>>>Floppy drives are used so little these days, and as the fan in the power
>>>supply sucks instead of blows (thanks to IBM) the floppy drive spends day
>>>after day collecting dust. When you finally come to use it, it is filthy.
>>>In days of yore, regular usage helped keep the heads relatively dust free.
>>
>>These are both very good points, Sean. One notices the cabinet full of dust,
>>if opened after a couple of weeks. In which case, might it help if you just
>>reverse the facing of the fan in the SMPS? Maybe not a solution to the drive
>>problem, but would perhaps keep your cabinet a lot cleaner?
>
>This was Phil's comment actually, Anand, and personally I don't agree with
>it. Whether the fan "sucks" or "blows" is irrelevant. It doesn't matter if
>the fan "sucks" or "blows" from or into the casing. The air has to enter
>and discharge from the case for there to be an airflow. If there is a flow
>of air, then the dust will be brought into the case no matter what. The
>only remedy is to filter the air at the point(s) where air is entering the
>casing.

Precisely, and if indeed the fan sucked instead of blowing then all you
would need would be a filter on the power supply fan inlet port. Instead,
air and dust is drawn in unfiltered through every little nook and cranny in
your PC casing including the floppy drive opening. But, because IBM put the
fan in backwards when they released the first PC in the 80's, every clone
vendor ever since has copied this error.

Phil Seakins.

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