filter. The convention with electric furnaces also is to not use the hypo allergenic super fine filters either (unless you have to for health reasons), it's better to use the cheaper ones and change them more often, because the expensive ones fry the electric motors much faster. With the Studio, you're that much closer to overheating with the reduction in air flow that filters naturally cause.

I've done a bit of thinking about all this Michael. I'd be concerned, too, if the filter area was anywhere close to being as small as the Mac Studio intake area. But, given a larger area for the filter, by an order of magnitude or more, I think those fears are unwarranted. Clearly, the proof is in the pudding. Whatever the filter, monitor temps and fan speed until you are sure things are copasetic. MacsFanControl is a free App that will do the job.

My little filter platform uses UNI 65PPI "Green Fine Foam". I wouldn't want to wrap that foam up against the Mac Studio air intake. But, separated from the intake area enough to allow free air movement, my filter doesn't seem to impact the Mac Studio in the least. Fan speed and temps are unchanged. I'd fully expect a similar result from an auto filter.

By the way, just so we are clear here, then "Auto Filter" James and I discussed would be an old-style, circular air cleaner (designed to sit atop a carb) upon which the Mac would rest. It could be as big as you want if an adaptor plate was fashioned.

[James Steele]

Hmmm. Might even be that the taller it was the more surface area of the filter material so the more likely enough air would pass through? But definitely has to be considered.

[James Steele]

On a different note, I’m tempted to buy some is that foam you got, Markus, and put some on the inside of the front of my office MacPro5,1 cheesegrater. It gets pretty yucky in there.

[HCMarkus]

On a different note, I’m tempted to buy some is that foam you got, Markus, and put some on the inside of the front of my office MacPro5,1 cheesegrater. It gets pretty yucky in there.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ONZT5E?ps ... ct_details

[cuttime]

With the Studio, you're that much closer to overheating with the reduction in air flow that filters naturally cause.

This is what concerns me, too. HCM made some very compelling arguments, but the fan noise problem in the Studio (which, thankfully, I DON'T have) has made me have pause about this. I'd really want to monitor temperature at this point, because I really don't know what thermal tolerances are built into the Studio. I do know that the fan seems to move very little air even under the most demanding circumstances, and I'm reluctant to restrict it. I guess I just have to trust Apple on this. I have a twelve year old iMac that sucked a lot of breath trough it, and vacuuming the intakes seemed to keep it cool to this day. I did open it up to repair the Airport card, and it was fairly dirty inside but the machine never over heated and still runs cool. At this point I think I'll just keep my Studio as clean as possible, vacuuming it occasionally and hitting things with a can of air now and then until someone can convince me otherwise.

[HCMarkus]

I do know that the fan seems to move very little air even under the most demanding circumstances, and I'm reluctant to restrict it.

I hear you, cuttime, but that fan can move a LOT more air if it speeds up... it just doesn't have to speed up, because the Apple SOCs run so gosh darn cool. Not a big deal any way you figure, but I'd think folks who run their Mac Studios in a dusty environment might want to investigate a bit more.

If you look at the Reddit link I provided in the first post, the guy who built the cardboard filter took some pretty careful measurements and came to the conclusion his furnace filter stand restricts airflow about 5%. Larger filter surface area would result in a further reduction in impedance.

Anyway, it was a fun little project; maybe others will take this ball further down the court.

[mikehalloran]

A car fan is MASSIVE, and and pulls a lot of air through the tiny filter made for cars.

That is not at all how it works (ok, a little with a top-fuel dragster with blown in supercharger). The pistons pull the air/fuel mixture in on a carboureted or throttle-body injected motor or the air only with direct fuel injection.

The fan cools the radiator—and only when the car is moving slowly. Otherwise, it disengages so as not to be a power drain. In the old days, it was with a thermostatically controlled fluid coupler. With modern cars, it's on an electric motor and turns off completely when not needed.

Easy to test an air filter for this use: Put your hand behind and blow gently. You should feel air movement—if not, this won't work. Cabin air filters may be more porous—I really don't know—their intake is driven by your heater/AC fan. In any case, the larger the media surface, the less pressure it takes to move any quantity of air.

In a past life, I was a journeyman auto mechanic in between gigs. After I sold my warehouse, I was a manager for Goodyear. I haven't turned a wrench since I got into high tech in the mid 1990s but I remember a thing or two.

[Michael Canavan]

Easy to test an air filter for this use: Put your hand behind and blow gently. You should feel air movement—if not, this won't work. Cabin air filters may be more porous—I really don't know—their intake is driven by your heater/AC fan. In any case, the larger the media surface, the less pressure it takes to move any quantity of air.

To this point, you’re making mine in a way, a fine small filter isn’t going to allow as much air through. IMO a large medium pore filter is probably the best bet but in general you’re putting an obstruction in front of the air flow of a device, whether it’s enough of an obstruction I don’t know.

I do know that the force of a piston creating a vacuum as you point out is a lot more than a computer fan. I just think a filter made for that is an overkill choice that could backfire, home heater furnace fans are cheaper, and come in much more porous varieties.