hard drive cooling

sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
edited July 2005 in Hardware
my hard drive temp is real high at 40-44c. I need to get some sort of direct cooling on the drive. I have 3 3.5" drive bays and the hd is in the middle one, so there is plenty of room to put things in to cool it off. I'm thinking of getting an 80mm fan or maybe even 2 and make some sort of mount to cool one or both sides of the drive off. I need some help here, so does anyone have any suggestions on what to do?

Comments

  • RiversCuomoRiversCuomo Missouri New
    edited July 2005
    well pilotwings, magnets are known to absorb a lot of heat off of the hard drives.
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited July 2005
    ....very funny
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited July 2005
    pilotwings119 wrote:
    ...I'm thinking of getting an 80mm fan or maybe even 2 and make some sort of mount to cool one or both sides of the drive off...
    A lot of it depends on what kind of room you have in the case and the drive bays. One solution is to get a 3.5" to 5.25" mounting bracket and put the drive in a spare 5.25" bay. If you have good case cooling that alone might drop your HD temp a few degrees.

    Another solution is to get a bay adapter with active cooling (i.e. a couple of fans). These work well, though it can be hard to find one with reliable long-lasting fans. If you get more than a couple years out of them you're lucky. (See attached picture.)

    I'm sure some people like them, but I've personally never cared for the HD heatsinks. They are basically a big chunk of metal which you bolt onto the drive in the hopes of enlarging the surface area for better heat transfer. Every one I've used has either made no difference, or actually did more harm than good.

    My favorite solution is to mount the drive in a spare 5.25" bay, then use cable ties to suspend an 80mm fan an inch or so above the drive with the airflow directed down on the drive. With decent case cooling it will cool even the hottest drive down by a good bit.
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited July 2005
    profdlp wrote:
    My favorite solution is to mount the drive in a spare 5.25" bay, then use cable ties to suspend an 80mm fan an inch or so above the drive with the airflow directed down on the drive. With decent case cooling it will cool even the hottest drive down by a good bit.

    we're on the same wavelength, because I was thinking of doing that. Only thing is with that method, is it necissary to move it to a 5.25" bay? I have a free 3.5" bay above and under the hd, so It should be easy to do. I just need to find a cheap Vantec Stealth, and I'll be in business. Thanks
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited July 2005
    You mean stealth fan not tornado right ?.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited July 2005
    pilotwings119 wrote:
    ...is it necessary to move it to a 5.25" bay?...
    Not really. Having more room around the drive will help, but if there is a clear path for the air to get clear of the HD area you should see a noticible improvement in either location.

    One other thing you probably ought to do is run the HD diagnostic from the drive manufacturer. An abnormally high HD temp in an otherwise well-cooled case could be a sign of failing spindle motor bearings. You can cool it all you want, but it's still going to be trouble down the road. If you try any of these suggestions and don't see any improvement I would start to wonder about the drive itself.
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    edited July 2005
    if the fan isn't secure and/or is causing vibrations, it can fübar your drive as well, so be careful about how you mount the fan
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited July 2005
    shwaip wrote:
    if the fan isn't secure and/or is causing vibrations, it can fübar your drive as well, so be careful about how you mount the fan
    Quite true. :rolleyes:

    I use a cable tie in each corner and more or less just hang the thing. Very little in the way of vibration is transmitted through the plastic cable tie to the drive cage. Whatever you do, don't clamp the fan right down on the drive. Not only will you not get any airflow, you'll shake the HD from here to kingdom come. :eek:
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited July 2005
    GrayFox wrote:
    You mean stealth fan not tornado right ?.
    yes thanks i changed it. too many things go through my little mind... cant keep them straight.

    ok thanks for the tip on vibration. I'll try to suspend an 80mm fan over it with plastic zip ties- Shouldn't be any vibration.

    I hope this drive lasts a while and I hope I didn't shorten its lifespan because of the heat :(
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited July 2005
    im such an idiot. thank you grayfox. thread closed cuz im embarassed
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