Question HDD vibration causes whole desk to vibrate ?

[salm2s]

Hi there,

I recently got a new Seagate Barracuda 2TB hard drive and when I installed it into my pc, I noticed that the vibration of the hard drive could be heard through my desk. As soon as I lifted my pc up from my desk, the sound immediately disappears and when set down the sound comes back. I did some research and found that the hard drive is vibrating the hard drive cage, and the vibration would pass through the cage into the pc case and thus vibrate the desk. The case I have is a Cooler Master CMP 510. I also have another drive in another slot of the cage, a WD blue 1TB hard drive which does not cause any vibration through the desk at all, which I find so strange considering that the WD drive is 6 years old now, and yet the new seagate drive is causing so much vibration.

I know that it is the seagate drive as when i remove the wd blue drive from the cage and run my pc with the seagate drive, the vibration is still persists and only goes away when the pc is lifted into the air. However, when I remove the seagate drive and put the wd blue drive in, there is no more vibration. I was thinking of getting rubber feet for the case. Either that or I get an SSD to replace it. But I was wondering if there are any other solutions that you guys may have?

Thanks,
salm2s

 

[Lafong]

You might be able to affect the vibration by fiddling with the mounting hardware on the drive.

Such as:

Loosening, tightening, or entirely removing one of the mounting screws. Could be any of the 4 corners...whatever will alter the tension a bit at one point relative to the others.

Using washers or grommets of some type in conjunction with the screws.

Moving the drive to another mount.

Inverting the drive, upside down.

Putting the drive on edge in some manner, rather than flat and parallel to the floor.

All of that would be pure trial and error to the limits of your patience.

 

[salm2s]

Hey there, thanks for the response.

In terms of screws, there are no screws. It uses a tool-less mount that slides into the cage. The cage has a screw that attaches itself to the cage, but i dont think that screw is causing the issue.

I did try attaching some rubber feet that you would use for furniture legs under the cage, but the vibration was still pretty persistent and did not get absorbed that well.

I'm not sure why such a new drive would vibrate this much, it's honestly a pita because the drive i got previously before this was a wd blue 2tb that would vibrate the cage a lot and would make extremely loud noises. I got it exchanged for this seagate drive and it is quieter than before but it's still bothersome. I will try some other methods but I'm honestly thinking of just keeping the seagate drive for backups and just getting a 2tb sata ssd.

Appreciate the help mate,
salm2s

 

[thestryker]

Drives that small shouldn't have that type of vibration problem so I'm guessing it's the way the HDD bay works in that case. Does it make any difference whether or not the thumbscrew holding the bay in is installed? I'd suggest trying some anti vibration pads underneath the drive bay itself if you can fit them between it and the case. Otherwise you could try them on the feet of the case, but I'm not sure how long they'd last under the weight of a computer.

 

[SkyNetRising]

In terms of screws, there are no screws. It uses a toolless mount that slides into the cage.

Can you show a photo of that tool less mount?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)
Does it have any anti vibration padding?

The cage has a screw that attaches itself to the cage, but i dont think that screw is causing the issue.

You could put rubber washers between drive cage and pc case.

 

[Karadjgne]

Use small rubber O-rings on the pegs of the tool-less carrier. Check for clearances, is it fully suspended or does the hdd case come into contact with the frame elsewhere, do you Have to use the carrier or is that just an 'Easy Button' gimmick and there's availability to screw mount using longer screws and far larger bushings.

Personally, if it's vibrating that badly, a drive wheel is out of balance, a gear is out of alignment etc, something in the drive is not Kosher and that's just going to most likely wear out the internals far faster than normal, you should be able to expect a HDD to last at least 5 years of constant use, anything less will be a surprise that'll leave you data-less, and if that drive is the only source of your wedding photos, daughters graduation, baby's birth etc, the only other expectation I'd have would be for a very comfortable couch because you'll be sleeping on it for a very long time. Might want to consider a return if that window is still open.