Hard Disk cooling - any ideas about this?

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John

I have to squeeze one drive in a space with a CD burner above it.

a) choice 1 -- plaster the metal top cover to CD burners bottom.
The lower circuit board area has one of those
cooling trays with two small fans.


b) Choice 2 - mount it lower so that there a small space between the
top metal cover and the CD burner but then the cooler tray is
plastered on the bottom of a case surface so that obviously the fans
arent going to be that effective since they are blocked off. In that
case I can dispense with the tray all together and have a space above
and below with no fans.

The main thing is - how important is the metal top in conducting heat
from the HD?
 
I have to squeeze one drive in a space with a CD burner above it.
Click to expand...

"Space" means just a 5.25" external bay that's below it?

a) choice 1 -- plaster the metal top cover to CD burners bottom.
Click to expand...

Plaster? No, Arctic Alumina Adhesive! ;-)

The lower circuit board area has one of those
cooling trays with two small fans.
Click to expand...

Ok? I'm not sure where this drive is, and which case, but
do you need these?


b) Choice 2 - mount it lower so that there a small space between the
top metal cover and the CD burner but then the cooler tray is
plastered on the bottom of a case surface so that obviously the fans
arent going to be that effective since they are blocked off. In that
case I can dispense with the tray all together and have a space above
and below with no fans.
Click to expand...

First, what drive, is it relatively hot-running or a typical
budget grade 7K2 RPM SATA or PATA?

You do not need the fans if the case has at least a moderate
positive or negative pressurization and a plate in front to
allow a lot of passive airflow. How much pressurization and
resultant flow- only you can determine. If not enough flow
in this way, such that you need the pair of fans on the HDD
cooler then mount it high so they have ample intake below
them- there's relatively little cooling that takes place on
the top cover of a HDD, mostly the frame and circuit board
needs it.


The main thing is - how important is the metal top in conducting heat
from the HD?
Click to expand...


Once again, I should read ahead more often.
It's not nearly as important as increasing flow on the
bottom. I've never found it necessary to use one of those
bay coolers though, at least not in this kind of situation
opposed to one of those old fashioned cases where the drive
rack was only a 3-spaced cube in the middle where the top
was floppy, middle was HDD and bottom of the rack was a
solid piece of metal... and I never build for that setup,
just come across systems running like that... far too often.

You could just do the good old touch-test, put the drive in
bare or up as high as it'll go and see how hot it feels.
 
You could just do the good old touch-test, put the drive in
bare or up as high as it'll go and see how hot it feels.
Click to expand...

I decided to just take that off the cooler tray. Its just big enough
that it fits but then everything is so tight theres really no space
above or below it if you have only one 5.25 bay. A front panel cooler
is a better choice in terms of fit.

Its a Hitachi 7200 SATA .


I just got one of the cases on sale during the BF sale period.

The Super Lan Boy. I said I didnt like the shorter , wider cases trend
vs a full tower but I have to admit I like this case despite the
slightly cheesy styling.

It was cheap $29 AR. Its defintely in the flimsy category -- not cheap
but kind of fragile because its aluminum. Its the lightest case Ive
ever owned. Far lighter than my full tower Antec and even the mid
tower cases with their thin metal construction. Theres no way you
would stand on this one unless you want to destroy it.

I like the real alum exterior so I dont have to worry about scraping
the paint off and Im sick of weird proprietary systems to mount drives
and make them slide in and out. The Lan boy is refreshingly simple ,
sort of like the cheapo ones in some ways where you just use screws to
mount everything but its very cleanly laid out and doesnt have that
cheap stamped metal steel case feel where you cut your fingers on lots
of sharp edges.

It has the common current layout of all the drives in a slot cage at
the bottom going all the way to the bottom with a fan in front. My old
cases had a gap iwth the fan below the HD cages. It uses two huge 120
mm fans one in front and back. Even though its not as tall it doesnt
feel cramped like my older Antec mid tower I was complaining about
that I had before I went to the full tower.

The main problem with it is you mount the HDs sideways. This was one
of the things I actually liked at first and the extra width makes it
possible. However the case is just wide enough for a conventional HD
with conventional ribbon cables. When I put a SATA TO Pata converter
or use a round cable with its beefy rubber surround -- they both stick
out of the end of the HD so much that putting the cover on is very
difficult and makes it bulge out a bit. It makes the cables bend at a
sharp 90 degree angle smashed by the cover so its possible it may
damage the cables after a while.

I wonder if there are any SATA and PATA cables that come out at a 90
degree angle at the end?
 
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