Hard-Disk Dampening.

MiOB · Post by **MiOB** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 9:41 am

Hello all

Is there a cheap and effective way to dampen a hard-disk?
I've 2 Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB hard-disks.

What about the following mats, have they proven to be effective?

nexustek .nl/damptek_noise_absorption_mat.htm

casemodwholesale .com/a2384.html

(I won't let me post URL due to a 3-post limit.)

My case is Antec Three Hundred; I thought I would stick one of those to the front panel's interior, where two fans can be mounted.

Do you it would help at all?

Cheers and thanks!

EsaT · Post by **EsaT** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 12:46 pm

As case is leaky as magpie's nest those have very little if any effect to airborne noise and as HDDs are hard mounted in that case mass damping would have to be really heavy to fully stop vibration of case...
And applying damping mass to HDD cage would seriously hinder its usability.

So in practise you have to suspend HDDs elastically or get some of those 5.25" soft mounting devices/HDD boxes.

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 12:57 pm

What noise are you trying to deal with: the humming of the spinning platters or the discrete noises of seeks and writes? The humming is pretty much impossible to deal with without multiple layers of foam and mass-loading. The discrete noises seem best addressed by elastic suspension, but some have had luck with enclosures.

audiojar · Post by **audiojar** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:00 pm

Start with the basics: get some silicone grommets to soft mount the drives. If that isn't enough then look in to suspension systems.

MiOB · Post by **MiOB** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 10:13 pm

jessekopelman wrote:What noise are you trying to deal with: the humming of the spinning platters or the discrete noises of seeks and writes?

Definitely the humming or "whoosh" sound of the spinning platters.
The seeks and writes do not at all disturb me.

That is why I didn't try any other solutions, such as soft mounting etc..

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 9:37 am

Encapsulation is the only way to reduce idle whine or "whoosh". There are devices like the Scythe Quiet Drive, which is basically a box that you put your HDD in that may help to quiet it down some.

There are also DIY boxes made of aluminum boxes and gelpacks as pioneered by Alleycat on these forums.

The openness and light weight of the 300 case is not going to help. Neither will adding dampening material to the inside of the case as it's a straight shot out the front for the noise.

I do find it puzzling that the whoosh of that drive is noticeable, but the seeks are not when hardmounted.

It is a pretty quiet drive, maybe the motor bearing is going bad?

Cake_Eater · Post by **Cake_Eater** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 12:05 pm

Maybe not so much on the cheap side, but one of the Smart Drive enclosures mounted with silicone grommets should take away nearly all of the noise. I have a similar problem and am going to use that as a solution.

Otter · Post by **Otter** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:14 am

jhhoffma wrote:I do find it puzzling that the whoosh of that drive is noticeable, but the seeks are not when hardmounted.

It is a pretty quiet drive, maybe the motor bearing is going bad?

So do I. Are you sure the noise is coming from the drive? At least 99 times out of 100, if you can hear a hard drive bearing going south, you can repair the drive by stopping all the fans in the computer.

If it's actually a fan, that would explain why the whoosh is so much louder than the seeks.