High sulphur area.

[kol12]

I live in a high sulphur area. When fresh air is let into the room my computer is in it most definitely contains it. As a consequence this is the air my system intakes which cannot be good as sulphur is highly damaging.

Is anyone else in a similar situation and come up with any ideas on how to combat it?
Could a air purifier be a possibility?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The problem is the comparatively high concentration of natural pollutants and the largish volumes of air involved, combined with the lack of air seal to the case. The filter material is exhausted quickly and needs to be changed very frequently. Activated carbon can be regenerated by the user, but it is also a time-consuming process to do right.

If you are semi- serious, a custom cooling loop with external radiators and a sealed case might be the easiest solution.

 

[kol12]

Could purifying the air naturally be an option? So a sealed case with a custom cooling loop doesn't require intake and exhaust fans? I'm currently using a H80i GT cooler..

 

[DonkeyOatie]

No. Fans move air over your components to cool them. With what I suggest, you would have a custom loop with blocks for the CPU and the GPU and all that cooling would be handled externally. The radiators are going to take a beating, but they can be cleaned and they are not especially fragile. The last remaining problem is the PSU. It needs air cooling, but it is also soldered together and so is less likely to fail and it is generally cheaper and easier to replace, if necessary. You will still need to be creative to get an air path to the PSU without letting to much into your case.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Just move. It's easier. JK.

 

[kol12]

Actually I want to and am trying.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Volcanos and geothermally active areas are nice to visit, but don't make for great places to put roots down. BUT, I was just messin' with you when I said that.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

@Darkbreeze I'm from Auckland in New Zealand. Google Earth the place. Over a million people, so no so large, but dozens of volcanoes. Almost all the major features in the city are volcanoes, Mt Eden, One Tree Hill, Mt Victoria, and the centerpiece of the harbor, Rangitoto. It erupted from the sea bed, less than 1000 years ago.

One of the nicknames for New Zealand is 'The Shakey Isles' Like Japan, and for pretty much the same reasons, nowhere is far or safe from geothermal, volcanic, or earthquake activity. We live with it and to a certain extent embrace it. New Zealand has a reputation for embracing extreme and innovative 'sports', like ski races down the flank of an active volcano, even more fun when it's erupting.

 

[kol12]

But isn't Rotorua about the worst for sulphur levels?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

But isn't Rotorua about the worst for sulphur levels?

Yes, because things are trapped by the crater/basin that you live in, plus all the stuff coming out of the ground around the lake and out at Whaka and other places. electronic devices would prefer to live elsewhere, but it is not totally horrible either, after all tele still works and so does all the electronic gubbins in a modern car.

 

[kol12]

I believe Rotorua is a crater of a volcano correct? and has thin earth crust in areas?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Multiple craters, yes. You live in a caldera that erupted about a quarter of a million years ago and built up the Mamaku Ranges. Mokoia island is in the middle of the lake, but the caldera also includes the town. The last eruption was about 20,000 years ago. And then there was Tarawera. My Grandfather remembered that one.

Amongst other things, I teach Geology/Earth Science.

 

[kol12]

Have you actually experienced any sulphur damage to computers while you were in Rotorua? My old system which I have just recently replaced I've had for seven years and it still functions as normal as far as I can tell. What sort of symtoms could you expect?

We have had mostly a lot of trouble with musical instruments and amplifiers which we suspect is sulphur related.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I knew there was something wrong with New Zealanders. Living in the middle of a Caldera? Are you nuts? I like to visit Yellowstone, but I wouldn't want to live there. Then again, I suppose if a Caldera of that size were to ever release a super-eruption, it wouldn't really matter where you are. Instantly, or later on, we're pretty much all goners anyhow. It's either instant and painless or slow and painfully die of the poisonous atmosphere following an eruption of that magnitude. Still, even for a limited eruption, local mortality rates would be phenomenal. I guess that's the risk you take to live in a region like that with it's own benefits though. Still, I don't think that for myself I could suffer the sulfur for long. I like visiting some of the hot springs we have in Colorado but in small doses. The sulfur just gets to me too much after a while.


By the way, no disrespect meant to New Zealanders. To my limited experience with NZ you mostly seem like a friendly lot which is more than can be said for a lot of people stateside.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Back in the 70's there were problems with corrosion in connectors and between cards and motherboards at the slots. If it has worked for seven years, things are a lot better now then.

@Darkbreeze we have a friendly reputation, we like visitors at home, and we tend to be mostly polite travelers, and most Kiwis travel at some point in their lives.

Two of our most important tourist towns, Rotorua, and Taupo are in calderas. The largest volcanic eruption on earth in the last 5,000 or so years was the Taupo Caldera, in about 200AD/CE

 

[Darkbreeze]

Nope, not visiting. Knowing my luck, the minute I got off the plane the damn thing would erupt. Anyhow, this is all off topic in any case, kind of. Good luck with the search for protection and hopefully it doesn't become an issue. Since most graphics cards and hard drives have a life expectancy of 3-5 years, according to most manufacturers, a 7 year run would seem perfectly acceptable to my way of thinking regardless of the component. Longer is of course better, but at least that would indicate it wasn't a premature failure.