Advice about modifying my Akasa Eclipse-62 case

Hello everyone. I have 3 hard disks, and I originally thought they where horribly noisy. (They are seagate barracudas).

They really where making a LOT of noise. (Around 3 or 4 times louder than anything else in my PC).

Anyway, recently, I was so annoyed with it, I took the main one (drive C) out of the drive bay. I cut some foam into two small squares, and I put the squares on the bottom of the case (inside). I then just rested the hard disk on the foam. I never move the case, so its perfectly fine like that. Anyway, the volume of the disk has dropped a LOT! Its now barely even noticeable... even when doing a virus scan or playing a game etc.. The other two disks are still as noisy as ever though.

So.... my conclusion is that the disks just vibrate a lot, and aren't actually noisy themselves. But the hard drive cage which holds the disks in this Akasa Eclipse-62 case, is very slightly wobbly. It doesn't seem to be screwed into the frame, and instead its attached some other way (by some strange clip I think, - which you can maybe pull hard so you can remove the entire hard drive cage?).

So..... can anyone suggest some cheap and DIY ways I can solve this issue? My only idea really, is to remove that cage, and then suspend the two disks somehow. There is no more room on the bottom of the case for the disks (maybe 1 more...), so I really need to suspend them somehow.

I was thinking maybe tying string around each end of the disk in a knot, and then hanging them from the 5 1/4 inch bays above where the hard drive cage was. But I'd really appreciate any ideas before I do anything like this.

Thanks in advance :)


p.s. Bear in mind, I'd rather not spend any money unless I really have to. I know there are hard drive coolers which hold in some noise too, but the decent ones of those seem to start at about £20, and I would need two of them. I'd rather not spend that seeing as I spent a fortune on this case, and these disks to begin with.

You can always buy some of those strong elastic bungie cords (the ones with a hook on each end, you can usualy find them in pound shops, something like 2 for £1) and remove the cage and use the bungies (cut to length) to suspend your drives, that should cut most if not all the noise from them.

Thank you :) I actually just searched "suspend my hard drives" on google, and someone suggested the exact same thing :)

Not with bungie cords though. Someone said to just use elastic, and if you dont have any, take it out of some pants :)

I think I'm going to try that tomorrow. I also had to do a search about how to remove the drive cage, but I think I've sussed that out now. I'll do that, and I may even remove the floppy drive cage too. Then I'll get some elastic and suspend them. I'll just have to make sure nobody bumps into the case while its on :o

Infact, I might even try to use some of that foam stuff I have and somehow attach it to the sides of the case or the sides of the drives. So if they ever swing into the side of the case, it might help avoid disaster.

I'm sure it will be ok though :) Thanks again! Elastic is a good plan. I'll have to find some of those bungie cords too.. they sound ideal.

Seagate Baracuda's have always been noisy tbh - I've used WD's instead as there no where near as bad :)

I have some sheet rubber - about 2 - 3 mm thick that I use to 'shim' rattling components.

PM me with your address and I will pop some in the post to you.....:juggle:

Another way thats often forgotten about is to put hd in spare 5.25" bay. Nexus Twin Disk Anti Vibration Hard Drive Mounts, Fits to any 3.5" HD to then fit a 5.25" Bay this has the added advantage of giving the hd more space for cooling.

if you have 3x5.25" bays spare you might consider Silverstone CFP51 4in3 Hard Drive Cage coolernmaster & lian-li also do models. I've used the cm model with 2 or 3 drives in, has the added advantage of a 120mm intake fan.

luck:D

Have a look on silentpcreview.com, in the forums there is a section on this with a couple of eclipse's that use the suspension technique.

One of the cheapest methods will be to turn the hard disk cage 90 degrees and rest it on foam. No vibrations will be transferred from to the case if that's what most of the noise is from.

Your hard disk temps will increase if you're resting the HD on foam.

There's a thread on SPCR about suspending hard disks, some excellent suggestions (including pics) - http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums...ic.php?t=19147

I've got hard disks suspended in a P180 lower hard disk cage. The cage is currently sitting in my Eclipse as I think it's a better case.

WOW! You folks are legends! Thank you all so much for the help. I've got some good links now and some good ideas. Thanks again :) :)

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Originally Posted by acrobat

Not with bungie cords though. Someone said to just use elastic, and if you dont have any, take it out of some pants :)

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I wouldn't trust elastic that is so thin to be honest, I have suspended hdd's with cut up bungie cords before and they are great, and the fact that they have a fabric covering to them means even if the elastic snaps, your drives won't go crashing into the bottom of your case :)

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Originally Posted by Golden Dragoon

I wouldn't trust elastic that is so thin to be honest, I have suspended hdd's with cut up bungie cords before and they are great, and the fact that they have a fabric covering to them means even if the elastic snaps, your drives won't go crashing into the bottom of your case :)

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Nice advice! Thank you.

Its gunna take me a few days until I do this anyway. I have two drives sitting in the bay still which don't really bother me to be honest. But my main disk which I rested on some foam, is a lot hotter now :( It seems to average around 40C which is 10C higher than the other too.

I have no idea if that is bad or not really, but I don't like the idea of it... So I bought a hard drive cooler, and I'll give that a go. I just hope I can get the fan on the cooler to be quiet, or defeats the whole point of me buying it in the first place. Once I've done that though, I may still suspend the other two disks with bungie cords.

Another option would be to use rubber washers/grommets which go between the screw and the hard drive and case

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...C=SO&U=strat15

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Originally Posted by acrobat

But my main disk which I rested on some foam, is a lot hotter now :( It seems to average around 40C which is 10C higher than the other too.

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I did warn you in my previous post (higher up) :)

I stuck some foam in a HD cage and temps shot up just like your HD. There was a noticeable difference in noise though :D

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Originally Posted by amjedm

I did warn you in my previous post (higher up) :)

I stuck some foam in a HD cage and temps shot up just like your HD. There was a noticeable difference in noise though :D

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Yeah same with me. Its ok, I was expecting it. But still... its 40C compared to 30C :) Hehehe. I liked the 30C :( But its soooo quiet now. :)

I've just ordered a bunch of stuff from Scan (my new best friends), so I'm gunna see what I can do this week. I'm getting two new case fans, so I'm thinking of using one of the old fans to sit on top of the hard disk which is resting on the foam. That should help bring the temp back down closer to 30C again :) And if the fan is on its rubber thingies, it won't add any noise at all. (the fan is silent). And I'm going to just stick the other fan on the bottom back of the case, facing upwards towards the soundcard and graphics card. And I'll leave the other 2 hard disks in the cage because they only make noise when I access them which isn't often.

I made a pic because err... well.... im a bit of a dork :stupid: :)

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/1571/mypcjd5.gif

I actually ordered a hard drive cooler aswell, but I'm just about to cancel the order of it. (Because the fans in those things are generally noisier than the disks so its a bit pointless). And I think my old case fan will do a decent job of cooling it - and yet wont make any noise.

I don't think you would get decent airflow with fans right at the bottom and on top of the hard disk... Remember the air needs space to come into the fan (one at bottom of case doesn't have this space)... and go out (hard drive one doesn't have this space)... plus it will be well noisy like that...

Or is it just your picture? How are you planning to secure these fans into their positions?

Its just my rubbish picture :)

The fans are fitted in my case at the moment with those little rubber things... err.. like rubber matchsticks or something.

So I'm going to put the rubbing sticks the other way around, so the fans are resting on the rubber and facing the right direction. It will only give it about an inch of room, but it should be better than nothing. The one in the back I don't even need - im just doing that because it will be spare.

But the one on the hard disk I'm hoping will be ok. If not, I might have to extend the rubbing things a bit - but I'm not sure how much room I will have between that and the soundcard which is directly above it.