USB hard drive overheating at DVinfo.net

Ervin Farkas · August 6th, 2006, 03:16 PM

I have recently started using an external 3.5 inch hard drive for video editing. When I put my hand on it, it feels kind of hot...

So I was wondering, is this thing going to succomb to heat? It's a 250 GB Samsung that I myself mounted into a CP Technologies aluminum enclosure. No holes for circulating the air... it seemed kind of odd to me, but I thought it's because it won't overheat. Well, it does!

Jesse Redman · August 6th, 2006, 08:32 PM

Ervin,

I have several external USB hard drives, each from a different manufacturer. They all have vents.

If I were you, I would drill some holes in the case, on the bottom side, without the HD in it :).

Glenn Chan · August 6th, 2006, 10:19 PM

Hard drives do need to stay cool, otherwise they will fail if they get really hot.

Some enclosures have dual fans in them, and are made of aluminium. So cooling should be good, especially if one fan fails (i.e. if the thing only had a single fan, a failure would be bad).

2- With your existing drive, you could potentially put it somewhere cooler (i.e. on the ground / not somewhere hot) and/or have a fan blowing on it if you feel that it isn't cool enough.

August 6th, 2006, 03:16 PM	#1
Ervin Farkas Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta/USA Posts: 2,515	USB hard drive overheating I have recently started using an external 3.5 inch hard drive for video editing. When I put my hand on it, it feels kind of hot... So I was wondering, is this thing going to succomb to heat? It's a 250 GB Samsung that I myself mounted into a CP Technologies aluminum enclosure. No holes for circulating the air... it seemed kind of odd to me, but I thought it's because it won't overheat. Well, it does! __________________ Ervin Farkas www.AtlantaLegalVideo.com

August 6th, 2006, 08:32 PM	#2
Jesse Redman Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cedar Park, Texas Posts: 182	Ervin, I have several external USB hard drives, each from a different manufacturer. They all have vents. If I were you, I would drill some holes in the case, on the bottom side, without the HD in it :). __________________ - Jesse XL2 - Vegas - DVDA - Sound Forge - Acid Pro - Cubase SX 3

August 6th, 2006, 10:19 PM	#3
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	Hard drives do need to stay cool, otherwise they will fail if they get really hot. Some enclosures have dual fans in them, and are made of aluminium. So cooling should be good, especially if one fan fails (i.e. if the thing only had a single fan, a failure would be bad). 2- With your existing drive, you could potentially put it somewhere cooler (i.e. on the ground / not somewhere hot) and/or have a fan blowing on it if you feel that it isn't cool enough.