Second HDD, possible heat issue

[Nowhere]

Yeah, I should be fine...temparatures usually stabilize at ~44°C...

Thanks for help.

[Dr Mordrid]

FTIW I have 6 Maxtor HDD's in my main editing rig without heat issues, but then I have 2 fans blowing right on the stack with the air flow going between them.

Dr. Mordrid

[Wombat]

HDs will work just fine below their max-rated temperature, but high temperatures are still likely to accelerate the drive's aging. If you want them to last a good long time, keep them cooler.

The primary way a HD vents its heat is through the metal sides of the drive. The top plate doesn't have much contact with the hot parts, and the bottom circuit board is also fairly isolated. So, the downside of using those rubber isolating grommets (which I love) is that they raise the HD temp a few degrees because the HD loses its conduction to the HD rack.

The best solution for this is to mount the hard drives in a 5" bay, in a heatsink expander. Seagate makes a kickass one, that tends to lower HD temp by 10C with just a low amount of air over it. Then you can isolate THAT from the chassis.

[Nowhere]

If it wouldn't be too much hassle, could you post the link/info/anything to this Seagate "heatsink expander"? It is totally unknown to me (never seen it here) and I also somehow didn't find it on Seagate site (probably because in cafe riht now...)

[Wombat]

Not anytime soon, no. I'm not sure it's something sold in stores. It's something they sell rather cheaply to people who use their HDs in other products - especially PVRs and stuff.

[Nowhere]

Hmm...typical - something great that's impossible to find.

Anyway, could you, still, give me name/photo/link to specs/anything when you'll have time?
Perhaps it can be find on some auctions etc...

[Wombat]

Hmm...typical - something great that's impossible to find.

Anyway, could you, still, give me name/photo/link to specs/anything when you'll have time?
Perhaps it can be find on some auctions etc...

I've only seen them in real life. We played with them a bit here, and I saw a bunch of them when I toured Seagate's engineering labs.

[Nowhere]

Oh well, too bad...

PS. OTOH...when you'll be touring Seagate's labs again?

[Nowhere]

You know...my cousin and uncle are a toolmakers/locksmiths, and another uncle operates computer controlled millers, etc. (probably the last one is the way to go...). So I could probably make something good and cheaply...
Initial concept below, top view (relax, I can do better - I know how to do technical drawing, just don't have any software for this here or a scanner )
Wombat, I understand you play with this things daily...could you assist a bit?
Let see...
I assume the material must be strong enough, not too heavy and highly thermally conductive (and cheap - and BTW, I don't care much about aesthetics). I'm sure my uncle will be able to suggest something...but do you have any suggestions?
The real question...what do you suggest as a dimensions/spacing of cooling fins? I assume also that the thickness of the part to which they are attached would have to harmonize with dimension of fins...
Also, as you can see, the whole thing is actually 4 parts, with the supporting 2 at both ends made so that they can be screwed in place with certain factor of variability...I gather this is easier then maintaining strict tolerances in one-part-design so the drive will have good contact with radiators...or perhaps they aren't so bad?
BTW, are you able to post quickly (form memory perhaps? ) dimensions with tolernaces for screw placing, for the HDD? Anyway, I would be surpised if this couldn't be easily found on Seagate's site...
Thanks for any help/suggestions...

[gt40]

I am assuming you are sandwiching the sides of the HD with the heatsinks?
or is it the top and bottom?
If you are really considering custom manufacturing these, then your best bet is aluminum - fairly inexpensive, very light and good heat dissipation qualities.
try to use a good quality (ie 6061 T6) as pure aluminum presents it's own problems for machining.
In terms of practicality, you would should keep the space between the fins at about 1/8" or about 3mm - cutters smaller than this are fairly weak and require a higher rpm machine. I have cut my own heat sinks for some custom apps, and kept the fin width and spacing at about 1/8" and they seem to work well.
you will be limited to about a 1/2" depth for the fins, just due to practical cutter limitations.

Most heat sinks are either cast or extruded, so my recommendation would be to find a larger heat sink off of some old amplifier or power supply etc, saw cut it, and then machine it to the required size pop some mounting holes in it.

I'm sure I could get some dimensions on holes spacing/sizes if you need them

[Wombat]

Nope, can't give you any numbers for mechanical tolerance. I don't know them.

You'll just want contact on the sides, and the fins should probably expect horizontal, not vertical, airflow.

These guys have the right idea on the cheap:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article22-page1.html

[Nowhere]

Yep GT, sandwiching the sides.

Thanks to you both for suggestions and link, I wonder if I'll want to do anything with this idea

I'll read the link at some point in the future Wombat, but...why horizontal? AFAIK some high-end SCSI drives have vertical fins and I was somehow inspired by them... (note: I won't put a fan in front, so the horizontal airflow in that part of the case will probably remain quite weak; as for horizontal...well, it just is present wherever there's heating )