Hard Drive Mounting / SAVE the drive!

DerekR · 02-22-2004, 05:38 PM

Anyone have a good idea how to secure the hard drive from bumps/shaking and most of all base. My version one setup had the hard drive in spung like stuff and I am currently working on V2 of the carputer and just wonder if there is a better way? Thanks Guys

deadweasel · 02-22-2004, 05:54 PM

First, sponge is not a good idea if it covers the components on the drive itself. Current drives generate too much heat to be covered with anything. As for shock protection, unless you're driving an old beat up Camaro or Fiero or something, your car's shocks should be more than adequate to keep the drive from experiencing anything beyond its specifications.

I've mounted my system to the chassis of a '92 Mitsubishi Eclipse, no shock protection considered, and it did just fine. Survived a rear-ending at 45mph too!

DerekR · 02-22-2004, 06:00 PM

how about bass?? you think that may mess up the drive?

cdm · 02-22-2004, 06:42 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by DerekR

how about bass?? you think that may mess up the drive?

if you mount it on top your sub...

it will be allright. drives are tough.

kiltjim · 02-22-2004, 07:51 PM

DerekR raises a good point. I was thinking about mounting the whole thing inside a sub enclosure (with the sub). I was worried about the constant vibrations the drives would be going thru. Should I really be concerned about this?

deadweasel · 02-22-2004, 08:12 PM

INSIDE the sub enclosure?? Sheesh, talk about asking for problems! The main danger to hard drives (from the audio standpoint) is the fact that bass in music can be a constant frequency wave, which can set up harmonic vibrations in the drive and cause damage. If you keep the drive a short distance from the sub, there shouldn't be any problems. Putting it inside the sub enclosure is asking for trouble for two reasons. The first is the vibration issue. The second is the magnetic field generated by the speaker(s). If you want to guarantee that you will be losing data and possible drive integrity, then by all means, mount it in the enclosure. If you want something that's going to last the longest possible, keep it a decent distance from the box.

streetknight · 02-22-2004, 08:12 PM

i would personally worry more about the magnet.
but i have mines mounted under my seat and i have yet to have problems and i live in boston pot hole heaven. yet to have any problems

Bobby Digital · 02-22-2004, 08:45 PM

what about cars with modified suspension (ie. lowering springs). My car has a pretty rough ride compared to most stock cars, should I be worried about my hard drive? Is there any way of mounting a drive so that it can absorb some of the shock, like with springs or something.

kiltjim · 02-22-2004, 08:48 PM

Magnets? What are these magnets you speak of?

(What was I thinking? I was such a moron...)

streetknight · 02-22-2004, 08:55 PM

http://www.thielaudio.com/THIEL_Web/...wocutaway.html

kiltjim · 02-22-2004, 09:17 PM

No, I knew how a speakers works. And I knew speakers put off huge magnetic fields especially if they aren't shielded in any way. (Big green spots on CRT monitors) I am such a moron to have ignored this.

Superduck · 02-22-2004, 09:19 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by deadweasel

<SNIP> As for shock protection, unless you're driving an old beat up Camaro or Fiero or something, your car's shocks should be more than adequate to keep the drive from experiencing anything beyond its specifications.

Hmmm... was that a dis at Camaro and Fiero owners?

I worked to get a solid ride. It's what I want.

(OK, admittedly, if I had the money, I'd replace my whole suspension with new stuff.)

Anyway, I agree, if you've got any sort of soft ride, you should be okay.

Cheers,

Kris

Audio Bandit · 02-22-2004, 10:25 PM

Just remebered my friend telling me about the sony reciever with the built in harddrive. Obviously they wouldnt release it if they had fears of it crashing since they do warrenty the item. If sony can do it, i think we can also.

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_g...a48f3cc6f5153f

deadweasel · 02-22-2004, 10:37 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Superduck

Hmmm... was that a dis at Camaro and Fiero owners?

I worked to get a solid ride. It's what I want.

(OK, admittedly, if I had the money, I'd replace my whole suspension with new stuff.)

Anyway, I agree, if you've got any sort of soft ride, you should be okay.

Cheers,

Kris

Not a dis. Just mentioning those since I have experience with them. Camaro Z28 and Fiero GT, both stiff as all hell. They were a helluva fun drive, but I always ended up with a sore back after a trip in them.

As for the other mention of springs, that would be a bad idea as well, since they would simply sit there and bounce, thereby eventually introducing the same harmonic resonation that a speaker can cause in the first place.

Trust me, if you want to keep your drive as safe as possible, place it so that it is mounted with the platters spinning in the same direction as the vehicle travels. This means that it should be mounted so that the label is facing the passenger side, with the top of the drive toward the front of the car. That way, if you DO experience any hard bumps, instead of crashing into the platters, the heads will simply be thrown (temporarily) off track at the very worst. The only way you could expect damage mounting that way would be if you took a direct hit to the side of the car, and at that point, I doubt you will be too concerned about the condition of the hard drive!

BrUTaL · 02-22-2004, 11:25 PM

Ok I think deadweasel has explained it enough, good job on explaining everyone how HD should be mounted.

I have 1 thing to say, just place it like deadweasel said, but most of the time HD is matter of LUCK. Because if it wasn't LUCK, why does some HD break seating still at your home desktop? And those who mount them at their cars don't have any problems. I think it is just matter of buying a HD with good warranty, if it breaks, return it and you might be lucky to get a better HD if the manufacturer doesn't make it anymore. That is what happen to one of my friend, bought a 60GB for his desktop and broke after 1 year----send it to manufacturer and gave him a 80GB cause they didnt make the 60GB anymore.

So just remember, dont be cheap to pay for an extra buck for the warranty. Pay 10-30 bucks more and get 3 year warranty on your HD. You can have the best mounting kit for your HD but you might have the worst HD. Sooo you make the decision.

I talk from experience, beside my friend I had similar problem but with CPU. I accidently burn my CPU twice!! hahaha good thing I had 3 year-warranty with AMD and this last time they gave me a BETTER CPU, from a AMD Thunderbird 1.4GHz to a AMD XP 21000! hahahaha