case vibration caused by hard drive

[ElementalDragon]

Ok.... i have to run out quick, but i figured i'd post this real quick and see if anyone knows what might be causing this.

I recently purchased a Samsung Spinpoint 250GB SATA2 hard drive to go along with my old WD 160GB hard drive. with both hard drives in my computer, i get an audible vibration noise that i can even feel on my case. with just the WD in, i get no such vibration. haven't tried with just the Samsung in yet, but i'll probably do that later. Think i got the same vibration when i had bought a Seagate drive of the same size and type..... and i think the vibration might have disappeared when i used only that drive. i'll be back in a little while. hopefully you guys will have some helpful tips/suggestions.

 

[Techno Child]

There might be something wrong there, however I had a hd that wouldn't stop shaking my old case. Someone suggested that I get a sort of gasket between the hd and the mounting brackets. They have these available online listed to stop vibrations and quiet down your computer.

Try the new one by itself to see if you still have that problem. It might just be the new hard drive gone crazy

 

[Henyman]

could be the harddrive cage not holding drives very well + alowing them to moove about causing vibrations.

 

[Sazar]

Try taking the vibrator out the case

:smoker:

Or you can use rubber grommets.

 

[ShepsCrook]

Rubber gromits, or there is a foam like padding that you can purchase for under $10 from Walmart, I believe it's in the fabric department which is excellent for lining your case and reducing vibration and noise.

Also, if you're on a budget and have an old t-shirt that is thin, cut out a piece the size of the side of the HDs, and make the holes for the screws and then stick it inbetween the HDs and the HD cage.

 

[LeeJend]

If each drive is quiet by itself then the problem is a beat frequency caused by a slight difference in the RPM of the 2 drives resonating the HD enclosure.

Rubber or felt grommets might help. The screws should be nylon also.

If that doesn't work then seperating the noisy kids. Put one into a 5 1/4 drive bay with an adapter kit. With one hard mounted to the case it might be enough to damp the vibration.

Another reason to buy all drives from the same manufacturer. They check for issue like this.

 

[ElementalDragon]

well..... i guess that's one problem with screwless drive mounts, huh? lol. makes it kinda tough to do a lot of crap with different mounting hardware. i'll probably try just the 250gb drive tonight. if it comes down to it.... might buy an external enclosure, or maybe an internal HD noise dampening enclosure for a 5 1/4 bay.

 

[Techno Child]

well, some screwless mounts are pretty decent... is there a way you can "wrap" the places that the hd comes in contact with the case? Sheps got the right idea with a tshirt... usually works just fine.

 

[ElementalDragon]

sadly it's riveted to the case.... not removable, which i wish it was. that is if that's what you meant..... since i don't think wrapping where it's fixed to the case would do anything.

 

[ElementalDragon]

i guess i musta forgot to mention something else too. it's a REALLY audible vibration. can even hear it from a room away if you listen. really easy to hear in the bathroom, which is just on the other side of the wall where my case is. the odd part is..... i opened the side panel of my case again, put my fingers on the top of the Samsung drive...... felt the vibration. put my fingers on the WD drive..... felt nothing out of the ordinary.

aaandddd.... now that i just tested something else..... i believe i found out that it truely is a HDD-to-HDD created vibration. when i hear the vibration.... i don't really feel anything on the WD drive, but i can feel the vibration on front case door. when i can't hear the vibration, i don't feel anything on the case door, but i feel slight vibrations on the WD drive.

 

[ShepsCrook]

Do you have the hard drives spaced at all? Instead of ontop of each other. You should really have them spaced to reduce heating one of them to much.

 

[ElementalDragon]

the cage has like..... a half inch gap between the drives. i might move them anyway though.... the drive in the top (samsung) is getting semi-hot. not too hot to touch.... but it does seem to be pretty hot after i have my fingers on it for a couple seconds. still don't think that'd do anything with the vibration though.

 

[ShepsCrook]

Yeah, but if they are close, they can cause each other to vibrate louder because of the combined vibrating. Plus I was just commenting on the heating issue.

 

[ElementalDragon]

hmm...... you think that maybe the platters being at different sides of the HDD might be some of the problem? the Samsung drive's platters are at the end with the power and SATA connectors, while the WD drive's platters are at the opposite end of the connectors. when i unplug the WD drive, i still slightly hear the vibration, but it's constant.... it doesn't pulsate.

 

[ElementalDragon]

*bump*

 

[ShepsCrook]

It very well may be. I would still suggest maybe spacing them a bit to get a better idea. Maybe adding some sort of padding.

 

[ElementalDragon]

well.... don't think it was that. have them spaced now, with a gap that'd be able to fit one more HDD between them.... plus the like.... 1/2 inch that it usually leaves between them. i might wind up buying silencing kits for at least one of them..... or maybe an external enclosure for the WD drive.

 

[LeeJend]

The beat frequency between the two drives is resonating the HD cage. Drop a link for the case and I'll see if there is anything that might work.

On the other hand. It really shouldn't be vibrating that much.

The heat may be normal. I have a fan on my HD enclosure and there's no way I'd remove it. The new high density drives run much warmer than I like.

I'd be planning an RMA. I haven't heard anybody complain about that much noise or vibration out of a Samsung. The platter is probably slightly out of balance. The bearings will wear out prematurely and have a catastrophic failure (no data recovery possible). It's not worth the risk. And aren't the spinpoint supposed to be "quiet" drives?

 

[ElementalDragon]

well.... i'm sure it is quiet. but so far it only seems to make a pulsating vibration noise when both drives are plugged in. i might move one, or both, to the floppy bays that actually require screws.... maybe that'll help a bit.

 

[LeeJend]

One other thought. Make sure the two HDs are on different power leads from the PSU. They could be interacting with each other from the power supply.