SPCR

Hi

I've had a good look through a few suspension threads but can't decide on which elastic I should go for. There so many types available on ebay could any of you kind souls point out which type I should get. I'm guessing I'll only need 1-2 metres maximum ?

Ridiculously, stupid-long ebay URL shortened by moderator!!!!!

Thanks,
Marcus

Stretch Magic FTW!

I use Stretch Magic, and it works fine for me. I can't remember if I have 1.0mm or 1.5mm-- I think 1.0mm. YMMV.

Can't find any decent Stretch Magic on ebay, only bead type stuff

You could venture into a fabric store, though it is a dangerous proposition. Be prepared: there will be females.

Don't you have some type of sewing or fabric shop nearby? There must be someplace where you can get elastic cord for not much money. Ebay + shipping seems like an unnecessary waste of time and money for cord.

You didn't put a country in your profile, but if you're from the US of A, I was able to find Stretch Magic at Michael's, which is a chain craft type store.

Or if like me you are too cheap to get name brand StretchMagic and you live or know someone who lives in canada, in Dollarama stores (Everyting is a dollar), they sell a beading 1.00mm diameter elastic string which is, as far as i can tell, the exact same thing as real StretchMagic : same looking material and when compared to the same lenght and diameter stretch magic, it expands the same without breaking. (Any test to confirm it is the same material is welcome ).

You could also probably find that where you live in the same kind of store.

Or purchase sewing elastics at the nearest fabric shop as suggested.......

I'm in the UK

This one here looks like the round sewing elastic that's popular around here, not easy to tell just by looking at a pic without description but it's in the sewing section of ebay so it must be? 2.5mm is just half mm smaller than 1/8".

This one here looks like the round sewing elastic that's popular around here, not easy to tell just by looking at a pic without description but it's in the sewing section of ebay so it must be? 2.5mm is just half mm smaller than 1/8".

This kind of sewing elastic string usually has an interlaced rubber core and some kind of "clothing" material on the outside.

Using this to suspend hard drive is better than simple rubber elastic strips but in the end it WILL weaken, get loose and eventually break. If i had to suspend MY harddrive using this type of elastics, i would be sure to use a thicker/stronger one like a bungee cord like Aphonos did in his suspension system : http://www.silentpcreview.com/article109-page1.html
You can get bungee cord at any hardware store. Be prepared : there will be mostly males

Happy tinkering !

I bought my Stretch Magic from a UK eBay seller.

Just had a quick look there and some people are still selling it. Search for item number 280192666660 for an example seller. I don't remember if it's the same person who sold me mine, however!

The 1mm stuff works fine in my system.

Blacktales wrote:Using this to suspend hard drive is better than simple rubber elastic strips but in the end it WILL weaken, get loose and eventually break.

This is the 1st time I read here that clothed elastic weakens and eventually breaks. I thought that only happened with rubber O rings, like in the earlier P150, and that the clothed interlaced rubber core elastic I linked to above was THE elastic used by the SPCR staff.

Now I'm confused.

Don't be. Many people here use it indeed and for most applications it is good enough. But most of these people experiment a lot and change / modify suspension quite frequently. I haven't heard any report here on the forum of this kind of elastics breaking (at least for a HD suspension) so you should not be incomfortable to use it but .....

Clothed elastic as i said usually has an interlaced rubber core. If subjected to tension some of those strings will break eventually like rubber elastics do (and they have the same tendency to dry over long periods of time), thereby transfering the weight they used to support to others which will then break..... up to the point that all rubber strings will be severed and the only thing holding your HDs in place will be the clothing which is not strong enough to support such weights.

The thicker your clothed elastic is, the more small rubber strings in the core there are and so the less weight each one of them has to support, the better longevity your suspension system will gain. For really thick cords like bungee cord, it will take a lot of time (most probably longer than you will ever keep a computer) but it would also happen eventually. The trick is to find a string thick enough to hold for a few years, but not too much so it will not be too rigid to actually dampen vibrations, defeating the purpose of a suspension system.

So i am not saying if you use this elastic cord, it will just snap unannouced. As more and more internal strings get cut, it will extend and become looser and looser and you would probably be able to see it. But if you only open your computer once every few years, that could be a problem and you should now it is not an "extremely" durable solution.

For the few months i've been using stretchmagic, i noticed it does not tend to dry (at least not as quickly as basic rubber) and does not get loose or gets stretch marks as tension is sustained. Even then, i'm using the thickest type 1.8mm and it sure did silence my drive a lot. Even though the thing is strong as hell, i am too paranoid about my data to dare use a smaller diameter, even if it means saving 1 more dB.

Some notes:

Stretch Magic never breaks or loosens.

The original rubber suspension system on Antec's P150 would loosen and break within a year.

The replacement cloth band system on the P150 and the Solo loosens, but does not break. It isn't nearly as secure as Stretch Magic or the previous band system, however. Drives will sag on one end if there is any cable tension.

Any advice on diameter size?

1mm?
1,5mm?
2,5mm?

The bigger the better?


p.s. To women: please don't answer, your advice would be biased ( )

For everyone who wrote that clothing elastic will break: Have you experienced such a break? I've been using mostly round cross section 2~3mm clothing elastic for years and years, in umpteen different configurations, and I've never had one break under use. Maybe it's because I use them more sensibly.... but more likely it's because these things are just about impossible to break with only the weight/tension of a hard drive, even with age.

If stretched taut under much tension, some of the multiple strands of rubber in the core may break, but the external woven cloth is very strong and will not break.

The key to safe no-maintenance clothing elastic suspension is....
1) don't apply very high tension. Instead, for security...
2) use multiple loops, and
3) use sleeves over the sections that might be subject to rubbing against sharp edges

The minimum number of loops you can use is 2. For 3.5" drives, it's easy to use 3 loops, and even one more loop front to back (in some setups). For 2.5" drives, you never really need more than 2 loops, they're so light.

The tension should be high enough so the drive doesn't slip off easily with a bump, but not so tight that it's taut like a drum skin. You can tell when it's too tight -- some of the vibrations from a high vibe drive will in fact make their way into the chassis if the elastic is too tight.

Jeff Cutsinger wrote:You could venture into a fabric store, though it is a dangerous proposition. Be prepared: there will be females.

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For everyone who wrote that clothing elastic will break: Have you experienced such a break?

Yep ! Clothing elastic did break once when supporting one of my HDs (1.5 years after installation).

Granted it was one of those cheap and thin (1.5mm) elastic clothed in a way you actually see the white rubber strands inside if you pull too tightly but it did break and the clothing could not support the HD. Luckily there was a layer of foam at the bottom and no damage to the HD could be detected. (The computer was probably off when it happened)

Then again it is possible it was slowly attacked by the non filed and non grommeted hole i made in the HD cage........ Now I put grommets everytime to be sure.

I first switched to thicker bungee cord (which works quite well nonetheless) and then to stretch magic (with the best results so far) and never had a problem with either of them so far.