Foam/Sponge touching drive electronics = bad?

anthonysimilion · Post by **anthonysimilion** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:22 am

I've got some foam/sponge pieces - and thinking of resting the hard drive on top of the foam/sponge.

Is there any risk with the foam touching the bottom of the Samsung drive - i.e. the electronics/circuit board?

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 4:11 am

Depends what the electrical/fire rating of the foam is.

atomidude · Post by **atomidude** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 4:23 am

don't think there's any risk as long as the sponge is dry

the only problem doing that could be bad cooling, that's all

anthonysimilion · Post by **anthonysimilion** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 5:19 am

There's going to be a fan blowing over the top of the drive. Well, I probably won't take the risk.

Post by **Rusty075** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 5:34 am

There are plenty of people here who have been running drives sitting foam for literally years..if there was an issue, we'd of heard about it by now.

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 6:08 am

I simply put the drive upside down. Now nothing touches the electronics. Since the bottom of a drive is hotter than the top, it cools better too.

tay · Post by **tay** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 6:43 am

Tibors wrote:I simply put the drive upside down. Now nothing touches the electronics. Since the bottom of a drive is hotter than the top, it cools better too.

\\o
\o/
o//
I do the same thing. I have used it right side up too but prefer upside down now. If you're still paranoid, you can test the foam with a multimeter which has fresh batteries.

I Should Coco · Post by **I Should Coco** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 6:47 am

Tibors wrote:I simply put the drive upside down. Now nothing touches the electronics. Since the bottom of a drive is hotter than the top, it cools better too.

This is an immensly poor idea - in many cases manufacturers specify the orientation of drives and the specs I have read said all possible ways of mounting EXCEPT upside down. The drive head floats on a film of air just above the magnetic surface and inverting the precise relationship will ( I imagine) increase load (and therefore wear) on the read/write arm.

Coco

flyingsherpa · Post by **flyingsherpa** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 7:12 am

my drive rests on two slices of sorbothane. they are thin and long so they only touch the outer edges of the bottom of the drive... so nothing is in contact with the bottom electronics. then i set the whole thing on a flat piece of foam. this is mainly because the sorbo is sticky stuff and i don't like 'peeling' my drive off the case floor whenever i need to move it. though it probably does some further damping too. a nice bonus is that there is a channel for airflow both over and under the drive since the sorbo elevates the drive above the foam.

IceWindius · Post by **IceWindius** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 7:34 am

My twin Seagates are are resting on dual layers of foam on the edges of the drive and no problems so far. Plenty of airflow for them after I did the Sonata intake modifications

tabbal · Post by **tabbal** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 7:48 am

I Should Coco wrote:
Tibors wrote:I simply put the drive upside down. Now nothing touches the electronics. Since the bottom of a drive is hotter than the top, it cools better too.
This is an immensly poor idea - in many cases manufacturers specify the orientation of drives and the specs I have read said all possible ways of mounting EXCEPT upside down. The drive head floats on a film of air just above the magnetic surface and inverting the precise relationship will ( I imagine) increase load (and therefore wear) on the read/write arm.

Coco

Is that a fact or a WILD GUESS?

You can mount a drive any way you like without any "ill" and/or "side" effect!!!!!!

.

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 8:36 am

I Should Coco wrote:The drive head floats on a film of air just above the magnetic surface and inverting the precise relationship will ( I imagine) increase load (and therefore wear) on the read/write arm.

Have thought about the other half of all the drive heads? You know, the ones that are positioned under the platters.

As I have pointed out several times now in these forums:
Not so long ago*, when almost all PC's were desktop models and the technology progressed from 5.25" HD's to 3.5" HD's, the majority of the 3.5" HD's were mounted on their sides to the left of the 5.25" drivebays. Seagate has stated for a long time that any right angle to gravity is OK for mounting a HD. And there are enough people who think that those right angles are not even necessary with modern FDB and notebook drives.

To recap: There is nothing wrong with putting your drive upside down

* I try not to feel like I am getting old.