Is it safe putting a Hard Disk on Foam?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
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!
Just relating my own experiences and not to be taken as advice!
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- Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 6:53 pm
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 hotterChocolinx 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.
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.proc wrote: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 hotterChocolinx 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.