Is this useful to cool suspended hdd?

sanjioh · Post by **sanjioh** » Sun Aug 29, 2004 1:40 pm

Hello everybody, i've found this interesting hdd fan...do you guys think it will be useful to cool down drives suspended in 5.25" bays? We know there's not much airflow up there...

Thanks a lot!

bye

hwsboss · Post by **hwsboss** » Sun Aug 29, 2004 1:58 pm

I was going to do something like that, but, then you are adding a source of noise, thus making the suspension pointless...

sanjioh · Post by **sanjioh** » Sun Aug 29, 2004 2:02 pm

Well ok but I think that a good downvolt could solve the problem...5v should be ok to keep hdd temp between 30 and 40 Â°C....or not?

josephclemente · Post by **josephclemente** » Sun Aug 29, 2004 2:32 pm

Such a device will definitely work. But you can make it yourself and use the fan of your choice. Plus the idea can be improved on:

I am using a 92mm fan running at 5V for about 1100 RPM, below my suspended hard drive. It is pulling air through the 3.5" drive cage, which I converted into a duct.

So basically it is still working like a lower-front intake but for the 5 1/4" drive bay area.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 6:47 am

I've tried a bunch of those sort of coolers, and unless you've found the one with a fan that is actually sort of quiet, I'd strongly suggest staying away from them. Even when undervolted to 5-7V, their tiny little fans are whiney.

After fruitlessly beating my head against the wall for a while, I finally rigged up my own version of this idea, using an actually quiet L1A Panaflo:

rtsai · Post by **rtsai** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:03 am

What kind of temperature changes did you see with this setup? I tried something very similar but didn't really see any improvement. Where is your fan drawing air from? Is your 5.25" bay uncovered or something?

In my setup, I had the fan in an external 3.5" bay left uncovered to the front panel, pointing down and back at an angle at the internal 3.5" bay where the drive is mounted.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:57 am

rtsai wrote:What kind of temperature changes did you see with this setup? I tried something very similar but didn't really see any improvement.

About 8-10Â°C.

rtsai wrote:Where is your fan drawing air from?

The case itself. Apparently, any air flowing over the drive is better than none. My temps are nicely cooler with this configuration.

rtsai wrote:Is your 5.25" bay uncovered or something?

Yes, top and bottom:

rtsai · Post by **rtsai** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:19 am

Ralf Hutter wrote:
rtsai wrote:Where is your fan drawing air from?
The case itself. Apparently, any air flowing over the drive is better than none. My temps are nicely cooler with this configuration.

rtsai wrote:Is your 5.25" bay uncovered or something?
Yes, top and bottom:

I meant to ask if your 5.25" bay was uncovered as in being exposed to the outside through the front bezel, but from your response I infer that to be a "no". The reason I had done the angle thing with my fan was because (a) I didn't have any standing pins; I literally just kind of propped it up in there, and (b) I didn't think blowing air 90-degrees down at the HD would really move any air anywhere; I guess I was wrong.

Thanks; maybe I'll give this another go ...

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 11:32 am

rtsai wrote:
Ralf Hutter wrote:
rtsai wrote:Where is your fan drawing air from?
The case itself. Apparently, any air flowing over the drive is better than none. My temps are nicely cooler with this configuration.

rtsai wrote:Is your 5.25" bay uncovered or something?
Yes, top and bottom:
I meant to ask if your 5.25" bay was uncovered as in being exposed to the outside through the front bezel, but from your response I infer that to be a "no". The reason I had done the angle thing with my fan was because (a) I didn't have any standing pins; I literally just kind of propped it up in there, and (b) I didn't think blowing air 90-degrees down at the HD would really move any air anywhere; I guess I was wrong.

Thanks; maybe I'll give this another go ...

I wasn't too sure it would work either, but I'm a mobile rack fan and simply can not put up with those noisy little 40mm fans that are used for cooling airflow in almost all mobile racks. After years of fruitless experimentation trying to find some sort of 40mm fan that would run quiet, I sort of tried this as a last resort (I'm not too crazy about ghetto-modding) and I'll be damned if it didn't actually work!