Noisy HDD, I need a solution!

Michael

Michael

Active Member
I just installed a 60GB WD HDD, and it's pretty noisy... sort of a humming sound coming from it at all times.. it works fine, though.

I'd like to know what solutions there are available to silence it.. I've looked through the egg, and tiger and found boxes to mount it in a 5.25" bay.. but I have so many open HDD slots I'd prefer to use them first.

Anyone have an idea?

Would this do anything?

Also, my case uses a 'tool-less design'.. so I can wrap the drive in something, provided that something will allow the drive to 'breathe' and function properly, and stuff it in a HDD bay no problem.
 
I bought it second hand, but I'd like to keep it :)

I'd just like to find a way to silence it a bit.. it's not overbearing, and I don't think it's failing.. just makes a humming noise that my other drive doesn't.
 
Get some rubber washers to go between the cage mount holes and HDD threaded holes. That should keep it from vibrating, I think some of the Antec cases have the big silicone washers, the P180 does and it's quiet.
 
INTELCRAZY said:
Get some rubber washers to go between the cage mount holes and HDD threaded holes. That should keep it from vibrating, I think some of the Antec cases have the big silicone washers, the P180 does and it's quiet.
Click to expand...

I took it out of the PC case just a minute ago, hooked it all back up and started up the PC... it sounds like the noise is coming from within the HDD.. and it constantly hums.

I have an older 2GB HDD that does the same thing.. is this the sign of a flaw? This is a WD drive we're talking about :confused:
 
All drives hum.. how loud is the matter... might just be an crappy motor... My 2GB hums, so does my 160GB Seagate... 120GB WD...
 
My 160GB WD is silent.. this drive isn't humming quietly. I can hear it over my AC unit, which is maybe 15 feet from me.

In any event, I did nothing with the drive for about half an hour and it stuck itself into what I believe is standby.. is there a way to change this so it puts itself in standby after, say, 5 minutes? If so, i'll live with the hum it makes when I need to use it :)
 
Wow then it must be really loud... I think its the crappy motor :D

Control panel > Power options > turn off hard disks...

:D
 
oscaryu1 said:
Wow then it must be really loud... I think its the crappy motor :D

Control panel > Power options > turn off hard disks...

:D
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up, it's slightly more complicated in Vista.. but you helped me find it :D

Also, that'll only turn off inactive HDD(s), right?
 
Naw if you leave your cmoputer there and your just playing music, it'll more thanlikely just shutdown until your gonna use the HDD again... it does it to all the HDDS.
 
Does this effect me being on the computer? e/g: using Windows, surfing the internet.

It was set to 20mins before, now it's set to 5mins, I guess I'll know for sure in 1 1/2 mins haha
 
I set up the program at 4:03, to shut the HDD down after 5 mins of inactivity, it's 4:20 now.. hasn't shut down yet.
 
It increases you HDD lifespan I think... I get annoyed when I have to wait an second or so for it to turn back on...
 
oscaryu1 said:
It increases you HDD lifespan I think... I get annoyed when I have to wait an second or so for it to turn back on...
Click to expand...

I was reading that spinning it off then back on actually decreases the life of the HDD.. which sucks, now I'm left with either wrapping this thing in silicon wrap, or sticking it in an external HDD case... unless someone has another idea, which I'm hoping for :D
 
Hard disk drives are designed for a 100% duty cycle, meaning the motors are designed to run continuously. All motors vibrate and make noise, just some are louder than others. That's why their specs have noise levels given in Bels (=decibels divided by 10) I've used drives from Quantum, Maxtor, WD and Seagate over the years, and every single one of them hummed when in use.
Tom
 
OvenMaster said:
Hard disk drives are designed for a 100% duty cycle, meaning the motors are designed to run continuously. All motors vibrate and make noise, just some are louder than others. That's why their specs have noise levels given in Bels (=decibels divided by 10) I've used drives from Quantum, Maxtor, WD and Seagate over the years, and every single one of them hummed when in use.
Tom
Click to expand...

Right, but you're describing a hum... where-as I'm describing a loud hum that sounds like a quiet jet engine, so to speak... more of a hmmbbbzzzhmmmbbzzhhmmbzzz, forgive the poor example ;)

I have two WD drives in my case, 1x 160GB which is silent.. and the 60GB which is very loud.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top