HDD Elastic Suspension... Show your pics!

BOT_toNka · Joined: 18 Dec 2004 Posts: 40

I'm looking to do some HDD suspention in my Sonata.
I've seen a couple examples so far.
I think it would be a good thread to have for reference if everyone posted their suspended hdds.
SO LET"S SEE THEM!!!
_________________
http://battleoftustin.com/tonka/
Antec Sonata
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (0.09µ)
Tt Silent Boost K8 (Tt Duct & H1A)
OCZ4001024ELDCPE-K (2-3-2-5 1T 2.6v)
MSI K8N Neo2 (BIOS v1.4)
OCZ ModStream 520W
ATi ALL-IN-WONDER 9600
Western Digital HDD (2500JB)
Plextor DVD±RW (PX-708A)

Ralf Hutter · Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 5:57 am Post subject:

This is what I did on an SLK3700BQE. The HDD cages are virtually identical to the ones in the Sonata. Doing something like this to the Sonata, combined with doing the front bezel mods would give you a tremendous increase in your case ventilation. Other than the work involved, it's a win-win situation all around.

_________________
System 1: P4 2.4C, Intel 875PBZ, Scythe Ninja + 5V Nexus. 2 x 512MB Mushkin PC3200 Level II RAM, SP1614C, SLK3700BQE.
System 2: P4 3.4GHz NW, Intel 875PBZ, Si-120 + 6V 120mm Nexus, 2048MB Mushkin HP3200, Samsung SP1614C, P150.

Cams · Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 6:36 am Post subject:

Really nice work, Ralph. I'm almost ashamed to post the picture of my suspended HDD cage in the SLK3000B, but I shall as I'm quite proud of it myself (based on the burcakb method):

Korwen · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 22

Quick, simple, and dirty

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=18889

but damned if it doesn't work.

kloppe · Joined: 21 Mar 2004 Posts: 61 Location: Sweden

Works pretty well. :)

BOT_toNka · Joined: 18 Dec 2004 Posts: 40

Ralf Hutter, how did you cut your case like that (what tools)?
_________________
http://battleoftustin.com/tonka/
Antec Sonata
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (0.09µ)
Tt Silent Boost K8 (Tt Duct & H1A)
OCZ4001024ELDCPE-K (2-3-2-5 1T 2.6v)
MSI K8N Neo2 (BIOS v1.4)
OCZ ModStream 520W
ATi ALL-IN-WONDER 9600
Western Digital HDD (2500JB)
Plextor DVD±RW (PX-708A)

Ralf Hutter · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 5:47 am Post subject:

BOT_toNka · Joined: 18 Dec 2004 Posts: 40

Well I got off my lazy butt and went down to Home Depot.
Now my HDD is suspended Smile

Here's a pic:

I must say, this mod has made the biggest impact on silencing my computer.
This HDD had a lot of vibration and was definately my biggest offender of noise.
Now I have to struggle to hear it!
Very Happy

_________________
http://battleoftustin.com/tonka/
Antec Sonata
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (0.09µ)
Tt Silent Boost K8 (Tt Duct & H1A)
OCZ4001024ELDCPE-K (2-3-2-5 1T 2.6v)
MSI K8N Neo2 (BIOS v1.4)
OCZ ModStream 520W
ATi ALL-IN-WONDER 9600
Western Digital HDD (2500JB)
Plextor DVD±RW (PX-708A)

BOT_toNka · Joined: 18 Dec 2004 Posts: 40

kloppe definitely has the cheapest method so far Smile

_________________
http://battleoftustin.com/tonka/
Antec Sonata
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (0.09µ)
Tt Silent Boost K8 (Tt Duct & H1A)
OCZ4001024ELDCPE-K (2-3-2-5 1T 2.6v)
MSI K8N Neo2 (BIOS v1.4)
OCZ ModStream 520W
ATi ALL-IN-WONDER 9600
Western Digital HDD (2500JB)
Plextor DVD±RW (PX-708A)

burcakb · Joined: 09 Mar 2004 Posts: 1443 Location: Turkey

Secured with zipties + hot melt glue:

Zipties are your friend:

_________________
Thor's Hammer
Loki's Magic: Coming soon...
Odin's Chariot

Tibors · Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 5:23 pm Post subject:

For more pictures see the Reusable drive suspension thread.

Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

Using the same bracket with another HD in that Sonata after the drive cage was removed.

BOT_toNka · Joined: 18 Dec 2004 Posts: 40

Good point Tibors.
I started it here because it was more focused on showing off your pictures and less on discussing techniques. I don't know id there is a way to "mirror" the thread so it is in both areas, but if there is than that would be up to a moderator.
_________________
http://battleoftustin.com/tonka/
Antec Sonata
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (0.09µ)
Tt Silent Boost K8 (Tt Duct & H1A)
OCZ4001024ELDCPE-K (2-3-2-5 1T 2.6v)
MSI K8N Neo2 (BIOS v1.4)
OCZ ModStream 520W
ATi ALL-IN-WONDER 9600
Western Digital HDD (2500JB)
Plextor DVD±RW (PX-708A)

BOT_toNka · Joined: 18 Dec 2004 Posts: 40

Tibors, how did you remove the drive cage?
No cutting?
_________________
http://battleoftustin.com/tonka/
Antec Sonata
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (0.09µ)
Tt Silent Boost K8 (Tt Duct & H1A)
OCZ4001024ELDCPE-K (2-3-2-5 1T 2.6v)
MSI K8N Neo2 (BIOS v1.4)
OCZ ModStream 520W
ATi ALL-IN-WONDER 9600
Western Digital HDD (2500JB)
Plextor DVD±RW (PX-708A)

mai9 · Joined: 02 May 2004 Posts: 101 Location: Barcelona

Tibors · Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 10:39 pm Post subject:

It has to be a very special screwdriver to remove the drivecage from a Sonata Wink

Here is what I did:
I sheared off the five poprivets holding the drivecage to the floppy bay and the case bottom. Then I used tinsnips to roughly cut the drivecage from the motherboard tray. I first tried to use a rod saw to remove the last bit of the drivecage. This didn't work out. Because of the awkward working angle, I couldn't really steer the saw. So I took the tin snips again. Because I had to cut so close to a corner the cut became a bit ragged. That's why I covered the edge with some duct tape,

If you cut this much of the drivecage away, then the bottom right of the motherboard tray will no longer be fixed to the case. Still it is such a tight fit that it will only move if considerable force is used.
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2) P4R800-VM | P4 2.8C | XP-120 + Nexus 120 | FSP300-60GLS + external Nexus 80 | 7200.7 PATA 40GB
3) RS480M2-IL | A64 3000+ | Freezer 64 | SS-301HT | 7200.7 PATA 40GB

toNka · Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Posts: 149 Location: Orange County

Ralf Hutter, where do you buy your "C channel rubber molding"

len509 · Joined: 30 Aug 2004 Posts: 98 Location: Central U.S.

Badger · Joined: 25 Nov 2004 Posts: 228 Location: West Michigan, USA

What is everybody suspending their hard drives with? It looks like some of you are just using shoe laces and others are using elastics.
_________________
Antec 3700BQE | Seasonic S12-330 | Intel E4300 at 1.14v at 2.4 ghz with passive Scythe Ninja | Kingston 2 x 1 gb PC3200 | ATI X1950Pro AGP 512 mb with Thermalright HR-03A | WD 120 gb HD in homemade enclosure

Tibors · Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 9:29 am Post subject:

Suspension using shoe laces works, but using a more elastic material works better.

Imagine a vibrating weight hanging from a non-elastic string. Vibrations in the front-back and left-right directions are dampened by swinging. Vibrations in the up-down direction are transmitted through the string to wherever it is attached. Now change the string to something elastic. Then the up-down vibrations are dampened too.
_________________
2) P4R800-VM | P4 2.8C | XP-120 + Nexus 120 | FSP300-60GLS + external Nexus 80 | 7200.7 PATA 40GB
3) RS480M2-IL | A64 3000+ | Freezer 64 | SS-301HT | 7200.7 PATA 40GB

toNka · Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Posts: 149 Location: Orange County

I used elastic cord that I bought at my local fabric store for dirt cheap.
It was like 40¢ a yard!

StarfishChris · Joined: 07 Jan 2005 Posts: 968 Location: Bristol, UK

I just cut some of the antistatic packing foam to fit inside the drive tray and along the cage wall. It's nice and snug in there and a fan is giving a little airflow.

I can't believe how much difference it makes - seek noises have really dropped! I might repeat this for the Linux drive (old Maxtor) and see how it goes. There's enough of the stuff going to waste.
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It's coming back

fredar · Joined: 25 Jan 2005 Posts: 6

Have a look here...
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=18696

Many solutions seem to be very unstable if you want to move
your computer in any way and perhaps laying it down during transport.

I fastened the rubberbands both above and below the hdds and I have
no problems with transport as long as I use the same care one would
normally do while transporting a computer.

Fredar

pangit · Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 3:48 pm Post subject:

Here is my previous setup, which has since been superseded:

I used the two HDDs plus steel sides to create a "box" and I suspended the whole thing with elastic top and bottom. Very quiet and very secure.

More details on my website here
_________________
pangit

Pangit's PC silencing project "on the (not so) cheap"

OVI · Joined: 26 Nov 2004 Posts: 30

Heres my solution. Two 120gb Nidec Spinpoints in Sonatas 5.25 bay.

I cant hear them right now:)

EndoSteel · Joined: 25 Jan 2004 Posts: 308 Location: Moscow, Russia

Unfortunately this assembly cannot run passive in a small case like mine, i had to fit a 120mm fan on top.[/img]

charlaph · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 2:16 pm Post subject:

**EDIT**

Taking Mike's comments about my elastic bands into account, my HD is now suspended using knicker elastic. It looks uneven in the photo, but it's perfectly level. It's just the connectors are pushing it off-centre, so it's twisted. At some point I'll shorten the elastic and possibly run another length from underneath to hold it steadier.

Quick simple and effective - 4 elastic bands and 4 screws in an Antec SLK3700AMB suspending my SP1614C. I just did it tonight and now my wires need tidied up as they used to be hidden by the HD cage Very Happy

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Q9250@3Ghz, Asus P5KE-WiFi, Sapphie HD3850, 4Gb OCZ ReaperX, TRUE, HR-05, Hitachi 7P500 + 7T500, Coolermaster m1000, Antec 300

MikeC · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 3:20 pm Post subject:

charlaph --

Caution! Ordinary rubber bands like the ones you are using are not suitable. They wear very quickly under stress and heat, then break. I strongly recommended more robust elastic. Just swing by the nearest sewing shop, look for elastics used in clothing. Super cheap and much more robust.
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Editor/Publisher, SPCR
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charlaph · Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 12:09 am Post subject:

Cheers MikeC, I will do. The elastic bands aren't really intended as an permanent solution anyway (too ugly for that) more of a test to see what difference it made to sound - which was LOTS by the way. Thanks for the warning though.
_________________
Q9250@3Ghz, Asus P5KE-WiFi, Sapphie HD3850, 4Gb OCZ ReaperX, TRUE, HR-05, Hitachi 7P500 + 7T500, Coolermaster m1000, Antec 300

Mar. · Joined: 20 Jan 2005 Posts: 561

Bah. I'm using rubber bands to suspend mine.... i'm also using the cloppy drive cage and it's only about an inch from the bottom of the case, if it falls, no big deal.
_________________
~mar.

charlaph · Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 11:43 pm Post subject:

For me the change was swung by the fact that my HD is pretty much brand new, so I wouldn't want it falling any sort of distance. Plus the elastic was only 14p/metre. I bought 2m as I wasn't sure where I was going to attach it and how far it would hang etc... I had to visit 2 fabric shops to find it, so it was a hassle but worth it for the drop in noise and the added security over rubber bands.
_________________
Q9250@3Ghz, Asus P5KE-WiFi, Sapphie HD3850, 4Gb OCZ ReaperX, TRUE, HR-05, Hitachi 7P500 + 7T500, Coolermaster m1000, Antec 300