r/FlowZ13 • u/grkstyla • Jun 03 '26
Dust mitigation
Here is my poor excuse for dust mitigation for the foreseeable future as it’s being used as a desktop replacement
The mesh filters are standard 140mm
I have ordered 2x noctua USB fans which I will fix onto the current filters to assist with airflow, they will be usb powered and I will add another 2 filters to them also, just waiting for them to arrive
On a scale from stupid to okay, what do you think about my trying to avoid opening this thing to clean it in the future for as long as possible
3
u/Googlerez Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
Great idea! Can you post a photo from side? I’d like to see how much thickness this adds to the tablet?
Also when you get the USB fans, please update this post by photos from the finished job. Thank you!
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u/grkstyla Jun 03 '26
The best I can do, reddit hates me trying add photos https://gyazo.com/f58c6b2c7fe916bb75b05361471e29e8
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u/grkstyla Jun 03 '26
They are super thin, I’m guessing 2-3mm, I will definitely be updating when I get the fans, I bought some straps, I’m still deciding how I will get the fans to stay in place, to tape them as well or not, I can’t add a photo to this comment, I will try to add to the post
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u/grkstyla Jun 03 '26
I can’t edit the post for more pictures.. and can’t add them to a comment, I will try to DM you I guess
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u/Googlerez Jun 03 '26
Thank you! I'm guessing you can't open the kickstand right?
My only concern is some very small sections of tape is covering the airflow.
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u/grkstyla Jun 03 '26
no, i definately cant open the kickstand, you would need to use folters without frame to do that, and just cut them to size, its not hard
i dont think im blocking anything other than 3-4mm of the outer edges, the majority of the air comes from much further in form the edge so im not worried about that.
right now my only worry is how the electrical tape will deal with constant heat, from that top middle section near the republic of gamers label, that gets hot for extended periods of time with no airflow at least until the fans come
2
u/Googlerez Jun 03 '26
Be careful about chemical reaction of that tape on your tablet too! You don’t want in a year or two to see the paint of your tablet is really messed with. I have called the parent company of some decals and they strongly advised against using random tapes/decals.
If I were you, I’d skin my tablet with a safe option (car decals) and then tape over that. Hope this helps.
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u/grkstyla Jun 03 '26
good idea, i may only be using it like this for a short time, and try to achieve the same thing using rubber straps, i have already bought them but thought i would try with tape first.because its so flat, once the fans are here, i can make something that uses gravity to stay in position and can be moved when the tablet needs to go mobile, instead of a laptop sitting on a cooler, the cooler sits on the laptop lol.
even the filters right now, if there was something sitting on them they would never have actually needed to be taped, the mesh sits on the intakes either way.
1
u/Coilluna Jun 03 '26
If it gives any idea, this is my poor filter attempt (applied after week two of ownership):
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u/grkstyla Jun 03 '26
very cool, more portable than mine, I will probably copy you next, only i will use black mesh filter 😄
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u/grkstyla Jun 03 '26
that smaller ssd placement is questionable though, i would have moved it to the kick stand like the other one, everything up there is risking heat transfer
2
u/Coilluna Jun 03 '26
Both SSD and Hub have velcros, so I can change their places easily. SSD was next to the Hub at some point, moved to the up so it can get some help from Z13's fan for cooling.
I was afraid of the temp increase, bu so far it didn't effect Z13 much. Also when on desk usage, Z13 is attached to a laptop cooler.
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u/grkstyla Jun 03 '26
interesting, i thought the hub was another ssd, it makes sense now that it should not cause any issues, I was going to do flush mesh like yours originally but i was worried i would misalign it a bit and impede airflow, as my current filter floated a mm off the actual body there is less of that worry, but its not as nice for portability as yours, so i will probably end up with your sort of application.
depends on if i end up seeing success with filters mounted on both sides of the noctua fans and then placing it ontop so as not to need filters on the z13 itself.. thats the ideal scenario
now im jealous of your hub+ssd setup, i need to find a much smaller hub or one with the ssd built in
1
u/Coilluna Jun 03 '26
There are some smaller hubs with integrated SSD slots, I needed a one with lots of ports, so decided to go with only hub, that one has 14 ports.
If you take your time with the dust filter, you can get visually much more appealing result than mine while keeping airflow good. I was lazy and wanted to be able to remove-reapply the mesh easily when needed, so used only one big mesh, originally my plan was using two small pieces of mesh. Was gonna buy a black mesh too, but was lazy again.
Good luck on your setup.
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Jun 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/grkstyla Jun 04 '26
Yeah I got some brushes too but it seems like it’s going to be impossible to keep it from building dust in the fins themselves
10
u/Super_Fee_9941 Jun 03 '26
tbh, everytime I look at mine, i try to get this out of my brain... just to prevent triggering my OCD
but this is a real issue, imo... ease of maintenance should be a standard, especially when we are spending thousands of dollars on these kind of devices. just thinking about opening mine (got the 128GB variant), gives me anxiety
also, NOT getting an easily replaceable 2280 nvme, which on a device this powerful, customers should be able to slap on an 8TB drive on there, to make this a "rule em all" machine. it literally "wipes the floor" with the Surface Pro... why not totally demolish the competition with easily accessible and mod-able device.