Tried using a pine cone as a dust cover for a server intake and it worked for exactly 4 hours

I had a server in a dusty garage workshop and thought hey, a pine cone is kinda shaped like a filter. Stuck it in front of the intake fan and it actually did catch dust for a few hours. But then I came back to find fan blades covered in sticky sap and tiny bits of pine scale everywhere. Took me 45 minutes with isopropyl alcohol to clean that mess. Has anyone else tried a random object as a temporary filter and regretted it?

3 comments

3 Comments

mila_campbell251mo ago

Wait didn't Linus Sebastian try something like that with a dryer sheet once and it caught fire after like 6 hours? I saw a video where a guy used a car air filter with zip ties and it actually worked decent until it got soaked in garage moisture. You're braver than me for trying the pine cone thing though, that's some next level MacGyver energy right there.

jamie7701mo ago

That pine cone thing was actually my third attempt after a dryer sheet experiment melted a hole in my trash can lid and a sponge stuffed in a vent pipe just grew mold everywhere. I figure if it works for campfire starters it can't be that dumb for a car, right?

kaih361mo ago

Did you have to scrape sap off the fan blades too? That sticky mess took me forever with rubbing alcohol. I tried a dryer sheet once on a computer fan and it just melted into a gross sticky blob. Honestly, random objects never seem to work out like you hope they will.