Removable drive bay / cartridges

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tmix

Well-known member
Does anyone have any good sources on IDE removable bays and holders? I've seen ads from $25 for plastic ones to $100 for aluminum ones. What is a good brand? I'd love to pick some up If they can be had for $20-$40.
Some have fans some dont. Anyone with on-going experiance with removable bays to give some pitfalls to avoid?

tmix
 
I'm using these:

http://directron.com/mr27.html

you can get extra trays here

http://directron.com/rh007.html

The drives run a little hot in them (my HDD temps run 45-50°C), so if you have drives with a temperature sensor in them, you should monitor them, and see if you need additional cooling. Check your drive specs to see what the normal operating temps are, but most drives top out ~55°C.

The little fan in the back adds to the overall noise of your PC which may/may not be of concern.

If you like bells and whistles, go with this:

http://directron.com/ezswap.html

Also, do not try "HOT" swapping. Power down, then swap.

Queue
 
Thanks

That is what I was looking for!
I dont particularly want the extra noise, I wonder if the fans run if there is no drive installed?
Would the system work if I just wanted to install drives in that bay long enough to make back ups but then pulled it out for every day use?

tmix
 
I have two variations of that model, the first I picked up at the computer show, the brand was "Future Power". The ones I ordered from directron are "Lian Li". The Lian Li model will not work unless the key is in the "locked" position. (But the fan still runs, no matter what.) The Future Power will work regardless of the lock position.

You can definitely throw a drive in for backup, power down, remove the drive, and reboot with the bay empty.

I have a drive with WinMe and another with XP Pro, and two bays in the box. I pop in the appropriate OS drive, whichever storage drive or audio drive in the secondary and boot. I keep my audio projects on one of the secondary drives. I can access the projects from either OS!

Queue
 
Oh yeah, I spoze you could always wire a switch in to the fan circuit, or maybe a thermistor.

Queue
 
I've used the metal type, and the plastic ones. They both hold up to swapping around of the cartridge.

As for the fans, I just unplug it from the circuit board, or if it's soldered, side cutters work.

One thing though, if you are using this so you can have multiple hard drives, in multiple cartridges. Buy more than one (bracket & cartridge)- odds are you will never fine the same type of bracket/cartridge again, and end up buying all new ones if you plan on adding another drive that remains in the cartridge. This has happened to me a few times. I'm on my third set, probably remain that way unless I move to serial drives.
 
Emeric,
What kinda temps you running fanless? Is that in metal bays?

Queue
 
I don't know what temps they run at Queue. I touched the front of the computer, feels like about 27 degrees to me :). Plastic bays. No meltdown yet - 2 years and running.

The fans are put in as a selling feature (gimmick) IMO, nothing more. Assuming the machine is assembled right, and air-flow has been taken into consideration (nice neat cabling, correct case size and not too cheap of one), heat is a non-issue in these types of bays. Not the 'silent drive' concrete encapsulated bays, that's another deal.
 
Emeric,
If your drives aren't too old, they might have temp sensors. I've been using DTemp http://private.peterlink.ru/tochinov/ to check Drive temps of various configs. I know that even with the fans running, I'm seeing 40°C+ temps at idle. I'll do some experimenting to see if they run the same temps w/o the fans.

Queue
 
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