Should I filter the fan air going into iMac?

[mindquest]

I'm concerned about this, too, as I have a 2014 5K iMac, and...back in 2014 the average fan speed was ~900-1100 rpm, but today it's ~2900 rpm. I've seen pictures of disassembled iMacs showing the fan and other cooling components coated with thick dust and debris, so suspect the problem is real.

Is the air flow specifically from the bottom vents through the fan then out the back vent--or does air come in all vents? If the back vent is an outie...seems it wouldn't do much good to clean it to keep the inside clean.

Perhaps a thin strip of A/C vent foam filter across the bottom vents, cleaned weekly/monthly, not a bad thought?

Airflow comes in from the bottom then out the back exhaust vent. There is a thread (can't find it yet) that shows someone who put filter material in the bottom vents and cleans or replaces them regularly.

I have read so many pros and cons on this. If you are holding it for the long term it might be worth thinking about.

 

[Gmouse]

Airflow comes in from the bottom then out the back exhaust vent. There is a thread (can't find it yet) that shows someone who put filter material in the bottom vents and cleans or replaces them regularly.

I have read so many pros and cons on this. If you are holding it for the long term it might be worth thinking about.

Thanks, thought so. I'm trading it in on a 2020 iMac, so, not gonna worry on this one, but on the 2020, I might rig up something to at least try and filter the incoming air. Course...they could have provided an easy way to clean and vacuum dust, but...

 

[||\||]

I opened my 2015 iMac about six months ago to swap the HDD for an SSD, with the intent of also cleaning any dust that might have accumulated. There was hardly any to clean, so I didn’t bother. PCs get dusty because they tend to be kept at ground level. iMac aren’t. Keep your house clean and you should have nothing to worry about.

 

[drdaveH]

I have a 2019 iMac and AFAIK, Apple does not have any kind of screen to filter out particulate matter.

I'm therefore wondering if it's a good idea to maybe take a piece of something like cheese cloth and attach it over the fan intake vents with some scotch tape.

Anyone worried about this issue?

Suggestions welcome of course!

Thanks,

YES! My imac pro has been in the shop for screen replacement TWICE because humidifier dust blows into the back. I'm using a small vacuum hepa filter taped to the back now.

 

[drdaveH]

Why?

Its a known issue that causes screen discoloration. I can see that dust crap through the glass on my 2014 iMac and it pisses me off.

While cheese cloth is not attractive, filtering those vents is a good idea if it could be done.

YES. Twice in the shop for screen discoloration. Why haven't they done something about this!

 

[DanTSX]

Just don’t keep a dusty house ...

 

[colodane]

Just keep in mind that any filtering is also an obstruction of airflow and will affect the cooling performance. There is no free lunch.

 

[bartlebeetle]

Thanks, thought so. I'm trading it in on a 2020 iMac, so, not gonna worry on this one, but on the 2020, I might rig up something to at least try and filter the incoming air. Course...they could have provided an easy way to clean and vacuum dust, but...

Hi, wondering how you've been dealing with the dust filter, or lack thereof, on your new 2020 IMAC--any tips, suggestions with that? I have a new IMAC 2020 i recently just got---by chance, do you know, are these more recent ones not as adversely affected with the dust filter issue-?-as the lawsuit says it was limited only to IMACS dating from 2013-2018, or something like that.

 

[Adarna]

Hi, wondering how you've been dealing with the dust filter, or lack thereof, on your new 2020 IMAC--any tips, suggestions with that? I have a new IMAC 2020 i recently just got---by chance, do you know, are these more recent ones not as adversely affected with the dust filter issue-?-as the lawsuit says it was limited only to IMACS dating from 2013-2018, or something like that.

You should do it because the internet said you should

 

[trondi]

My 2013 imac has just started to show signs of overheating, with the screen going black as it crashes. From what I have read this is typical of internal dust overload. I tend to keep it on 24/7 so even low dust environments are likely to magnify the accumulation of dust within the casing, affecting convection efficiencies and fan operation too.

I know also that the conductive adhesives used to keep cpu etc cool inside the case do denature over time and crack and shrink which also contributes to overheating issues. So this means the dust factor is even more important to address for folks that keep their imac on 24/7, as it has a cheap easy solution, if some external filtering fabric can be used externally without impeding airflow significantly.

It is time for a new imac so will put some thought into ideas suggested above.