SERIOUS Vibration Insulation

BladeUK · 11-08-2005, 12:21 PM

Hi Gents,

I need advice on how to insulate as best as possible, an In-Car PC and Hard Disk from extreme vibration...

The PC will be installed in what would be the boot are of a large hatchback, with the rear seats removed, and replaced with a large subwoofer enclosure going right up to the B pillars...

The PC will sit behind this "speaker wall" at the back of the car...

So, how can I insulate the case and sensitive components from vibration? My thoughts so far...

- Use a bootable Flash Media drive for O/S and programs

- Use a 2.5" Laptop harddrive for storing movies/music etc

- Make an birch-ply case for the motherboard and components

- Sit this inside another, larger case, which will be lined with closed cell foam to give a snug fit

Any other suggestions? I'm worried about scapping hard drives regularly or the OS crashing due to the loud speaker system in the car...

Cheers

Rich

phc · 11-08-2005, 10:06 PM

Use what the military uses to isolate avionics from shock and vibration, Barry Mounts.

Link: http://www.surplussales.com/Cab-Rack...hockmount.html

(RPS) L22-BA-0.7

I've used them in BattleBots for 3 years, work great and fairly cheap. They do take up room and you will need to get 4 of them.

WxGuy1 · 11-09-2005, 12:06 AM

That particular model says it supports 0.4-0.77 lbs each. So for 4, that's only a max of about 3.1lbs, right? Most computers weigh more than that... or am I misunderstanding what that weight rating represents?

miztahsparklez · 11-09-2005, 05:36 AM

theres multiple ones on that site. 20-30 lbs. 50+ etc.

i made a case out of a old hp removable motherboard tray, glued it to a fiberglass mold and that was that. lol. my pci slots need to be secured somehow though. i gotta figure out how its going to work. i glued the harddrive to teh fiberglass. as well as the power supply.

its been running like this since january with very minute problems. mostly because of the hard drive i used was a old crappy laptop drive. i have an exernal 3.5" HD pushing 160gb with 26000 mp3's no problem. the 3.5" is mounted flat to my floor. i had it standing up before but the place i mounted it now wont allow it to be mounted upright anymore.

btw.. i have 2kW RMS feeding my stereo. so its not exactly like im running little bitty stereo system.

ElKeeed · 11-09-2005, 06:13 AM

Speaker vibration is nothing to hard drives and such.

BladeUK · 11-09-2005, 11:47 AM

Very helpful stuff Gents, nice one...

It'll be a large system doing 155dB+ @ 40-50hz, 4 15" subs with around 12Kw RMS power meaning that a lot of protection is needed!

I'm looking to run/boot the OS off flashmedia... Any reccomendations on the viability of this?

I'd like to keep the 2.5" hard drive in a 2.5" -> 3.5" dampening case, then pop this 3.5" block into an external USB case for quick removal from the car...

This does mean that another power supply would be needed to the case, is there a way around this at all?

Cheers
Rich

miztahsparklez · 11-09-2005, 02:02 PM

the external drive will need a power supply. why a laptop drive though?

i believe what i have now can push 140+ db in my custom tuned vented enclosure. with 12kw rms id be more woried about supplying your computer with enough power without huge voltage drops. voltage drops will cause the computer to crash more so than the vibrations would.

BladeUK · 11-12-2005, 01:47 PM

I was planning on using a Laptop drive as they are more tollerant of vibrations?

Can external 2.5" drives not be powered by USB? This would make things a lot easier!

Power supply isn't a problem, there will be an additional bank of batteries in the boot to keep voltage up...

Cheers
Rich

miztahsparklez · 11-12-2005, 06:45 PM

not exactly.. they both are quite similar when they are moving. but laptops may have higher tolerances when they are off. in either case, save yourself some money and get a bigger and faster drive. i use a seagate 7200rpm drive.

try putting a capacitor in line with the computer power supply. that way it will keep the voltage going to teh computer at a somewhat constant rate instead of having spikes all over the place.

phc · 11-13-2005, 12:39 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by WxGuy1

That particular model says it supports 0.4-0.77 lbs each. So for 4, that's only a max of about 3.1lbs, right? Most computers weigh more than that... or am I misunderstanding what that weight rating represents?

Your weight calculation is correct. Barrymounts are/were made in a wide range of weight ranges, if you look around you will be able to find a wider variety of parts.

If you are in the Burbank area, you can go to Apex electronics, they have boxes of these things. http://www.apexelectronic.com/

Tim Lake · 06-13-2006, 05:29 AM

If you go with your plan of padding the box inside another box you might have some heat dissipation problems.

Peoples · 06-13-2006, 06:25 AM

if you search the form, this has been discussed over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. Basically tons of people on here have had their harddrives go through hell, and have had no problems. I've driven on 10 miles of gravel road with my system right near the sub, no problems. People have been in accidents, their computer still running solid...etc. My hdd does have shock absorbant mounts, but their main purpose if to limin vibration noise between the hdd and the cooling bracket I have on there. The mounts came with my hdd mount.

Pic of the mounts
http://www.azpoint.net/img/articoli/...C2/Gommini.JPG
the hdd cooler itself
http://images.google.com/images?q=za...&start=40&sa=N

hunterius · 06-13-2006, 04:39 PM

what about this?

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=77978

TheLandYacht · 06-13-2006, 07:00 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by BladeUK

- Make an birch-ply case for the motherboard and components

- Sit this inside another, larger case, which will be lined with closed cell foam to give a snug fit

Actually, the box-within-a-box idea sounds like a reasonable idea. Define closed-cell foam...are you talkin upholstery cushioning? That sounds like a great idea...gotta keep ventilation in mind though.