Vibrating Hard Disks!

[Pikey 0]

I hate to disgace this forum with a complaint as trivial as this, but here goes:

 

I have recently installed a second IBM IDE 30.7GB Deskstar HDD to complement my existing drive. It's a good fast disk and the noise it make while in action is reasonably quiet compared to some others. So read/write noise is not a problem...so?

 

The problem is that the two disks combined produce an unholy reverberation within the case. It sounds like a Buddhist "om", i kid you not. If the noise was constant i could probably deal with it but it rises and falls, and i'm seriously finding it hard to take.

 

At first i thought it was a vibration from a failing CPU fan or loose PSU, but that's not the case. It's bizarre. In isolation neither disk produces a noise like this - but together!

 

Anyway, what i'm after is: has anyone got any tips for reducing this sort of intense ambient racket? I have heard that sticking a great glob of BluTack on to a disk can help reduce vibrations between the disk and the case, but i'm not keen to put putty on a hard disk - you know how warm these things get!

 

Oh, the case isn't at fault here as i've previously run a Quantum disk in tandem with the IBM, but that became too full.

 

Any practical suggestions, or shall i just invest in a pair of ear mufflers?

 

Willing myself deaf....

 

Pikey

[DeadCats 0]

Sounds like a little harmonic inbalance.

 

If it were me, I'd probably try some good 3M insulating electrical tape. The stuff I'm thinking of is substantially thicker than normal 3M electrical tape, and would tend to help soften any vibration. This is stuff you'll probably need to get from an electrical supply house, I'd guess.

 

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"Being married to a programmer is like owning a cat. You talk to it but you're never really sure it hears you, much less comprehends what you say." -DeadCats, 1999

[Ge0ph 0]

DeadCats, that's a good sugestion, better then what I thought of. I was just going to have him send me the extra hard drive. That way I would have more disk space and he would have less OMMMMMMMM.

[Pikey 0]

Dear GeOph (Or may i call you Geoff? Or is that too square?)

 

Fantastic solution! You send me £150 pound sterling and the damn thing is yours!

 

Do you think you can convert that into hardfast currency dollars-wise?

 

Apart from that; and i am sure that 3M have all the answers; but how exactly do i apply this tape, and where? Will this tape roughly equal the cost of an insulated server case or should i just take Geoff's advice?

 

May the farce be with you

 

Pikey

[DeadCats 0]

Pikey, I have no idea the interior arrangement of your case, but I would ***ume there is some sort of rack or cage you installed the HDD's into. That being the case, I'd apply strips of the 3M tape to any of the HDD's exterior surfaces that contact metal. The tape is not that expensive. Probably somewhere in the <$10 range nowadays.

 

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"Being married to a programmer is like owning a cat. You talk to it but you're never really sure it hears you, much less comprehends what you say." -DeadCats, 1999

[ThC 129 0]

well this sounds kinda stupid...but have you screwed all 4 screws into the HDs into the case. If they are all screwed in the they shouldnt vibrate??

[clutch 1]

I used Dynamat for my case due to fan noise. It is vibration damping material normally used in vehicles to lower the noise floor. I got 2 sheets for $15US at Best Buy. You can find the stuff at any car audio place though. I just put a sheet on each of the side panels, and half a sheet on the interior floor of the case. No more noise.

 

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Regards,

 

clutch

[BladeRunner 0]

I think the quality of case you have has a lot to do with this.

I have a SuperMicro Mini-Tower and 2x 30GB ATA-100 IBM Units.

I get no vibration or noise at all.

The only thing you can hear from my machine is the slight hum of the power-supply and CPU fan's.

[Pikey 0]

Hi

 

Thanks to you all for the input.

 

Ok, first off, the hard disks are absolutely secured. In fact i've filled all six screws. Hell, that could be the problem!

 

The case is a Vasco Midi Tower. A fine case as far as i am concerned. I first thought that the vibration was caused by the hidden drive bays that sit underneath the removable ones, as they are open. I guessed that it was acting as a sort of tuning fork to enhance the vibrations. It wasn't.

 

I can't fault the case as it worked fine with no "ommmms" when i had the Quantum disk set as secondary master. Soooo, it's just another of those incompatibility issues you get with the PC being a free platform i suppose.

 

Previous to this case i had an Enlight Micro case that produced no vibrations whatsoever, but then i only had room for the one disk back then.

 

I've since disconnected the second IBM and there are no vibes now at all. This isn't much of a solution as a badly need the extra 30GB, and after all i have paid for it.

 

What i am saying is that i don't want to fork out for another case only to find that i have the same problem, particularly as this Vasco case absorbs the read/write racket very well.

 

Hell, maybe that is the problem, because the vibes are an ambient sound coming from within the case - no single part is vibrating.

 

Or maybe i just have a duff HDD?

 

Thanks anyway.

 

Pikey

[Pikey 0]

Hi

 

Okay, Deadcats (why on earth did you come up with that name? I like my cat "live" thank you!) But, yep you where right about insulating the disks, so hats off to you.

 

I experimented with some foam tape that i've had lying around since a promotion that my company ran recently (to hold up signs, if you want to know) and i lined the removable sides of my tower case with the stuff. I also stuck some onto the sides of the drive cage and voila! No more bad vibes!

 

Amazing. I guess it was the damn case after all...Doesn't explain the Quantum but maybe my pulling the case apart on a regular basis has loosened something somewhere?

 

Anyway. i must doff my hat to Bandit at www.tomshardware.com community for some fantastic and technically detailed guidance on this one,(in fact that site has got to be the mecca for hardware probs) but all the same Deadcats, you were right on the money here and i thank you.

 

Have a top Xmas/Hannukah etc.

 

Cheers

 

Pikey