Question Mini PC - Mounting HDD without Mount (Please Help)

[Zelcane]

Hi All, I'm in a little bit of a sticky situation, so if anyone could help i would appreicate massively.

So, I have bought a Custom Mini Pc, With room to add a 2.5 inch laptop drive. I have a NVME in it for main OS and it didn't come with the HDD mount to add my 2.5 inch drive. It has the sata connection port. The only idea i have had is to somehow Mount it to the roof of inside of the mini pc (The roof of the mini PC is plastic).

As i understand, HDD vibrates alot, so sticky pads of any sort would not work since over time it will eventually drop, and thus cause damage to the board.

However, I have had an idea to get a random plastic HDD mount from anywhere, and use plastic bond to bond it to the roof of the inside of the mini pc, Even this though, i am uncertain it will work.

I have attached an image of the location I am thinking to somehow secure a plastic HHD mount, however i don’t want to drill holes through the lid. This is the only place it can fit.

If anybody has any idea on the best way I can do this would be hugely appreciated. Thank you for reading.

 

[logainofhades]

Do you absolutely have to use an HDD? SSD's are pretty cheap these days

 

[Zelcane]

Do you absolutely have to use an HDD? SSD's are pretty cheap these days

I do, it’s a 5tb 2.5 inch, and has all of my data on it. I can not afford a m.2 in that capacity.

 

[USAFRet]

I do, it’s a 5tb 2.5 inch, and has all of my data on it. I can not afford a m.2 in that capacity.

A 2.5" SATA III SSD would work.

However you do it, a spinning HDD needs to be mounted securely.

 

[Zelcane]

A 2.5" SATA III SSD would work.

However you do it, a spinning HDD needs to be mounted securely.

Unfortunately I also don’t have the funds for a 5tb+ Sata SSD. All I have is my 2.5 sata HDD. I was thinking to get a secure plastic mount, and bond the entire HDD mount to the lid (as pictured above) using plastic epoxy. Would this not work? Of course I’m worried about it falling over time due to vibrations, however if I have a HDD caddy mount with rubber nibs where it screws to the caddy mount itself, it would dampen the vibrations for the rest of the mount, so was hoping the epoxy would hold it well. Or am I mistaken? It does really have to be this 2.5 hhd

 

[USAFRet]

Unfortunately I also don’t have the funds for a 5tb+ Sata SSD. All I have is my 2.5 sata HDD. I was thinking to get a secure plastic mount, and bond the entire HDD mount to the lid (as pictured above) using plastic epoxy. Would this not work? Of course I’m worried about it falling over time due to vibrations, however if I have a HDD caddy mount with rubber nibs where it screws to the caddy mount itself, it would dampen the vibrations for the rest of the mount, so was hoping the epoxy would hold it well. Or am I mistaken? It does really have to be this 2.5 hhd

Find a 2.5" external case. Remove whatever connection stuff it has, just leaving the drive mounting.
Glue it to the case.
Power the drive with regular SATA data and power cables.

 

[Zelcane]

Find a 2.5" external case. Remove whatever connection stuff it has, just leaving the drive mounting.
Glue it to the case.
Power the drive with regular SATA data and power cables.

And it would hold fine doing that way? The case you see that is the inside lid, once it’s back together the drive would affectively be glued to the roof of the mini pc. My main concern was if the glue wore off and fell, it would fall straight down onto the main board. It’s so tight inside that it is the only placement I can put it. Hence why I was doing to use a lot of epoxy plastic glue to fuse a plastic HDD mount to the inside of the lid and then screw the HDD to the glued mount

 

[USAFRet]

Hence why I was doing to use a lot of epoxy plastic glue to fuse a plastic HDD mount to the inside of the lid and then screw the HDD to the glued mount

Right.
That is effectively what I said.

 

[Zelcane]

Right.
That is effectively what I said.

As an update, I have now a 3D printed mount which I’m going to coat in epoxy for extra strength and then epoxy it onto the lid of the inside. I won’t be screwing it in, but there are screw mounts of epoxy doesn’t hold and I have no other choice.

With the entire base coated in epoxy, do you feel this would be strong enough to hold? I will also be adding rubber washers to each hole that secures to the HDD to dampen the vibration.

Do you think this will work and hold it without falling?

 

[USAFRet]

It does not need an epoxy coating.

That looks plenty strong enough.

 

[Zelcane]

It does not need an epoxy coating.

That looks plenty strong enough.

Perfect thank you. Its PLA so, fingers crossed it bonds well and holds up