Hitachi stinks (literally)

larry moe 'n curly · Mar 22, 2010

Why did two Hitachi 7K1000.C hard drives stink during a 15-minute seek
test (Hitachi's Feature Tool temperature test) but no other brands of
7200 RPM drives did during a similar seek test? All drives were
tested outside the computer and still work fine (pass Drive Fitness
Test, no clicking sounds or pauses). I couldn't pinpoint the source
of the smell and didn't see any discoloration or damage, although I
didn't look on the inner side of the circuit board.

Rod Speed · Mar 23, 2010

larry said:
Why did two Hitachi 7K1000.C hard drives stink during a 15-minute
seek test (Hitachi's Feature Tool temperature test) but no other
brands of 7200 RPM drives did during a similar seek test? All drives
were tested outside the computer and still work fine (pass Drive Fitness
Test, no clicking sounds or pauses). I couldn't pinpoint the source
of the smell and didn't see any discoloration or damage, although I
didn't look on the inner side of the circuit board.

What sort of smell was it ? Stinking hot type smell ?

Maybe those drives fart when they have to work too hard.

Arno · Mar 23, 2010

larry moe 'n curly said:
Why did two Hitachi 7K1000.C hard drives stink during a 15-minute seek
test (Hitachi's Feature Tool temperature test) but no other brands of
7200 RPM drives did during a similar seek test? All drives were
tested outside the computer and still work fine (pass Drive Fitness
Test, no clicking sounds or pauses). I couldn't pinpoint the source
of the smell and didn't see any discoloration or damage, although I
didn't look on the inner side of the circuit board.

What temperatures did they reach?

Arno

larry moe 'n curly · Mar 24, 2010

Rod said:
What sort of smell was it ? Stinking hot type smell ?

Maybe those drives fart when they have to work too hard.

The smell wasn't like fiberglass-epoxy circuit board material, unless
they now use a different resin I removed the circuit boards but
didn't find anything on the other side, either. I suspect the stink
came from the layer of sponge under the PCB or the adhesive for the
sponge.

larry moe 'n curly · Mar 24, 2010

Arno said:
What temperatures did they reach?

The Hitachi Feature Tool program said it rose from 40C before the test
(drive had been spinning an hour) to 49C. An infrared thermometer
said the aluminum body was 51C, as were most of the chips, except the
big square one, which went up to 65C.

Rod Speed · Mar 24, 2010

larry said:
The Hitachi Feature Tool program said it rose from 40C before the test
(drive had been spinning an hour) to 49C. An infrared thermometer
said the aluminum body was 51C, as were most of the chips, except the
big square one, which went up to 65C.

Thats unlikely to produce a stink unless they have done something stupid with the foam.

Arno · Mar 24, 2010

The Hitachi Feature Tool program said it rose from 40C before the test
(drive had been spinning an hour) to 49C. An infrared thermometer
said the aluminum body was 51C, as were most of the chips, except the
big square one, which went up to 65C.

That is not enough to burn anything. Possibly some contamination.
Does it smell like synthetic oil? In that case it could be a
leak in the fluid bearings. That would be sooner or later
catastrophic...

Arno

Mike Tomlinson · Mar 25, 2010

s.com> said:
The Hitachi Feature Tool program said it rose from 40C before the test
(drive had been spinning an hour) to 49C. An infrared thermometer
said the aluminum body was 51C, as were most of the chips, except the
big square one, which went up to 65C.

Bit too warm. Look to your cooling.

Arno · Mar 25, 2010

davy said:
How about varnish smell? possibly from the motor windings.... you don't
have a cat do you ?

The motors are sealed.

Yeah, I've repaired Telly's and video's, some have been write-offs, as
though the cat widdled ferric chloide (stuff used for etching copper to
make the 'printed circuit'.

I think cats use something far more agressive ;-)

Seriously, another cause could be leaking capacitors!

Not really. You rarely find any electrolyte capacitors on
modern HDDs and if then only as low-load input filters. The
filters in switchers (e.g. motor regulator) are al ceramic
on HDDs due to size restrictions.

Arno

Mike Tomlinson · Mar 31, 2010

chrisv said:
(Copyright "IBM Ronnie" Reaugh)

God, that's a blast from the past. Wonder what happened to him?

John Turco · Apr 30, 2010

Mike said:
God, that's a blast from the past. Wonder what happened to him?

The real question is: Where's comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage's
top troll, of all time...Folkert Rienstra?

Google Groups </http://groups.google.com> indicates that he posted
his last Usenet message, on September 19, 2008.

Rod Speed · Apr 30, 2010

John Turco wrote

Mike Tomlinson wrote

The real question is: Where's comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage's
top troll, of all time...Folkert Rienstra?

Google Groups </http://groups.google.com> indicates that
he posted his last Usenet message, on September 19, 2008.

The GFC saw the loony bin goons take away his usenet access forever.

John Turco · May 31, 2010

Rod said:
John Turco wrote

The GFC saw the loony bin goons take away his usenet access forever.

C'mon, man! What does "GFC" stand for?

Rod Speed · May 31, 2010

John Turco wrote

Rod Speed wrote

C'mon, man! What does "GFC" stand for?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GFC
the first one.

Presumably you do realise what a loony bin is.

John Turco · Jun 30, 2010

Rod said:
John Turco wrote

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GFC
the first one.

Oh, I >had< looked it up, on Wikipedia; I simply didn't think that
"Global Financial Crisis" would pertain to our Horrible Hollander,
though.

Wikipedia - Financial crisis of 2007–2010

Presumably you do realise what a loony bin is.

Yes, indeed! Maybe Folksy moved to Iceland, and was responsible
for getting that country "in Dutch," so to speak?

Rod Speed · Jun 30, 2010

John Turco wrote

Rod Speed wrote

Oh, I >had< looked it up, on Wikipedia; I simply didn't think that
"Global Financial Crisis" would pertain to our Horrible Hollander,
though.

Thats what got the net access taken away from the loony bin.

Wikipedia - Financial crisis of 2007-2010
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007–2010

Yes, indeed! Maybe Folksy moved to Iceland, and was
responsible for getting that country "in Dutch," so to speak?

Even the icelanders have net access. So it cant be that.

John Turco · Jul 20, 2010

Rod said:
John Turco wrote

Thats what got the net access taken away from the loony bin.

Makes sense, I'd gather.

Even the icelanders have net access. So it cant be that.

I'd proposed that, the Nefarious Netherlander might have set up shop,
in Iceland. If he >was< the mastermind behind all of the financial
plundering which was going on, there -- he may have lacked the free
time, for online activity.

After all, such a "pseudo kraut" (to use your very own term) would
feel right at home, among all those Viking hordes...right?

Rod Speed · Jul 22, 2010

John Turco wrote

Rod Speed wrote

Makes sense, I'd gather.

I'd proposed that, the Nefarious Netherlander might have
set up shop, in Iceland. If he >was< the mastermind behind
all of the financial plundering which was going on, there --
he may have lacked the free time, for online activity.

Even a ****wit pseudokraut would have been able
to find some stupid viking to do the donkeywork,
they aint exactly rocket scientist material.

After all, such a "pseudo kraut" (to use your very own term)
would feel right at home, among all those Viking hordes...right?

Dunno, what they used to do for funeral rites may not have appealed too much.
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=viking+funerary+practices