SPCR

I thinking of making a two drive enclosure, sides out of sheet copper or aluminum and wrapped in foam or paxmat, there will be room for an 80mm fan at the end and internal heat sink fins.


How does $19.20 (USD) sound for (12 x 12 x 0.048) inch copper sheet?
and $11.10 (USD) for ( 12 x 12 x 1/8 ) inch Aluminum plate?


http://www.onlinemetals.com/

alu will be easier to work
copper work hardens :\

im thinking of trying something similar to that. I was thinking of using some sinksinks which are actually 3.5 to 5.25" convertor rails(so you can mount a harddrive in a cd bay. And try fitting it in an old cdrom frame. It would be a tight fit, but I think it would go with some force. If not Ill just buy a sheet of alluminum and make an enclosure, and maybe put a 80mm fan hole on the top.

I would think about which has the best weight/cost ratio. Heavier = better sound deadening.

If you don't mind waiting, wait until I try out soundproofing lead. I ordered 1/32" thickness which = 2lb/sq.ft. I'm gonna be trying it on my Maxtors in a week or so. It could work well too (they claim a 32dB reduction), and although it's toxic, it's easier to work with. I'll probably line the lead with Al. foil to minimize skin contact. It'll be inside the case anyway, so I'm not too worried.

powergyoza wrote:I would think about which has the best weight/cost ratio. Heavier = better sound deadening.

I was using the sheet metal to conduct heat to the internal heat spreader fins. Wrap the enclosure in foam sheet, attach a fan at one end and suspend the whole thing.

The copper sheets make the sides of the box,
the HD's make the top and bottom of the box,
The 90mm fan and some foam make the front end of the box,
and the back is open for air flow and cables.

This is looking at the unit from the end.

X Foam or other sound dampenning material
X Copper sheet
X Hard Drive
X Finned Heatsink


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I see what you mean. Make sure you pick your foam well. Some perform better than others, and it's usually the heavy stuff that's the best.

From purely a thermal perspective, I'd go with the aluminum. Thicker metal = better heat conduction.

I'd like to get some closed-cell silicone foam, but it is expensive.
...It is also very heavy for foam.

I also found a manufacturer that make thermally conductive elastic. They have both electrically conductive and electrically resistive types.

powergyoza wrote:I would think about which has the best weight/cost ratio. Heavier = better sound deadening.

I don't want to be an instigator, but heavier won't necessarily equal better sound deadening. For the most part that's true, but long-story-short, a "softer" metal will deaden better than a "harder" one because less sound will be reflected. Mass doesn't have much to do with it unless you are COMPLETELY shutting up the box, which 1HandClapping isn't planning on doing. In this case, you want the least reflective surface (which, 1HandClapping, probably isn't going to be metal, but heavy foam. Remember MikeC's rule number 1 on enclosures, "hard drive noise leaks wherever there is a gap in the sound barrier." So if you don't use a sound ABSORBING material and you leave the end open, your going to end up with sound amplification from the sound REFLECTING walls.)

powergyoza wrote:If you don't mind waiting, wait until I try out soundproofing lead. I ordered 1/32" thickness which = 2lb/sq.ft... and although it's toxic, it's easier to work with. I'll probably line the lead with Al. foil to minimize skin contact. It'll be inside the case anyway, so I'm not too worried.

I might think twice about this approach if I were you. Unless the enclosure is going to be fully out of the way of airflow (which wouldn't make much sense for an HD enclosure), then you'll be fanning lead particles all over the inside of your case and coating your components with an ever-so-miniscule toxic film. You'll also be blowing said particles out the exhaust of your system, ostensibly into the air that you breath while seated in proximity to the computer. I would strongly advise avoiding lead in any such situation (FYI: While no longer in the game, for several years I worked for a contractor in PA who both built and inspected homes. There are very low thresholds for lead exposure in some states, reflecting the very serious problems that can occur due to even limited exposure.) Just a word to the wise.

And to cap off a very much overly long posting (sorry):

1HandClapping wrote:I also found a manufacturer that make thermally conductive elastic. They have both electrically conductive and electrically resistive types.

Who's the manufacturer and will they sell me some!! I'm going to try a vertical RAID suspension in the HD cage of my case, and I'm very concerned about the temp my drives reach. This would be a great asset to keep the drives cool.

jamoore9 wrote:I might think twice about this approach if I were you. Unless the enclosure is going to be fully out of the way of airflow (which wouldn't make much sense for an HD enclosure), then you'll be fanning lead particles all over the inside of your case and coating your components with an ever-so-miniscule toxic film. You'll also be blowing said particles out the exhaust of your system, ostensibly into the air that you breath while seated in proximity to the computer. I would strongly advise avoiding lead in any such situation (FYI: While no longer in the game, for several years I worked for a contractor in PA who both built and inspected homes. There are very low thresholds for lead exposure in some states, reflecting the very serious problems that can occur due to even limited exposure.) Just a word to the wise.

Thanks for your concern jamoore9. If I were still to build it, I would line the lead with aluminum foil, so that no lead is exposed to moving air. Do you think that will take care of any chances of it going airborne? Regardless, I'll give it some more thought.

1HandClapping wrote:I also found a manufacturer that make thermally conductive elastic. They have both electrically conductive and electrically resistive types.

Who's the manufacturer and will they sell me some!! I'm going to try a vertical RAID suspension in the HD cage of my case, and I'm very concerned about the temp my drives reach. This would be a great asset to keep the drives cool.

I second that. That'd be very newsworthy for all of us. Link please!

powergyoza wrote:

1HandClapping wrote:I also found a manufacturer that make thermally conductive elastic. They have both electrically conductive and electrically resistive types.

Who's the manufacturer and will they sell me some!! I'm going to try a vertical RAID suspension in the HD cage of my case, and I'm very concerned about the temp my drives reach. This would be a great asset to keep the drives cool.

I second that. That'd be very newsworthy for all of us. Link please!

OK, Ok
www.coolshieldinc.com makes heatsinks and EMI sheilding. Some of it is elastic (i.e. flexible). They were willing to send me a 3"x3" sample.

jamoore9,

Sounds like I may have to baffle the airflow. Hmm if I use thermally conductive plastic for the spreader fins I may be get some echo canceling behavior.


Is there any reliability or wear issues in mounting the drive with the cable end up?

1HandClapping wrote: Is there any reliability or wear issues in mounting the drive with the cable end up?

No. A lot of the OEMS have been mounting drives like this for years. I've talked to Maxtor and Seagate about HDD orientation and they say you can mount a drive in any orientation as long as it's not mounted at an angle. In other words, flat ("rightside up"), rotated 90° in any direction or upside down, all are OK.

1HandClapping wrote:OK, Ok
www.coolshieldinc.com makes heatsinks and EMI sheilding. Some of it is elastic (i.e. flexible). They were willing to send me a 3"x3" sample.

jamoore9,
Sounds like I may have to baffle the airflow. Hmm if I use thermally conductive plastic for the spreader fins I may be get some echo canceling behavior.

I'm dreaming of using that material for a tight-fitting box to house those hard drives. Now that'd be cool. You could get (some?)sound insulation and thermal conductivity all in 1 pkg. That's the holy grail of silencing!

powergyoza wrote:

1HandClapping wrote:OK, Ok
www.coolshieldinc.com makes heatsinks and EMI sheilding. Some of it is elastic (i.e. flexible). They were willing to send me a 3"x3" sample.

jamoore9,
Sounds like I may have to baffle the airflow. Hmm if I use thermally conductive plastic for the spreader fins I may be get some echo canceling behavior.

I'm dreaming of using that material for a tight-fitting box to house those hard drives. Now that'd be cool. You could get (some?)sound insulation and thermal conductivity all in 1 pkg. That's the holy grail of silencing!

For a tight enclosure like the SmartDrive, you could replace the foam with a silicone gel sheet like SARCON XR-j which has a thermal conductivity of 14W/m-K. I don't know how "squishy" this particular formulation is but many silicone gels are great vibration dampers. Copper filled silicone gel has high thermal conductivty but not electric, while carbon filled and silver filled can conduct electricity.