User Guides DIY Hardisk Heatsink mod

Harddisk - Heatsink mod
What you need:
1. A hard disk (duh!)
2. Few aluminum heatsinks (duh duh!). Aluminum dissipates heat better.
3. Thermal paste.
I used the paste I got with SI-120.
4. Isopropyl alcohol.
I used spirit used by doctors. May not be as good as IPA but does
the job and is better than using after-shaves/nail polish removers.
5. Cotton swabs (without your earwax ofcourse)
6. Hammer. So you can smash your head if your HDD crashes.

What you get:
A cooler hard disk which will be grateful to you for implementing this mod.

I have 3 HDDs in my cabinet and inspite of managing the cable to increase the airflow, the HDD temps always reached 47-48 deg C. Sometimes even 50. Too hot for me. Connecting the HDDs in front of the 120mm front intake didn’t help either as the temps only dipped about a couple of degrees.

During one of my extensive weekend cleaning sessions, I noticed the smooth metal surface on the HDDs (Hitachis in particular as the label is very small and stuck at the bottom, leaving ample clean, smooth metal surface for our use) and thought why not attach a few heatsinks to try and dissipate the heat. You can remove the labels if you don’t have enough space to attach the heatsinks but make sure you know what you are doing. Removing the lables may void your warranty.

1. Take a clean cotton swab, dip it in IPA (spirit) and clean the
whole metal surface of the HDD. Use the other dry end to soak
up the remaining fluid. Do the same for the heatsink bottom.

2. Squeeze a tiny amount of the thermal paste on the bottom of the
heatsink and press (and I mean gently. Don’t press it like you are
fixing postage stamps.) it on to the metal surface of the HDD. Twist
the heatsink in both directions to remove any air bubbles and to
spread the thermal paste.

3. Do this for all other heatsinks.

4. I’ve arranged the heatsinks at an angle as this should create some
turbulence and increase the heatsink surface area coming in contact
with air. If you fix the heatsinks in a straight line, air will just flow past
the heatsinks without coming much in contact with the HS surfaces,
thus reducing the heat dessipation.

5. Repeat the above steps for all HDDs.

Check out the screenshots for installation pics, temperature benchmarks before and after.
 

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nice stuff dude .. but if u do these stuffs the hdd's wud be compatible with the type of hdd cage antec p180 has? i mean wud they fix in drive roller cages?
i was kinda disappointed with the implementation of drive rollers in pantec p180 they should provide with a hole so that we coud fix some hs on the chips.. btw its only me anyways my antec p180 mod is half way will finish it soon after exams ;).
 
Pentium, why post here - you should have posted it in Guides Section :D

Anyways good work - just needs bit of Formatting ;)

If you write guides on your own - then do not hesitate to post it in guides section - no matter the size or topic of the article :no:

Looking forward to more guide, keep up the good work.
 
Nice guide.... but my HDD is at 29 deg C idle :p I dont think I need to do this mod :p

Hope Karan reads this for his 7200.8 though :p
 
ok, mods can move it to the guides section.

Well bangalore is cooler than Pune is and hence felt the need to do this.

when I was in the UK, the same HDD's were at 16-17 on load.

Now they are steady at around 40. due to the rains.. :)
 
nice guide, i just installed a fan near my hdd a couple of days back and idel temps are 27, just 1.5c over the room temperature :eek:hyeah:

might try this as well, but getting those heatsinks wud be a problem...
 
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