Tinking Drive - temperature related
 

Hi all,

I have an unusual/weird problem - my hard drive tink's whenever the case
temp is over 30oC.
The suspect drive is a WD 200GB SATA, which tests fine, has never crashed,
has no bad sectors. I ghosted to my secondary Maxtor 160GB SATA, and also
found this makes the same 'tink' noise when the case temp is over 30oC.

Is it my power supply? - I just cant see how two drives can make this tink
noise (similar to a hard drive crashing - however it can make this tink
noise during intensive copy and it doesnt affect operation - no pauses or
crashes)

I could try booting the drive externally - cooling the drive outside the
case, let the case temp warm up and see if it tinks. From memory it still
tinks even if the S-ATA cable is unplugged....

Anyone else experienced this? (Thermaltake 420w PSU)

Matt

Re: Tinking Drive - temperature related
 

Matt wrote:
> I have an unusual/weird problem - my hard drive tink's whenever the case
> temp is over 30oC.

Get a copy of DTemp. It'll tell you how hot your drives themselves are
running. For some new drives, they're only really happy with really good
airflow (Like a fan in front or directly below).

Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock

Re: Tinking Drive - temperature related
 

"Nicholas Sherlock" <n_sherlock@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:dg8jms$fsu$1@lust.ihug.co.nz...

> Get a copy of DTemp. It'll tell you how hot your drives themselves are
> running. For some new drives, they're only really happy with really good
> airflow (Like a fan in front or directly below).

Ok installed - starts to tink when DTemp registers 35oC.
Aida reports mobo=39oC, CPU=68oC, Aux=34oC and my case temp (located just
after HDD's) says 33oC

Hmmm.... The specs for this HDD says 55oC as a maximum operating
temperature.
Both drives tink at the same temp.
Its more a nusicance as I run my PC 24/7 in my room.

Tinks all summer as room temp is around 25 and above.

I have 2 fans on HDD's that have to be at max speed to stop tink. I have one
of those thermaltake cases with 7 Fans, (+2 on the power supply, CPU,
Graphics, Northbridge)... one fanned out case!

Matt

Re: Tinking Drive - temperature related
 

On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 19:29:01 +1200, "Matt" <noname@ihavenoemailaddress.com>
wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I have an unusual/weird problem - my hard drive tink's whenever the case
>temp is over 30oC.
>The suspect drive is a WD 200GB SATA, which tests fine, has never crashed,
>has no bad sectors. I ghosted to my secondary Maxtor 160GB SATA, and also
>found this makes the same 'tink' noise when the case temp is over 30oC.
>
>Is it my power supply? - I just cant see how two drives can make this tink
>noise (similar to a hard drive crashing - however it can make this tink
>noise during intensive copy and it doesnt affect operation - no pauses or
>crashes)
>
>I could try booting the drive externally - cooling the drive outside the
>case, let the case temp warm up and see if it tinks. From memory it still
>tinks even if the S-ATA cable is unplugged....
>
>Anyone else experienced this? (Thermaltake 420w PSU)
>
>Matt
>



Does the drive have a fan fitted in front of it and good air flow around it
plus mounted to the chassis with 4 screws..

Its the drive Temp you need to worry about not the case..

I don't know if the HD temp programs work with SATA drives..

Try this and see if it works


http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

Re: Tinking Drive - temperature related
 

On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 19:29:01 +1200, "Matt" <noname@ihavenoemailaddress.com>
wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I have an unusual/weird problem - my hard drive tink's whenever the case
>temp is over 30oC.
>The suspect drive is a WD 200GB SATA, which tests fine, has never crashed,
>has no bad sectors. I ghosted to my secondary Maxtor 160GB SATA, and also
>found this makes the same 'tink' noise when the case temp is over 30oC.
>
>Is it my power supply? - I just cant see how two drives can make this tink
>noise (similar to a hard drive crashing - however it can make this tink
>noise during intensive copy and it doesnt affect operation - no pauses or
>crashes)
>
>I could try booting the drive externally - cooling the drive outside the
>case, let the case temp warm up and see if it tinks. From memory it still
>tinks even if the S-ATA cable is unplugged....
>
>Anyone else experienced this? (Thermaltake 420w PSU)
>
>Matt
>



Does the drive have a fan fitted in front of it and good air flow around it
plus mounted to the chassis with 4 screws..

Its the drive Temp you need to worry about not the case..

I don't know if the HD temp programs work with SATA drives..

Try this and see if it works

This link is better

http://www.softpedia.com/progDownloa...load-4103.html


http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

Re: Tinking Drive - temperature related
 

Matt wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have an unusual/weird problem - my hard drive tink's whenever the case
> temp is over 30oC.
> The suspect drive is a WD 200GB SATA, which tests fine, has never crashed,
> has no bad sectors. I ghosted to my secondary Maxtor 160GB SATA, and also
> found this makes the same 'tink' noise when the case temp is over 30oC.
>
> Is it my power supply? - I just cant see how two drives can make this tink
> noise (similar to a hard drive crashing - however it can make this tink
> noise during intensive copy and it doesnt affect operation - no pauses or
> crashes)
>
> I could try booting the drive externally - cooling the drive outside the
> case, let the case temp warm up and see if it tinks. From memory it still
> tinks even if the S-ATA cable is unplugged....
>
> Anyone else experienced this? (Thermaltake 420w PSU)
>
> Matt
>
>
This can be the drive recalibrating itself (heads getting lost as it
warms up), which slows it down but doesn't necessarily cause damage. It
is a bit odd that both are doing it though, makes me wonder about the
power supply. Any other disks you can swap in to check?

But 33C isn't excessive for a HD, my Seagates are always in the high
30's and a Maxtor in a confined case is usually in the high 40's, no
problems.


rlj

Re: Tinking Drive - temperature related
 

"XP" <xp@nospam.comn> wrote in message
news:81qfi1l156kfar2kt4oq71g46aaht8fcvg@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 19:29:01 +1200, "Matt"
> <noname@ihavenoemailaddress.com>
> wrote:
> Try this and see if it works
>
> This link is better
>
> http://www.softpedia.com/progDownloa...load-4103.html

Thanks - downloaded. Reported same / similar temps as DTemp. SMART is all
ok, nothing unusual.
Too late to try heating up the case etc....but I suspect BOTH of my drives
tink when the case temp is above 30oC, where the drives are about 35oC (not
considered hot)
I suspect maybe it isnt HDD related - ill pull my drives out, heat up the
case and see if it still does it.

Cheers,

Matt

Re: Tinking Drive - temperature related
 

rlj wrote:
> But 33C isn't excessive for a HD, my Seagates are always in the high
> 30's and a Maxtor in a confined case is usually in the high 40's, no
> problems.

When my drives reach the high 40's, they act really weird. IIRC, my
system freezes, I restart my system, and the drive doesn't detect until
a complete power off, wait (30 seconds) and restart.

40 degrees is hot for a drive. Putting a fan below my drives decreased
the temperature by 10 degrees.

Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock

Re: Tinking Drive - temperature related
 

On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 11:33:02 +1200, Nicholas Sherlock
<n_sherlock@hotmail.com> wrote:

>rlj wrote:
>> But 33C isn't excessive for a HD, my Seagates are always in the high
>> 30's and a Maxtor in a confined case is usually in the high 40's, no
>> problems.
>
>When my drives reach the high 40's, they act really weird. IIRC, my
>system freezes, I restart my system, and the drive doesn't detect until
>a complete power off, wait (30 seconds) and restart.
>
>40 degrees is hot for a drive. Putting a fan below my drives decreased
>the temperature by 10 degrees.
>
>Cheers,
>Nicholas Sherlock

If a drive is running hot, then you are generally reducing its
lifetime and can expect its bearings to seize at some point. If you
put your fingers on a drive and can feel it to be hot, then it is
probably too hot. If you feel it to be warm (or even cool), that is
good. Even though a drive may be rated to run at 50C, that is going
to ensure it has a smaller lifetime than if it runs at 30C.

To keep my hot drives cool, I have them in 4.5" bays mounted with fans
on the front, so there is airflow across both sides of the drive. Of
course, I have a couple of *very* hot drives (10,000 and 15,000 rpm
SCSI).

Mounting drives in 3.5" bays with no gap at all between them is a
really good way of making sure they will run hot. These sort of bays
often have no way of putting a fan at the front either. If you have
these sort of 3.5" bays, if possible leave one bay empty between
drives and see if you can get some airflow through the gaps. Even
drives that run fairly cool can overheat when in the middle between
two other drives. If you have two drives up against each other and
have a spare 4.5" bay, invest in some mounting hardware and move a
drive to the 4.5" bay. If you have two drives hard up against each
other and no other options, slack off the mounting screws and see if
you can move one up a little and the other down a little. Even a
small gap between can make a significant difference, especially if you
can get some airflow through it.

Also, make sure that you have your drives mounted with 4 screws, and
if in a 4.5" mount, 4 screws in the mount as well. Make sure the
screws are all done up properly (tight, but not over tight). This
makes sure that there is good thermal contact all around the drive to
allow the heat to dissipate into the case metal.

Re: Tinking Drive - temperature related
 

"Stephen Worthington" wrote in message

> Mounting drives in 3.5" bays with no gap at all between them is a really
> good way of making sure they will run hot.

I have one of those huge thermaltake cases - hard drives mounted sideways
(better because of more cross-sec surface area getting cooled by the fans)
and have a space inbetween - so the case fans blow above, inbetween and
underneath both drives.

> Also, make sure that you have your drives mounted with 4 screws,

No screws in this case - plastic snap in guides as the case is completely
tool less, including the accessory cards and optical drives. Only thing
screwed in is the mobo.

However im fairly sure mine isnt a HDD over-heat problem, its either the
mobo or power-supply, causing the power to glitch to the drive... will find
out soon!

Matt