"Soft" hard drive mounting....

gospeed.racer · 12-21-2003, 12:20 AM

Here are some pics of my "soft" hard drive tray. It is just a prototype, but works extremely well. I didnt like the idea of using a PC size hard drive becuase of the shock problems, but this should solve it well. I just cant afford a laptop drive that is big in size, let alone one with a 8mb cache! Sorry about the pic quality, but you get the idea

Later all-----Jeff

owenjh · 12-21-2003, 01:28 AM

wouldn't this be worse for the drive as one shock is one thing, but if its bouncing up and down then its going to be moving for longer?

deadweasel · 12-21-2003, 01:37 AM

Judging from the G-shock ratings of most of today's drives, I'm inclined to wonder why anyone would be so concerned about it unless they are looking for an advanced destruction derby car or ATV-ing PC...

The thing I get concerned about (especially with anything above 5400rpm) is the platter flexing that can be experienced when not mounting the drive parallel to direction of travel (disc spinning on same plane and in same direction as the wheels). I've read some horror stories about it, and though I have yet to personally experience it, I also have yet to mount ALEXIS, with her 7200rpm Quantum Fireball, in the car.

gospeed.racer · 12-21-2003, 02:46 AM

I drive a Mustang, and it is LOW and harsh! Like teeth shattering. The drive doesnt bounce at all, it is actually just to dampen the excessive pothole crushing. I saw a similar one used in a silent pc, and thought it would be worth looking into. I would not see much use in this arrangement in a luxury or softly dampened ride, but one bump and the hard drive may become scratched...and I dont wanna take that risk!

deadweasel · 12-21-2003, 09:03 AM

Oh yeah! Mustang! 5.0! Had one o' those once, loved it to death. That is, I loved it until it died. My fault, not the car's. Now I understand what you're dealing with. Should've read... your..... signature. Heh.

R3l0ad · 12-21-2003, 09:13 AM

Good job... I have been throwing a similar idea around for my system... but I have yet to actually do it. Either way very nice job.

Sh0cker · 12-21-2003, 11:49 AM

i should concider some soft mounts for my hard drive also.
My suspension is so hard i feel everything i drive over (little gaps, big gaps, everything). And NY area roads make a drive even worse. I hit my oil pan so many times im scared to drive throught the spots where i hit it.

Dan Marsh · 12-21-2003, 01:01 PM

I use some foam rubber to dampen vibrations in my car-puter. Seems to have worked well so far. You just need to make sure that you don't prevent the hdd from bleeding off heat in the process.

none · 12-21-2003, 06:31 PM

As Dan alluded to, proper mounting of a hard drive to a metal surface provides the drive with a very effective heatsink to aid in cooling. If you are mounting to rubber rather than metal, just be sure you have adequate airflow around the drive. Heat will kill a drive faster than any bumps it will get in a car - any car.

BTW, laptop drives are no more shock-resistant than desktop drives.

gospeed.racer · 12-21-2003, 08:31 PM

I suspected that the laptop drives were about the same for shock resistance, but from what I had read it said otherwise. Either way, i cant afford them, and they are slow, so that in itself made my decision for me. As far as airflow, that wont be a problem. I would like to see how the foam mounted ones fare though. My readings on grounding are again about 50-50. Half say to make sure to ground it, the others say dont bother. I have yet to read a negative to grounding, (that could almost be a pun

) so I think I will just to be safe. My assumptions are that western had to test these drives pretty extensively uncooled, just to make sure that they would fare well in any application. eg, acrylic cases. I think the fan that will be blowing on the back side of my screen for cooling will serve a double purpose cooling the hard drive as well. Its more about the flow of air than the cooling of it anyway. I know my setup is viewed as odd, but hey. Gotta try it to know if it will work

I am currently stripping the heck out of my XP Pro and trying to get it to boot faster so after that is done, I should be ready to start throwing it together and at that point I will show off some pics of the case and accessories.

Rob Withey · 12-22-2003, 04:20 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by none

BTW, laptop drives are no more shock-resistant than desktop drives.

Just looked up some manufacturer figures on this and they suggest otherwise. For operating shock half sine, operating random rms and non-operating the laptop drives come out on top. Can you name your sources that suggest that there is no difference? I'm interested why you think this.

Rob

tom2112 · 12-22-2003, 08:31 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Dan Marsh

I use some foam rubber to dampen vibrations in my car-puter. Seems to have worked well so far. You just need to make sure that you don't prevent the hdd from bleeding off heat in the process.

I'm planning to glue a hard drive bracket to a gel wrist-rest pad and glue the pad to the case - maybe velcro. Then mount the drive in the bracket. That should absorb any shock, and still allow heat disapation. It also will keep the drive from occilating for a while after a bump.

telekineticfool · 12-22-2003, 11:49 AM

The only hard drive I've ever heard of being destroyed or damaged by shock was one that was mounted with foam shock absorbers...it set up a harmonic pattern with the spinning platter and shook itself to death. Hard drives are designed to be mounted solidly. If a HD was going to be damaged by shock, no amount of cleverness is going to fix it...the simple fact is, a good HD will not be hurt by any sort of shock that doesn't AT LEAST knock the driver unconscious.

MatrixPC · 12-22-2003, 11:55 AM

I used to mount the standard hard drive on a "rubber type suspension" and it suck. The hard drive crash/skip most the time. Now I just mount it vertical to the case and has no problem at all. As for air flow, I just mount 4 mobo type spacer screws to the hard drive then the screws is mount to the case so that there is about 1/2 in of gap between the case and the HD.
Oh yeah, the Supra is pumping too especially when the computer is in the trunk.

none · 12-22-2003, 12:29 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Rob Withey

Just looked up some manufacturer figures on this and they suggest otherwise. For operating shock half sine, operating random rms and non-operating the laptop drives come out on top. Can you name your sources that suggest that there is no difference? I'm interested why you think this.

Rob

My personal experience with many destroyed drives of both types has shown that the 3.5" drives are at least as durable, if not more durable than the 2.5" drives. I had always attributed this to their increased size and heft giving them more structural rigidity.

I'd love to see the numbers you refer to. Are you sure the testing is consistent?