Is it safe putting a Hard Disk on Foam?

kogi · Post by **kogi** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 11:28 pm

Is it safe putting a Hard Disk on Foam?
Which side?

Would the side on the foam have excessive heat?

tks
kogi

Cams · Post by **Cams** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 11:34 pm

I have a HDD sitting on foam for months, PCB side down, without any issues. It was actually the foam inserts that came with the foam kit for the Antec 3700BQE case. I think the biggest danger would be overheating so try and have some airflow over the HDD and ensure that the foam isn't too soft of fibrous and you should be okay.

Just relating my own experiences and not to be taken as advice!

kogi · Post by **kogi** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 11:37 pm

Where I'm planning to put this will not have any airflow. But the drive should be in sleep mode most of the time

k

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 1:53 am

There are plenty of methods to reduce HD vibration that don't involve foam. What you suggest will definitely cause the drive to run hotter than it should. In a location with no/low airflow, this will cause high temperatures and possible early failure. Re-consider your mount method.....

kogi · Post by **kogi** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:33 am

I know what you mean blue, I've tried suspension but these 2504's I have are a lot quieter on foam. I remounted so they have a small amount of airflow.

k

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:08 am

kogi if you're worried about airflow you can raise drive above foam, do something similar as my main rig (see sig). All you need is 4 piece bracket set from Ace Hardware, scalpel, and 5 minutes of your time.

Chocolinx · Post by **Chocolinx** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:29 am

I have my 2.5" HDD sitting on foam (acoustic foam that's padded around my case). Anyway what I did was added 4 screws to the bottom so that the PCB doesn't sit on the foam directly.

I would suggest putting the HDD at least next to a fan either exhaust or intake. A tiny bit of airflow will reduce the temps of the harddrive significantly.

wwenze · Post by **wwenze** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 4:03 pm

Since it's in sleep mode most of the time I think it'd be quite safe. Don't worry about the 2504 as I have an 2514 and can testify that they run really cool compared to old-time favourite Barracuda IV that suvived life on foam.

I prefer to put them upside-down since the bottom feels hotter than the top. And if you're still worried, you can always cut 4 foam legs and stick them.

Chocolinx · Post by **Chocolinx** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 6:54 am

If you put it upside down though, that'd be bad for it to disappate the heat, since it's top side (non-pcb side) is the heatsink itself for the drive. That's the part that needs to be cooled.

JaYp146 · Post by **JaYp146** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:18 am

I have 2 hard drives on foam in my server case, and none of them exceeds 40 C (according to Speedfan) - and I haven't heard them in a long, long while.

proc · Post by **proc** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:01 am

Chocolinx wrote:If you put it upside down though, that'd be bad for it to disappate the heat, since it's top side (non-pcb side) is the heatsink itself for the drive. That's the part that needs to be cooled.

I don't think this is right, since HD top is only a cover, while the remaining of the metal body is a single piece of metal. Putting the HD upside down shouldn't make it hotter

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 10:52 am

proc wrote:
Chocolinx wrote:If you put it upside down though, that'd be bad for it to disappate the heat, since it's top side (non-pcb side) is the heatsink itself for the drive. That's the part that needs to be cooled.
I don't think this is right, since HD top is only a cover, while the remaining of the metal body is a single piece of metal. Putting the HD upside down shouldn't make it hotter

No, it's not right....well, not exactly. The metal side does act as a heatsink for the drive, but the majority of the heat is meant to transfer through the sides, where it's hard-mounted to the case. Which is why softmounted drives run warmer, because the heat cannot be transferred away from the drive to the case. The PCB side does need to be cooled however or your drive lifetime may suffer.