[Beowulf] materials for air shroud?

[David Mathog]

> Cardboard? Card stock? Masking tape? White glue? (that's what I
> usually use for cooling ducts.. easy to cut, glue, tape..)  It's no
> more flammable than plastic, and it doesn't melt and get soft. 

That never crossed my mind.

You sure about the flammability?  I believe it for the ignition due to
temperature (Fahrenheit 451 and all that).  However, I have a gut
feeling (but no data) that sparks are fairly likely to ignite cardboard,
and less likely to ignite a solid plastic sheet (polyethylene or
polypropylene, for instance).  Not that I'm expecting sparks, but that
is a real possibility when a power supply fails.  Maybe even a brief
flame.  Of course paper won't hold up well compared to plastic if it
gets wet.  Moisture resistance is not important here though - if the
insides of the computer are dripping, air shroud failure is the least of
my worries.  

Thanks,

David Mathog
mathog at caltech.edu
Manager, Sequence Analysis Facility, Biology Division, Caltech