foam-casing for HDD mounting

**rockthevolvo** · 08-24-2004, 10:41 AM

hello everyone

im in the final development stages for my cars MP3 player. for shock protection, i went to the local craftshop and bought some soft foam. i cut out the middle on one side (to allow for some heat dissapation...the black colored end of the drive generates the most heat) and sliced a hole in it to fit the drive. i left it on the backseat of my car for a few days horizontally, then ran a surface scan: no bad sectors (that doesnt really mean much thought consdering it was never in use)

my car is (as signature states) a volvo station wagon. it has good shocks, and it takes potholes well.

the HDD in its casing

im worried a bit about heat, so i might attach a heatsink and a fan to the black end... any recommended adhesives?

this is the place where i plan to mount it: below the motherboard, but above the relays. its cramped, but there is enough space to make it work.

ignore the Psone screen, it isnt going to look like that on the final product. Its going to be mounted to look OEM, by cutting off those speaker-ends and fitting it to the dash.

now the question is...should i go and mount the drive somewhere else. theres only one other place im willing to put the drive, and that is where the amp is. its a stock amp i opened up and modded for 1/8" phone jack (the original had 12+ pins...8 that did absolutely nothing)
ill have room to mount it vertically, but im a bit reluctant....

my big two concerns here are heat and mounting.. i think the foam casing will provide adequate shock protection in a part of the car that doesnt really shake that much. the heat problems i hope can be solved with a heatsink.

by the way, its a western digital 5400rpm drive...i heard those fair pretty well

**pip** · 08-24-2004, 11:58 AM

Use small rubber pads to shock mount. Wrapping a drive in foam is a BAD idea, the lack of ventilation & heat build up will be far worse for the drive than shock could be. Just plonking on a heatsink/fan won't be enough.

**rockthevolvo** · 08-24-2004, 01:57 PM

what if instead the drive werent covered in foam.... but only the ends and a stetch in the middle..

the *'s being the HDD. this should allow for more ventilation. I'm really trying to mount this thing horizontally, hence the heavy padding...but the heavier the padding the worse the heat....
__________
|FOAM-----|
|_________|
||**||***||
||**||***||
||**||***||
||**||***||
||**||***||
||**||***||
|-----FOAM|
|_________|

any other recommendations?

**pip** · 08-24-2004, 02:10 PM

Better, but the foam should be fairly solid. That foam looks a bit too lightweight. To dampen properly the foam should actually be fairly rigid. Soft foam allows too much travel.

**muldrick** · 08-24-2004, 02:15 PM

Don't have anything on my HD, mounted straight to the top "door" of my case/box.
No probs so far/ 3 months

**rockthevolvo** · 08-24-2004, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by pip

Better, but the foam should be fairly solid. That foam looks a bit too lightweight. To dampen properly the foam should actually be fairly rigid. Soft foam allows too much travel.

if its fastened tightly that could counter-balance that...even right now im eyeing a different spot to place the hard drive....and ill need a different foam...ill go get something harder...

Don't have anything on my HD, mounted straight to the top "door" of my case/box.
No probs so far/ 3 months

laptop or 3.5"? vertically?

ill post pics with my next plan