Magnetically Shielding a PC

[UKBlade]

Firstly, Is it possible to Magnetically shield a PC? This is so it can be used with a maglev project.

Secondly, if so, does anyone have any ideas how I'd go about it?

I'm looking at a project that will involve having a PC move using a maglev. I've been reading up on shielding, (Mu Metal etc) but don't know enough about magnetism to assess whether this would sufficiently shield the PC.

I'm gonna carry on with the articles on magnetism, in the meantime.

Thanks in advance.

 

[EdStainless]

Unless you are talking about high freq mag fields my choice would be to use solid state hard drives and not worry about it. A standard steel case should be good enough to protect the rest of the stuff.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Plymouth Tube

 

[BobM3]

Are you sure you need it? PCs are required to be shielded so that they don't emit excessive noise. The same shielding would help protect the PC from external magnetic fields.
To design additional shielding you would need to know the magnetic field strength and the frequency of the noise. Often times the shield is the least of the challenges - the openings in the shield (for cables) allow in/out most of the noise.

 

[MadMango]

When I hear "maglevs" I imagine magnetic levitation/propulsion using high power electro-magnets. Are you talking about using electro-magnets to induce a velocity or just opposite pole magnets to suspend something? If so, then BobM3, this is a different type of shielding than normal EMF shielding. I agree that solid state drives would reduce some of the problems of having the magnets rip apart the disk drive. Maybe place your PC on a metal plate to act as a simple shield to provide a path for the magnetic flux lines. How much magnetic force are you thinking about?

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[IRstuff]

The standard hard drive actuators are well shielded. However, the disks themselves are not, so you might experience degaussing of the drive platters themselves.

Mumetal wrapped around the chassis is probably a reasonable choice. If you're using a CRT, you'll need to shield it as well, since the color masks can get magnetized and screw up the colors.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[MadMango]

Tick, I have never heard the term mumetal, just permalloy. Thanks for the new term.

http://www.mumetals.com/

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[alansimpson]

This company might have come practical advise as well as supply materials.

http://www.magnetic-shield.com/index.html

 

[UKBlade]

Sorry for the delay in replying.

Firstly, thanks for all the comments. They've given me plenty to think about.

It'll probably help if I explain the application a bit more.
The plan is to have a PC (Chassis, Mainboard, HDD's, Optical Drives, PSU and Digital Projector plus water cooling) held in place via the maglev. Ideally I would also like to use the maglev to 'move' the chassis out of its housing for repairs.

Hope this helps....

TIA