Antec SLK3700 & rubber grommets?

woodpecker · Post by **woodpecker** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 11:30 am

I have problems with anoying vibrations caused from my hard disk. It is Maxtor DiamondMax 9, single platter. I noticed the entire disk cage is vibrating and is causing unwanted noise. I read somewhere from other member (i believe it was Kostik), who experienced same problem. Should I replace the grommets or try something else?

Kostik · Post by **Kostik** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 11:50 am

Yes it was me, these grommets don't do much to reduce vibrations actually. Don't overtighten the screws, and try the trick I gave (can't find the thread, but look at the two pictures at the bottom of this page). But the only way to really get rid of the vibrations is to suspend the drive.

pony-tail · Post by **pony-tail** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 5:44 pm

I am currently looking at buying one of these cases. (via internet sight unseen) Are there any other problems with the case other than the hard drive vibration?
I can solve the hard drive vibration problem - by using stepped screws so they dont clamp tightly on the grommets . I mount all my drives this way,and have found it to be a good soloution

woodpecker · Post by **woodpecker** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 10:19 pm

Are there any other problems with the case other than the hard drive vibration?

Not really, just be prepared to change the loud psu and case fan(or at least undervolt it) and cut the fan grill out.

I can solve the hard drive vibration problem - by using stepped screws so they dont clamp tightly on the grommets . I mount all my drives this way,and have found it to be a good soloution

How exactly does a stepped screw look like?

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 10:28 pm

woodpecker wrote:How exactly does a stepped screw look like?

I was wondering too. Google returns lots of dental sites, and one link to USS Iowa. I would guess (from the picture of the dental implants) that its width gets larger in steps. Or is it the thread?

How does this prevent over-tightening? Will it result in damage to the threads?

pony-tail · Post by **pony-tail** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 12:32 am

In reply to the Question about a stepped screw . it has a shank 1.5 mm larger diameter than the thread at a length just slightly shorter than the width of the grommet (so when you tighten the screw into the drive it does not make the rubber rigid) this can also be doen wit a small tubular spacer, just large anough to fit around the screw and slightly shorter than the grommet is thick that way the screw clamps on the spacer not the grommet thus leaving the drive accoustically decoupled from the case - this also works with fans to help reduce vibration.
As for the case I will be purchasing it without a PSU as I already have a complete working system with a very Quiet psu (until it gets hot and then the fan speeds up) but my system vents poorly and overheats.
(it is a P4 2.8 on an Abit BE7-g) and seems to run very hot .Partly because I live in QLD Australia ,40deg celsius is not unusual and partly because the cpu generates a lot of heat.

pony-tail · Post by **pony-tail** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:47 am

The screws I have been talking about appear to be called shoulder bolts in the US ( different language over there but still English?)

Kostik · Post by **Kostik** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 2:30 am

I think the rubber grommets that come with this case (or at least those that come with the Compucase 6A19, but they should be the same) are a bit too rigid, and I'm not sure you'll get proper decoupling of the drive, even by using longer or smaller diameter screws. But your results will also depend on what drive you use, and how much it vibrates, so YMMV.

I found the case very good appart from that. Just drill new holes to use rubber mounts for the fans, and cut the fan grills.

pony-tail · Post by **pony-tail** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:06 pm

Lately I have been using synthetic grommets (urathane) they are good when new but go hard after about 18 months and start to allow vibration through . I am probably using the least silence friendly drive out - WD Raptors in striped pairs. but after having 3 from 4 Seagate 80gig SATA drives fail .I wont be in a hurry to use them again. although I cannot fault their service when one fails(immediate replacement at the distributor) , the data loss is significant.

pony-tail · Post by **pony-tail** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 12:38 am

I just went in and bought the sonata instead - would not call it silent! but is up and running now

woodpecker · Post by **woodpecker** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 1:38 am

I just went in and bought the sonata instead - would not call it silent! but is up and running now

And how is the drive decoupling. What about your temps (ambient vs. case).
I wonder if anyone has done direct comparison between the sonata and the slk3700.
Post some of your findings, I believe there are still many, who are still deciding, which one is the right for them.

pony-tail · Post by **pony-tail** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 3:01 am

Drive decoupling is excellent can not hear the WD raptors except when I get a faint chatter while the drives are seeking . it is the power supply I am not happy with the fan has a slight but annoying whine.- temps are hard to compare to where you are as today the room temp was 36c the case temp was 42-43c and the CPU (intel 3.06gig) was 49 to 51 and 54 when I ran prime95 for an hour.later in the year it will get to 40+ so if it survives that I will be going ok.
I still may wind up buying an SLK3700 for my 2.8 ghz machine - it is quiter than the Sonata but runs very very hot (panaflo L series throughout and a little short on air flow has only 4 fans one in ,one out . one cpu (panaflo on a swiftec heatsink ) 1 92 mm panaflo in the power supply blowing out through the powersupply not in the back none undervolted ,but it is an old pentium II case and is very heavy steel

pony-tail · Post by **pony-tail** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 3:24 am

Just one small note ,-they both use the same grommets Iwas looking at both cases today when I bought the Sonata - I can tell you now the decision was difficult as the differences are not huge but here in AU. the slk sells for $79 without psu the Sonata sells for $199 with psu both have rear fans (the sonata rubber mounted the SLK not) both have rubber grommets for the HDDs the SLK is slightly taller , the drive montings in the SLK are conventional except for rubber grommets but the front fan is in front of the drives not behind as in the Sonata and the finish seemed to be better on the sonata . but the fan seems to be the same unit in both the sonata and the SLK, but onthe sonata runs at reduced voltage.
the sonata I just bought is the latest model and has USB 2.0 the SLK3700 has only USB 1.1

ManuTOmanU · Post by **ManuTOmanU** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 3:34 am

I also just bought the Sonata, I don't have it yet, but I am hoping to get it with USB 2 plugs...

Thank you

woodpecker · Post by **woodpecker** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 4:30 am

Just a note. I never noticed hdd vibrating before in my previus generic case. After a few mods on the SLK (some are still waiting), it got quiter and this is the time, you usually notice something else, that is making noise. And then it just goes on and on...
BTW the SLK is really roomy. The interiror can be cleared up extremly well. After all it was the tidiness of Ralf's case that convinced me.

To pony-tail: how do you manage to "survive" in 36c. Here in Europe the outside 36c is enough for me. I could never imagine to have 36 or even 40 in my room.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 4:58 am

woodpecker wrote:how do you manage to "survive" in 36c. Here in Europe the outside 36c is enough for me. I could never imagine to have 36 or even 40 in my room.

You get used to it to a point but other than that there's not much you can do. Sit around in shorts with a fan on and drink lots of cold water.

Here in sunny SoCal our hot weather started much earlier than normal plus it's been way more humid than normal this summer. It's been between 32-36°C in my computer room almost every day for the last 8+ weeks. The only solace I've been taking is that I know you poor souls in Europe have been having pretty much the same temps as we normally do here in SoCal and that those temps are 10+°C hotter than your normal summer temps. At least we're a little more used to it here.

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 9:12 am

pony-tail wrote:US ( different language over there but still English?)

That's a common misconception. The language here is actually American

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 9:18 am

pony-tail wrote:it is the power supply I am not happy with the fan has a slight but annoying whine.

There are many people unhappy with the PSU fan. Some have replaced it with a Panaflo L or M. Search the forum for more information.

woodpecker · Post by **woodpecker** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 11:24 am

The only solace I've been taking is that I know you poor souls in Europe have been having pretty much the same temps as we normally do here in SoCal and that those temps are 10+°C hotter than your normal summer temps. At least we're a little more used to it here.

True, it really is abnormal summer. And not to get too off topic, Ralf, did you experienced any vibrations with yor HDD?

Mine aren't that loud as it may seem, but they can be heard.

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 1:53 pm

woodpecker wrote:Ralf, did you experienced any vibrations with yor HDD?

I'd also like to know if Ralf has tried the EAR grommets in place of the ones that came with the SLK3700.

pony-tail · Post by **pony-tail** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 2:21 pm

It is cooler here than where I gew up (Hughenden Nth Queensland where it has been known to get to 53c) - I guess it is just what you get used to ,I am very uncomfortable at 20c - but I have to be careful which case I use as when summer hits If the case does not ventilate well, the cpu fries . I have had the north bridge cook on a P4b 533 Asus last summer (trying to silence a case with 80 mil fans) using undervolted panaflos and not enough airflow that is why I am changing to the Antec cases, I am ordering a SLK 3700 today for my Abit. I will have it friday and fit it on the weekend

woodpecker · Post by **woodpecker** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 10:20 pm

I guess it is just what you get used to ,I am very uncomfortable at 20c

Yep, I agree, as I am pretty comfortable at 20c.

I am ordering a SLK 3700 today for my Abit. I will have it friday and fit it on the weekend

Excellent, keep on posting. Just be sure to at least undervolt 120mm case fan as it is very loud. I replaced it with papst. Still didn't cut the fan grill out, but on the lowest position on the fanmate, it is pretty inaudible and it doesnt clicks.

On the other hand, I've just found out how to enable AAM in Maxtor. Jesus, this really works. The HDD is almost inaudible, however is still vibrates. I also found out the vibrations doesn't bother me that much. It is the combined noise from all the vents and the HDD. The Zalman 6000 CPU cooler, which I allways thougnt it was silent, is now the loudest part. So, I guess I'm getting spoiled...

pony-tail · Post by **pony-tail** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 12:47 am

I have run across a problem with the sonata - one of the holes in the rear where the fan grommets go is razor sharp and as soon as a grommet goes in slices the grommetwas not till the third grommet sliced I realized what was causing the problem , I will have to clean it up with a small file but now I will have to buy new grommets as the ones I can buy here are different to Antecs (they are reversed an have a thicker section between the fan and the case.) I now have the Antec fan internal and a panaflo in the rear on the fan PSU connector cant tell if it is Quieter ( the PSU fan makes too much noise) but has more flow.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 4:25 am

lenny wrote:
woodpecker wrote:Ralf, did you experienced any vibrations with yor HDD?
I'd also like to know if Ralf has tried the EAR grommets in place of the ones that came with the SLK3700.

I've had about 4 or 5 Barracuda IVs in my SLK3700 and have never had any vibration from them except for one drive that did vibrate. It was a brand new drive. I pulled it out of the case and ran it in my hand where I noticed a rather bad vibration coming from it. I RMA'd it, it's the only Barracuda IV I've ever RMA'd and I've probably used at least 40 of them.

I've never tried the EAR grommets because the only time I can even slightly hear my drive seeking is around 3-4AM when it's as quiet as it ever gets around here. Even then all I can hear is a very quiet, muffled seeking sound. It certainly doesn't bug me at all. It also helps to have 1GB of RAM which keeps disk swapping to an absolute minimum.

pony-tail · Post by **pony-tail** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 1:37 pm

I can not complain about antecs service -I emailed them yesterday about the fault (sharp edge cutting the grommets ) they are sending out replacemrnt grommets by post no problems at all

FLD · Post by **FLD** » Thu Aug 28, 2003 2:19 am

Just to add a small story I had with the 3700 grommets.
I am pretty happy with them, as I don't hear my IBM 80Go HDD, although it is known to be noisy.
Then, after some modding (suspended 80mm fan on GF4 4200), I closed the case, and a new, low frequency but loud HUUUMMMM came up. The whole case was vibrating, and resonating.

I found out that this was the HDD, so decided to loosen a bit the grommet screws (I once read this somewhere). This only make the vibration louder.
So I move back, and really tighten the screws: no more vibrations!

Might not work for all cases/HDD, but demonstrates there is no certainty out there...

pony-tail · Post by **pony-tail** » Thu Aug 28, 2003 4:11 am

My new slk 3700 has arrived at the store and I will have to organize a pickup tomorrow I will have to see how it goes.

pony-tail · Post by **pony-tail** » Thu Aug 28, 2003 5:45 pm

My hard drive vibrates too - but it is not because of the grommets it is because the hard drive has metal to metal contact on the tabs directly underneath .I do not know how to fix this other than taking to the case with a dremel and removing the tabs . I would prefer not to cut the case but it looks like I will have to .

woodpecker · Post by **woodpecker** » Thu Aug 28, 2003 10:28 pm

My hard drive vibrates too - but it is not because of the grommets it is because the hard drive has metal to metal contact on the tabs directly underneath

Does it vibrates in Sonata or the SLK. If it is the SLK, check the above reply from Kostik in this thread.

pony-tail · Post by **pony-tail** » Fri Aug 29, 2003 2:08 am

It vibrates in the SLK , the bottom of the hdd hits a tab on the metal frame. I see on Kostic's post that he bent them out of the way - but I think I will remove them entirely (will just be neater) and clean it up leaving jus a hole.