# Annoying hard drive vibration



## Zen_ (Jan 13, 2011)

Looking for some ideas to reduce an annoying hard drive vibration in my CM 912. It's not very loud but with the fans turned down it's enough to be annoying. All three drives are Samsungs that are quiet and don't seem to vibrate that much. The sound is a rhythmic hum and occasionally it's a more pronounced rattle. Already tried some electrical tape on the rails to make them fit snugger but that didn't help. 

I attached 2 pics of what the drive cage and and rails look like...the rails do have a rubber washers around the pins but it seems like more of an afterthought. Don't want to buy special cages or mounts...looking for DIY ideas. Thanks for any help!


----------



## LGV (Jan 13, 2011)

do the HDDs move a bit when in place?
if yes, try some more robber washer, may help.


----------



## erocker (Jan 13, 2011)

RMA the drive. If it's vibrating so much that it's annoying you, it's mechanically out of alignment and will eventually fail.


----------



## LGV (Jan 13, 2011)

erocker said:


> RMA the drive. If it's vibrating so much that it's annoying you, it's mechanically out of alignment and will eventually fail.




may right, i woud run hard disk sentinel first


----------



## erocker (Jan 13, 2011)

LGV said:


> may right, i woud run hard disk sentinel first



Sure, but no need to really. Software is great for finding things the eye cannot, but I've seen drives do this before. There is physical damage to it that software may or may not pick up.


----------



## LGV (Jan 13, 2011)

erocker said:


> Sure, but no need to really. Software is great for finding things the eye cannot, but I've seen drives do this before. There is physical damage to it that software may or may not pick up.




for RMA he have to say samthing? no? here yes, may US diff i donno


----------



## Zen_ (Jan 13, 2011)

erocker said:


> RMA the drive. If it's vibrating so much that it's annoying you, it's mechanically out of alignment and will eventually fail.



Hmm, that got me a little concerned so I did some messing around to figure out which drive it was and / or if it was a combination of drives. 

I believe the problem is the removable drive cage in the 912 is a tad flimsy and has plastic bushings on the top / bottom to slide it in that were vibrating. With 2 drives in the low cage (not removable) and one in a 5.25 bay, the vibration is gone.


----------



## micropage7 (Jan 25, 2011)

if it vibrate much, try to fill the gap with foam or plastic so it wont vibrate much


----------



## Mussels (Jan 25, 2011)

erocker said:


> RMA the drive. If it's vibrating so much that it's annoying you, it's mechanically out of alignment and will eventually fail.



no.


i've got a dozen drives here, and the more you add in close proximity, the more they vibrate. one goes left while the other goes right, and it makes more noise than one would alone.

he's got three drives on loose sliding rails, vibration is simply going to happen.


edit: what a few people have said in this thread are his only options. he needs to 'snug it up' to quote sneeky, and prevent the vibration. of course, that all depends on whats vibrating (the drive against the rails? rails against the case?)


----------



## sneekypeet (Jan 25, 2011)

run some zip ties through the holes side to side when the drives are in. See if adding some snug factor removed the vibration.


----------



## LAN_deRf_HA (Jan 25, 2011)

It doesn't take much vibration to make an annoying noise. I had a noise from the two tubes on my H70 vibrating together just from a very specific amount of airflow. Any decrease at all, like sticking my hand close to the back of the case changed the rate of flow and would stop the noise. So sensitive yet it made quite the racket. I actually replaced a fan before I figured out I just needed to move the tubes apart. 

Also, you'd need something pretty solid for samsung to take an rma.


----------



## Arrakis9 (Jan 26, 2011)

if you run out of ideas for DIY take a look at these little gems :

http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...oduct_info&cPath=60_485_127&products_id=24068

they may look cheap but they get the job done and are not expensive at all. it turned my raptor drive from a loud hum and grind when seeking to a very low pitch hum and soft click clack here and there when seeking.


----------

