P180 hard disk grommets melted

soujir0u · Post by **soujir0u** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:42 pm

I was replacing my hard disk with a new one when I noticed that all 4 rubber grommets that the hard disk was attached to were wet and sticky. It seems like they have melted...

Both sides of the grommets were like that. They have also left a sticky stain around the screw holes of the hard disk.

The other grommets that aren't in use are fine. This is the drive bay that's in the PSU chamber. The chamber fan has been removed. The PSU is a S12 430W.

Is this normal? How high a temperature are these grommets supposed to withstand?

wim · Post by **wim** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:44 pm

funny

can you post a photo?

zorrt · Post by **zorrt** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:26 am

hehe I think I have the same problem. Just never ended with a conclusion like yours.

I have the same power supply as you and the standard tricool fan on low in the middle, drive temps of the 2 hdd i have there are generally 40-41 degrees and my gromets are tacky already. Without the fan running drive temps soared to 47degrees.

DerLjubljana · Post by **DerLjubljana** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 11:01 am

zorrt wrote:...I have the same power supply as you and the standard tricool fan on low in the middle...

How can you stand that fan? Even on low, that thing is a beast! I have a 92mm Nexus (@5V ie. silent) mounted on the bottom and even that seems excessive for cooling just hard drives (even if they're suspended).

As for the melting grommets, I don't know the melting point of those, but I'm sure it's a lot higher than the temperature that a hard drive would die at. If they are wet and sticky when cool, that would imply that they aren't melting, although I have no idea what could cause that to happen.

soujir0u · Post by **soujir0u** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 1:51 am

wim wrote:funny can you post a photo?

It didn't look any different, just felt wet and sticky.

DerLjubljana wrote:As for the melting grommets, I don't know the melting point of those, but I'm sure it's a lot higher than the temperature that a hard drive would die at. If they are wet and sticky when cool, that would imply that they aren't melting, although I have no idea what could cause that to happen.

They aren't wet now, but still feels a bit sticky.

bobkoure · Post by **bobkoure** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 6:19 am

Are all the grommets that seem melted on the same hard drive? What about the other grommets you got with this case - even the ones you've never used?
This sounds like improperly cured silicone, and I'd at least email Antec, telling them I thought that I might have faulty grommets and see if they'd replace 'em.

soujir0u · Post by **soujir0u** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 12:25 am

bobkoure wrote:Are all the grommets that seem melted on the same hard drive? What about the other grommets you got with this case - even the ones you've never used?
This sounds like improperly cured silicone, and I'd at least email Antec, telling them I thought that I might have faulty grommets and see if they'd replace 'em.

Yes, the grommets that have the problem are on the same hard disk. The unused ones seem fine.

oldabelincoln · Post by **oldabelincoln** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:51 am

I've seen this behavior on other silicone items.

I have an old (ca. 4 or 5 years) Sony universal / programmable TV remote that gradually became less and less responsive on the keys that were used the most - channel up and down and volume up and down. Disassembly showed that there was what looked like a sheet of silicone rubber involved, and it was wet and sticky in places, notably the keys mentioned above.

I assumed that some diet coke had somehow spilled and was the culprit, and cleaned it and reassembled. Within a month, the symptoms returned, and this time, I knew that nothing had spilled. It looked the same as before. This time I cleaned it again with a special eye towards cleaning the heavilky used locations with care, and after 6 months, it hasn't reurned. I'm not sure why a more careful cleaning should matter, but it did.

Apparently under repeated stress, silicone rubber (assuming that that is what we've got in both the remote and the grommets) emits a sticky, wet substance. The only conjecture that matches the behavior of my remote is that there is a limited amount of such liquid in any item, and that after repeated cleanings, the wet and sticky stuff has been exhausted in my case.

I'm certainly open to other theories...

fresh · Post by **fresh** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 9:28 am

Do you have computer in the same room as lets say.... laborattory? Accids could melt it, other than that, I thought silicone is ressistant to high temperatures, or is it rubber they are putting in the case?

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 12:13 pm

That reminds me I should definitely check mine.

Rubber deteriorates over time, especially in a hot and humid environment. I've had my share of sticky remotes, rubber sidings on my razer mice are also deteriorating so I wouldn't be surprised if antec rubber gaskets will also deteriorate over time.

This is the price you pay for silence. The only real issues I have with this is that 1) gasket may fail completely thus compromising data integrity on a drive as it rattles inside the cage, although the risk is much much smaller than with rubber suspension in P150 and 2) that we can't freely buy replacement gaskets, which might become a problem in the future.