[lug] combatting hard drive heat

[Nate Duehr]

They get cold on one side and hot on the other.  They conduct heat "one-way"
when a current is applied to them.

There are peltier-based CPU coolers on the market now, but I'd not use them
on any CPU/motherboard combo that doesn't shut the machine down if the CPU
temp goes high -- how many times have I been inside a machine and knocked a
cable loose?

If it's a power cable to a fan, I notice immediately... I wouldn't see the
change in a peltier... and from the conversation a while back about the
Athlon CPU/mo-bo combos having a tendency to eat themselves alive... well...
ouch.

Ahh... Google... I googled and found this short but nice and geeky
description...

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/sep99/938380875.Ph.r.html

Nate Duehr, nate at natetech.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mr Viggy" <LittleViggy at alum.manhattan.edu>
To: <lug at lug.boulder.co.us>
Sent: Sunday, February 23, 2003 9:08 AM
Subject: Re: [lug] combatting hard drive heat


> You might try to find a peltier element.  I don't know how handy you are
> with electronics, but if you get get a peltier element, you might be
> able to wire it into your power supply.
>
> If you don't know, a peltier element is basically an wlmost paper thin
> device that will get really cold when electricity is passed through it.
>     Those car refrig's ususally have peltier elements in them.
>
> Unfortunately, I really don't know where you might find one the right
> size (sorry!).
>
> Viggy
>
> D. Stimits wrote:
> > jd wrote:
> >
> >> On Sat, 2003-02-22 at 23:36, D. Stimits wrote:
> >>
> >> >I've been spending a lot of time reworking an ancient machine that has
> >> >old scsi-uw drives on it, working on a lot of multibooting. All of the
> >> >drives are tiny in comparison to modern standards, the largest being 9
> >> >GB. All drives were manufactured when 7200 rpm was the high speed,
10000
> >> >rpm didn't even exist. I have 3 of these stacked in a single bay that
> >> >holds 4 half-height units, the top unit is a floppy. The 3 scsi drives
> >> >alone are making the metal cage so hot it can barely be touched
(doesn't
> >> >burn me, but it sure gets uncomfortable after even 2 seconds). The
main
> >> >problem is that the drives are touching each other without room for
air
> >> >flow, but even if there were room, there isn't any real vent source.
> >> >
> >> >What I'm wondering is if anyone knows of some extremely thin heat
sinks,
> >> >perhaps 2"x2" or 4"x4", that might fit on the side of this cage,
between
> >> >the cage and case wall? Or an extremely thin fan version of this same
> >> >thing that fits between the cage and case wall? It makes me really
> >> >nervous to have hot drives, and I've never lost a drive that was kept
> >> >well-cooled (at least among scsi, even drives close to 10 years old).
> >> >Are there any innovative suggestions here on cooling this 4 unit
> >> >half-height steel bay cage?
> >> >
> >> >D. Stimits, stimits AT attbi DOT com
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> sounds like you might consider a new case.
> >> jd
> >>
> > It's an old full tower with 300 watt supply. Before I throw it out and
> > get a new case, I'll abandon the machine. Trying to not waste money on
> > new stuff while unemployed.
> >
> > D. Stimits, stimits AT attbi DOT com
> >
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