Hard Drive + Sub, how far is far away enough?

RSXelrate · 10-19-2007, 06:05 PM

I'm looking at doing an install in an S2000 and space is very limited. I most likely will be building the computer and putting it in the spare tire well (see link below for pics). I also have a subwoofer not too far away that is sitting in the recessed area in the trunk (see link below). If I put the hard drive as far away as possible, will it be okay? The subwoofer is a ~400 wrms one with the magnet inside the enclosure.

http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php...&#entry1772107
The area in which the amps sit, is where the spare tire used to be.
Thanks!

maxgtr2000 · 10-19-2007, 11:04 PM

It should be okay, you can try and use a laptop hdd that can take a little bit more abuse if need be.

Dennis5587 · 10-20-2007, 11:16 AM

Just make sure that you secure the computer down very tightly. It bouncing around will really screw you up.

20mg · 10-27-2007, 12:38 PM

i was wondering about this to. i have a very small car. and the back of my car is completly full. i have 2 15 inch subs. would it still be ok if i put the pute in the spot where the spare tire was? and if not anyone have any ideas?

crooper · 11-01-2007, 03:58 AM

I have 2 12" subs (200 rms each) about 12" away from my carpc, which I turn up a lot of the time. The only time I've had trouble with it was when my carpc box got pushed up against my sub box, which killed the (old Maxtor 3.5") hard drive in a few weeks. Keep it away from direct vibrations and you should be fine. Also, newer laptop hard drives are better for shock and vibration resistance.

If you're worried, then just turn on SMART hard drive diagnostics and it'll tell you if your hard drive is gonna die soon.

Spare tire place is okay, just as long as there's a vent for air to cool the pc.

Crawdaddy · 11-01-2007, 12:47 PM

ditto on the previous responses. If you're worried about the magnet for the sub degaussing the disk or something, I wouldn't be too worried. It takes more magnetic power than most people realize to degauss a hard drive. You can't do it with a kitchen magnet, that's for sure. In the hard drive itself is a pair of rare earth magnets that help the head arm stay smooth and level. Those magnets are some of the most powerful non-electro powered mags I've seen. I would venture to say (and I might just try for s**ts and giggles) that you could put the drive directly on the sub magnet and not have problems.

20mg · 11-03-2007, 01:06 PM

im not so sure putting a hard drive on one of my subs would be a good idea my soundstream t4's have 250 oz magnets lol

crooper · 11-05-2007, 01:27 AM

I don't think putting a hard drive ON a sub magnet is in question here though. If you don't like the idea of putting your PC near your sub boxes, then relocate it. Otherwise, the information we've given you is pretty good, and driven from experience.

If you're just tooting your horn about how well endowed your subs are, then well good for you. Sub magnet size isn't an indicator of performance or sound quality anyway.

emperorjj1 · 11-05-2007, 03:35 AM

lol re MT ftw in terms of mag size...

but im a little less worried after reading this thread. ive been very concerned with vibrations since the last system i had was a singe 15 MT or single 15 XXX and my next will be 2 15 XXX.... i was planing on sealing the trunk airtight so the bass would only go foward and keeping the car pc in the back. Im glad to hear i should be fine with a regular 2.5 because some of the extreme vibrations HDDs are expensive and not much space

Crawdaddy · 11-05-2007, 07:55 AM

[QUOTE=crooper;1138045]I don't think putting a hard drive ON a sub magnet is in question here though.QUOTE]

The OP mentioned that the mag for the sub was in the box, which led me to my tangent. I know it's a fairly common fear, not just for carpc users, that magnets can corrupt data in hard drives and other magnetic media. I was attempting to clear up that issue. In terms of vibrations, I'd be less inclined to put a hard drive so close to a sub, but I imagine if you mounted the hard drive in a perpendicular line to the sub's excusrion direction, you'd have better luck. What I mean by this is that if you hav the sub firing straight out the back of he vehicle, placing the hard drive level with the front and back of the drive facing the left and right sides of the car, you could probably minimize vibration damage. (see the big drive FAQ, I don't remember where it is, and I'm too lazy to go find it...)

crooper · 11-05-2007, 10:28 PM

If you're really concerned about vibrations, use flash drives for your media. Or you could relocate the drive to another part of the car (ie, under the seat) in a usb enclosure, although with that much bass the vibrations are going to be everywhere no matter how well you "seal" your trunk. Personally I'd spend some cash on a relatively inexpensive 2.5" drive and try it out for a month and see how it survives. Nothing better than trial and error to solve a problem.

Like I said, I've got 400w rms to two 12" JBLs and I've never had problems with my Seagate Momentus drive, which is about 1' away (but out of the direct line of the subs).

emperorjj1 · 11-06-2007, 02:50 AM

cool cool makes sense ill try the perpendicular thing as that is ez and probably will do the most good.

also FYI for crooper reason why im concerned is i got quite a bit more then 2 12s on 400w rms. im getting 2 15s ported and my amp puts out 3688w rms on 14.4v but that amp is goign to be connected to 2 16v batteries and a 225a alt runing 17-18v. But im also planning on fiberglassing the box to the trunk along with sealing the rear deck up as well so it should be air tight and if not realativly little bass will be able to enter the trunk

crooper · 11-09-2007, 02:12 AM

Okay yeah I see you've got a lot more vibration going on with 3000w rms. But what I don't understand is how you can "seal" bass in your trunk. The whole idea of bass is that it's omnidirectional, and it shakes whatever the box is attached to. Sure it vibrates some parts more than others, but it's still going to shake your car all the way up to its headlights.

I'd say if you're spending that much on your system, $100 to try out a new laptop drive to see if the bass kills it or not would be reasonable. If it does, then your best bet is probably an embedded, flash-based system.

emperorjj1 · 11-09-2007, 03:05 AM

right right well hte idea it to keep most of the vibrations and such in front of the box. While the box itslef will do a bit of vibrating the subs are what make all the pressure. So if the air the subs make is going foward and theres no way for it to get into the truck the vibrations will be significantly reduced.

I think im going to try a laptop based system at this point.... my sister has a broken one and i really want to see what i can do to make it working and use ti as my carputer. mainly because of the soundcard im looking at but also because of price... im way to much of a noob when it comes to computer hardware so spending a **** load on the car pc can easily be done but im not sure what i need and or dont need ect. Fortunatly after reading the faqs for a few times and reading up as much as i can in the forum im learning a lil bit

20mg · 11-09-2007, 05:27 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by crooper

I don't think putting a hard drive ON a sub magnet is in question here though. If you don't like the idea of putting your PC near your sub boxes, then relocate it. Otherwise, the information we've given you is pretty good, and driven from experience.

If you're just tooting your horn about how well endowed your subs are, then well good for you. Sub magnet size isn't an indicator of performance or sound quality anyway.

lol i was just saying i dont think it would be safe to put a hdd that close to a big magnet. and i kno magnet size isnt what makes a speaker good. but i kno for a fact that my speakers are good. t4 soundstream are the best subs i have ever owned.

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