Thermal pad for hard drive?

silentguy · Post by **silentguy** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 6:32 pm

What is a thermal pad made out of? Can one get it in large quantities? If not, what is the best heat conductor that is at least Â¼â€

Tephras · Post by **Tephras** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:12 am

Alleycat have made a Homebrew drive enclosure with the use of coolpacks, an idea that I think was pioneered by Bluefront.
Alleycat's hdd enclosure

silentguy · Post by **silentguy** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:09 am

Coolpacks wouldn't conform to the bottom of the hard drive as well as a thick thermal pad though. Condensation problems have been reported. There must be a better way. I wonder what is the composition of thermal pads?

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 2:14 pm

I wonder what is the composition of thermal pads?

Most use a silicone binder filled with lots of very small aluminium particles, not dissimilar to Arctic Silver etc, with maybe a fibreglass or rubber matrix to provide structure.

IMO you'll have trouble finding it cheaply, I could only find a couple of industrial suppliers (although I didn't look very hard):

http://www.stockwell.com/pages/materials_thermal.php

http://www.intermark-usa.com/products/T ... tive.shtml

http://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/462508

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 2:19 pm

silentguy wrote:Coolpacks wouldn't conform to the bottom of the hard drive as well as a thick thermal pad though. Condensation problems have been reported. There must be a better way. I wonder what is the composition of thermal pads?

if i remember correctly, the original author of the idea (bluefront) abandonded this form of noise obsorbtion using gel packs because he noticed water collecting around the drive. Be it condensation or a leak from the gelpack(not sure on this part).

Honestly i'm suprised anyone uses gel packs in this manner anymore, or would even think to recommend it to anyone else.

justblair · Post by **justblair** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 2:25 pm

I dont use them just the way bluefront used them, but I do use them without condensation issues in a homebrew enclosure.

As do a lot of others. Noone else seems to be complaining on the homebrew enclosure thread about condensation, so either some thing different about Bluefronts method of using them created a situation where condensation formed, or a pack was leaking or some freak atmospheric condition caused it. Either way i sleep pretty well.

BillTodd · Post by **BillTodd** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 6:14 am

Aris wrote:
silentguy wrote:Coolpacks wouldn't conform to the bottom of the hard drive as well as a thick thermal pad though. Condensation problems have been reported. There must be a better way. I wonder what is the composition of thermal pads?
if i remember correctly, the original author of the idea (bluefront) abandonded this form of noise obsorbtion using gel packs because he noticed water collecting around the drive. Be it condensation or a leak from the gelpack(not sure on this part).

Honestly i'm suprised anyone uses gel packs in this manner anymore, or would even think to recommend it to anyone else.

I've had a home-brew gel-pack cooled HDD running for two years (see my silentpc project ) - I haven't seen this problem.

Commercial gel packs are very well sealed and are unlikely to leak unless punctured. It could be that bluefront's device had condensation problems (it only takes a high humidity/wide temperature variation environment to cause the problem). Perhaps some silica gel water absorption granules would help?

jb_ · Post by **jb_** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:19 am

Coolpacks don't cause condensation. (How can they, if they and everything else are all at room temperature or higher?)

They also don't leak if you treat them with respect.

In other words, one should have no problems at all when using them.

alleycat · Post by **alleycat** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:23 am

Tephras wrote:Alleycat have made a Homebrew drive enclosure with the use of coolpacks, an idea that I think was pioneered by Bluefront.

Ahem, the idea of using coolpacks was pioneeredby another forum member named cruelsister, as mentioned in my original thread about the enclosure design. A number of forum members also tried using the coolpacks, just sitting a drive on top of one, as this alone is an effective quietening technique. I took the idea a step further by putting a coolpack on top of the drive as well. This improved things a bit, and I left this arrangement in place for about six months while constantly monitoring the situation. During that time the seasons changed, and in my exposed, unairconditioned apartment, the setup experienced a wide variety of environmental conditions, from cool to hot, dry to very humid. At no time did I find moisture of any kind - there is no way I would continue using coolpacks if I had.

As for Bluefront's situation, well I can't claim to know what someone on the other side of the world is doing, and in particular, what products were used and how they were handled. I consider it possible that a thin-skinned coolpack could be pierced by sharp protrusions on the circuit board side of the HDD. Once warm, the gel in the packs becomes completely liquid, and could easily ooze from a hole which is barely visible.

The coolpacks used in my experiments, and subsequently in my enclosure are the type intended for cooling foods, etc, rather than the type used for medical purposes (which I think Bluefront used). I've used them for years, and they are of heavy duty construction, requiring substantial and deliberate effort to rupture.

BillTodd · Post by **BillTodd** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 4:09 am

Ahem, the idea of using coolpacks was pioneered by another forum member named cruelsister,

Oh, I think I can antedate that by a few days

This picture was taken 10 July 2004, a couple of months after the gelpack was first used (I'd taken the box apart to fit new suspension foam and a second gel-pack, and to take a few pictures for the website).

Unfortunately, I don't have any earlier pictures of the gel-pack insitu, although it was almost certainly in the HDD box when this picture was taken on 29 May 2004

Do I get a paper hat?