Hard drive heat issue?

miztahsparklez · 07-12-2005, 05:37 PM

ok, my media drive is a standard 3.5" drive 7200rpm segate 160 gb in a vantec nextar enclosure. now i modified the enclosure to have some heatsinks and fans, which work great when im in the car driving around and whatever for cooling the drive. however, when the car has been sitting in the sun all day, i believe the drive gets way too hot, causing my music to skip, or sometimes the drive disappears completely, until you cool it down and then plug it back in. is there anyway to fix this?

PatO · 07-12-2005, 07:35 PM

Ya - take all that ***** off. It's holding in heat and makes the drive MORE difficult to cool! My bare drive is sitting out in the open (tinted windows, granted) and it always works. (it's been up to 95f here this week)

Like you said, when running it works fine. But also like you said, when it's off, it gets too hot. Take off those warm jackets and the drive will be fine. Even the case - plastic is an excellent insulator. Try putting it in the shade.

miztahsparklez · 07-12-2005, 09:03 PM

actually the drive would get too hot while driving. and then in turn shut down. the actual panels of the enclosure is a thin piece of aluminum. so i dont know what i should do...

jcdillin · 07-12-2005, 09:37 PM

where do you have the computer? and where do you live?

PatO · 07-12-2005, 09:44 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by miztahsparklez

actually the drive would get too hot while driving. and then in turn shut down. the actual panels of the enclosure is a thin piece of aluminum. so i dont know what i should do...

And does that panel provide a gap between it and the hdd? INSULATOR. You now have to cool the air between the hdd and the case - good luck. Those heat sinks won't do you a lick of good unless they're pressed up tightly against a source of heat.

livewire · 07-12-2005, 09:47 PM

is it a barracuda 7200.7 160 gb model# st3160023a

Anarchi · 07-13-2005, 09:55 PM

Try rigging up a 6" Case Fan in the machine to blow over the HDD. Or simply use the Air Conditioning on hot days.

miztahsparklez · 07-14-2005, 01:37 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by PatO

And does that panel provide a gap between it and the hdd? INSULATOR. You now have to cool the air between the hdd and the case - good luck. Those heat sinks won't do you a lick of good unless they're pressed up tightly against a source of heat.

actually one side the side with the copper heatsink is in complete contact with the top of the drive. the other heatsink/fan is bolted directly onto the back of the hard drive. as its supposed to be a "harddrive cooler". in original configuration the side where the blue heatsink is, is just some plastic and then another metal cover goes on top. however, in stock configuration the drive would overheat in a semi hot day.

yes i believe that is the model number. is there known issues with this?

PatO · 07-14-2005, 07:52 PM

Does it lock up without all that stuff on it? I'm going to assume so, otherwise you wouldn't have used it.

Asuming so, I will point out that the subject of overheating hdd's has never been discussed (to my knowledge). I would suggest you investigate other problems - such as inadequate ventilation, an extremely warm compartment, or direct sun exposure.
Do any of those apply?

livewire · 07-14-2005, 07:53 PM

not That im aware of, but I have that same drive. put a small heat sink on the TI chip closes to the spindle motor (Zalman VGA Ram Heatsinks (8), Model "ZM-RS1, the one I used) had to modify it some to fit.(used a Grinder to taper the edges of the base plate) you could go all out and put one on the other 2 chip and please dont ask why
good luck let me know if you still have problems. also remove that other crap.

miztahsparklez · 07-14-2005, 08:02 PM

yes it does lock up.. while driving. hwoever if the drive now starts up ok.. it will usually stay on for hours on end. until you shut it off. and the surrounding air heats it up again.

i drive a coupe so i have a hatch in the back. the only thing covering it is a black cloth cover. the computer starts up fine, and i have a hitachi Deathstar laptop drive on there. thats surviving the heat just fine. i run the AC when its hot. but apparently .. if the drive is too hot before it turns on. the drive wont even come up at all, until you cool it down.

the trunk is just as hot as the rest of the car. my amps are surviving in the spare tire well..

i will try the heatsink idea on the chip. but how do you have your drive mounted? in free air?

livewire · 07-14-2005, 08:09 PM

in a case with the heat sinks down.

edit: with an IDE cable

PatO · 07-14-2005, 08:31 PM

Get a new drive.
Sounds like yours is a lemon....

My drive is in a case with a case fan, but the ps wires block most air flow from it. I'd suggest you try a different drive. Swap it with one from your home machine for a bit...

miztahsparklez · 07-14-2005, 08:33 PM

whats funny is that the drive works fine at home. and stays ice cold while in the house with the heatsinks. all the drives in my pc at home are SATA, so that wont work. ill try to get a different drive in there to see if it does anything if the small heatsink plan doesnt work.