Antec Solo hard disk suspension elastic problems?

[soujir0u]

I've only been using my Antec Solo for about 6 months and already the hard disk suspension elastic has gone all loose.

Luckily, I noticed it while removing the front filters for cleaning. My 3.5'' disk was barely hanging on at an extreme angle. Even the elastic holding my 2.5'' SSD had gone all loose.

Is this a normal thing with the Solo?

I am now forced to use the HDD trays, which makes the system noticeably noisier...

[andymcca]

I've not had my solo for long, so I can't speak to the longevity of the elastic, but:
Out of curiosity, how half-turns did you twist the elastic before inserting the drives? I've been debating how I want this to be done, and worry that extra twists may shorten the lives of the cords.

[MikeC]

It's so easy to replace the original elastic, guys.

Just go into any sewing shop, ask for elastics. There will be spools of many different types. Choose one that looks/feels right to you -- get a couple meters for under $1/m. Cut a piece of the right length, knot it in a loop & thread it through the mounting anchors in the Solo. If too loose/tight -- adjust or try a different length/loop till it is right.

IMO, there's no need for more that two twists in the elastic cord on each side of the drive.

[soujir0u]

I used two twists for the 3.5'' drive. I can't remember for the 2.5'', might have been the same or one more twist.

[quest_for_silence]

Is this a normal thing with the Solo?

IME not in just six months.

[Narud]

I agree with quest_for_silence, it is not normal in just six months. The elastics get loose, they have in my case, but it was like after two years.

But as MikeC says, it's really easy to replace them. I did the same as he said, went to a sewing shop and bought the ones I thought would fit best. And up to now no problem and I haven't notice any different.

[hbm]

Scrunchies, girls. Scrunchies work the best.

Where did I get mine? Oh, the neighborhood drug store, in the hair products section--with clips, etc.. The Scrunchies were fairly long so had a loop of 4 lines at each span, a double loop. I think I had a bundle of 10 for $2 or $3. Pretty colors.

Scrunchies stretch, too. The original Antec rubbers fell apart by two years of 24/7 operation. My hard drives were piled on the floor of the case. Note: Ozone is hard on rubber. You could probably solve the problem using chord and screws.

[vitaminc]

Just replace those or dont suspend them...

Stock robberband is junk and wears out very fast.

And Solo is a very bad case if you plan to use your comouter for a while. Its noisy like hell after a year even with clean up. Degrades fast. P180 was a much much better investment.

Had both for 5 years.

[Wibla]

And Solo is a very bad case if you plan to use your comouter for a while. Its noisy like hell after a year even with clean up. Degrades fast. P180 was a much much better investment.

Had both for 5 years.

Could you elaborate a bit on this? I have a hard time understanding the logic behind this statement.

[vitaminc]

And Solo is a very bad case if you plan to use your comouter for a while. Its noisy like hell after a year even with clean up. Degrades fast. P180 was a much much better investment.

Had both for 5 years.

Could you elaborate a bit on this? I have a hard time understanding the logic behind this statement.

Build quality of Solo is much lower than P180 (at least almost 5 years ago); relatively more flimsy, rougher internal edges, etc.

Maintenance wise, dust buildup for Solo is also somehow faster. Front fan cleanup is much less convenient. Detailed cleanup with suspended HDD is a pain in the butt. Shiny piano paint surface is also harder to maintain.

All in all, good case for the first few months then its silence profile degrades fairly fast compare to P180. And yes, I have Solo since Feb 06 and P180 since Aug 06, both sitting in the same room.

[quest_for_silence]

then its silence profile degrades fairly fast

How and why (I own a Solo from 2007, a P182 from 2008, and also Mini P180)?

[vitaminc]

then its silence profile degrades fairly fast

How and why (I own a Solo from 2007, a P182 from 2008, and also Mini P180)?

Purely on faster dust build up on harder to clean case.

[quest_for_silence]

Purely on faster dust build up on harder to clean case.

Due to my limited english comprehension, it does not accord too much well with your previous state:

Its noisy like hell after a year even with clean up. Degrades fast.

IME the Solo isn't at all "noisy like hell", not even after 4 years (even if it has its own limits/restrictions).
And referring to a somehow typical setup, with any videocard under 100-110W DC, no more than two hard drives, and a single exhaust fan, it's IME/IMO quieter (and so to me a more worthy investment) than any Antec Performance enclosure (not to mention any other else).

[vitaminc]

Purely on faster dust build up on harder to clean case.

Due to my limited english comprehension, it does not accord too much well with your previous state:

Its noisy like hell after a year even with clean up. Degrades fast.

IME the Solo isn't at all "noisy like hell", not even after 4 years (even if it has its own limits/restrictions).
And referring to a somehow typical setup, with any videocard under 100-110W DC, no more than two hard drives, and a single exhaust fan, it's IME/IMO quieter (and so to me a more worthy investment) than any Antec Performance enclosure (not to mention any other else).

My setup is different. On board graphics but with 7 HDD (originally 3 suspended) and both front and back fan.

The dust accumulation is everywhere, not solvable with just cleaning front dust filter or simple dust off. The whole case has to be disambled to rid of dusts.

And the plastic front panel is prone to breakdown. My reset switch and one of the USB was bent/broke after 3 years.

[quest_for_silence]

On board graphics but with 7 HDD (originally 3 suspended) and both front and back fan.

IMO all those drives are just not suitable to fit in a Solo, a more conventional tower could have worked better, and the front intake fan exacerbate the issue.
With reference to a file server, I think that you should be right, probably a Performance enclosure is more capable: but just this fact doesn't make by itself the Solo a bad case, just not well suited for that role, IMO.

And the plastic front panel is prone to breakdown. My reset switch and one of the USB was bent/broke after 3 years.

This is the well known Solo's Achille's heel...

[wayner]

I just had this problem as well. My PC would not boot, after opening it up I noticed that one of the hard drives had stretched the elastic and was resting on the bottom of the case - perhaps it was shorting out some of the connectors? I pulled this HDD out of the case, stood it on end and rebooted without problem.

How often should you replace the elastics? If I wanted to move away from suspending them then what do I have to do? It doesn't look like the HDD cage has the normal screw holes for hard drives.

[quest_for_silence]

How often should you replace the elastics?

Yearly: put some foam under the disks, so if they should fall, they would hit softly.

[Freeco]

I have my Solo for about 5 years now. Yes, the rubber suspension got quite stretched after a year or 2, but I then gave them a twist or 2 and remounted the same ones back in Like most users I guess, I only mount 1 HDD, so there are some to spare anyway.

The power button broke 2 years back. But it's still usable though. It's just the plastic that was glued/melted to the door that came loose. As long as it's only 1 of the 2 sides, it's not a blocking issue. You don't see it's broking, you only feel it when pushing the button. It's looser than before.
I tried gluing it back with superglue but it'll come back off after a while.

It seems it's a weakness of Antec cases. The power button also broke after a month on my father's (cheaper) Antec case. Don't want to RMA it for that though, as I would have to spend the time to disassemble and reassemble the parts, drive to the store, maybe wait for a new case etc...