Hard Drive Vibration (Noisy)

[MayuraDeSilva]

Hey all,

I have 2 HDDs (Clover and WD Blue) in my system and one hard drive (Clover) is vibrating enough to vibrate the casing too. The vibration is not visible, but the noise is kinda annoying. Not very loud, but still louder than the casing fans.

When I remove the power cable to that HDD, my PC is very quiet and has no vibration noise. Performed tests on this hard drive and no issues were reported either. Actually, this is not new and wondering if I can reduce or get rid of this noise without replacing the hard drive.

HDDs are mounted using the removable mounting brackets came along with the Armaggeddon Hectotron T3X casing - which similar to below:

Each already has 4 rubber O rings between mounting bracket and HDD too.

Tried some suggestions found online such as tightening the screws on casing, removing mounting screws by leaving O rings only, changing the position and stuffing sides with foams - this actually increase the vibration noise. But didn't try adding a foam under the HDD. Is it safe?

Do you guys have any suggestions to stop the vibration or least to reduce it to minimize the vibration noise while keeping it in the mounting bracket?

Appreciate any thoughts and suggestions.

Thanks.

 

[thx1138v2]

Just a couple of ideas:

If the drive is secure in the mounting brackets it could be the drive cage that the drives slide into that is causing the noise.

It seems unlikely that a drive by itself would create enough vibration to be noticeable so it could also be fan air flow over the drive or some combination of factors setting up the vibration.

With the drive installed, the case open, and the system running gently push with your finger against various items around the area where the drive is mounted and see if you can find a location that stops the noise. If you do find a location that stops the noise look around there to see what might be vibrating.

It's also possible that the additional load from powering the drive might be causing coil whine in your PSU. That could also lead to the noise going away when you disconnect the drive because the power load on the PSU is reduced.

I wouldn't use foam under the drive because it could prevent proper cooling and, depending on the type of foam used, could collect static electricity that could damage the drive.

 

[MayuraDeSilva]

Just a couple of ideas:

If the drive is secure in the mounting brackets it could be the drive cage that the drives slide into that is causing the noise.

It seems unlikely that a drive by itself would create enough vibration to be noticeable so it could also be fan air flow over the drive or some combination of factors setting up the vibration.

With the drive installed, the case open, and the system running gently push with your finger against various items around the area where the drive is mounted and see if you can find a location that stops the noise. If you do find a location that stops the noise look around there to see what might be vibrating.

It's also possible that the additional load from powering the drive might be causing coil whine in your PSU. That could also lead to the noise going away when you disconnect the drive because the power load on the PSU is reduced.

I wouldn't use foam under the drive because it could prevent proper cooling and, depending on the type of foam used, could collect static electricity that could damage the drive.

Thanks for the quick response, thx1138v2 Gone through your suggestions prior to the reply.

You're right - Think it's wise not to put any foams under then.

Yeah, I can feel the vibration of drive cage when I touch it. Probably, leading to case vibration. However, it doesn't when that HDD is unplugged.

I've disconnected the front intake fan to see if there's any difference and it didn't stop the vibration. Pushing it with fingers while operating didn't help reduce the noise either. Disconnected all the other case fans too.

Replaced current PSU with my brother's and still has the vibration noise. Took the HDDs away from drive cage and connected while they were placed on the table. Then there's no vibration.

Tried to push against the items while operating and was unable to find a location that stop the noise. The drives were pretty much tighten to the cage and didn't move a bit. Not sure pushing against it worked on them.

 

[MayuraDeSilva]

Well... I've made progress on this, at least to minimize the vibration noise

Disassembled the whole casing and identified the vibrating is coming from the drive cage area. Eventhough I suspected it's the hard drive itself, turns out it's when the front intake fan is mounted too - it's mounted to the drive cage and doesn't have to be connected.

Interestingly, this doesn't happen with my WD Blue though. So still the Clover HDD is contributing more and the front intake fan amplifies it, I believe. Pushing against the fan or hard drive didn't make a difference since I think they were tightly secured.

What I did was installing an Anti-Vibration Gasket to the front intake fan (between the fan and drive cage).

Now the vibration noise has been reduced to an acceptable level that I can hear my case fans are spinning

In case if anyone having the same problem, hope this will give an idea. Still if someone knows a similar solution I can try on my hard drive, to keep it even quiet, I'm open for suggestions.