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A question: is it possible that a cheap 3.5" hd cooler like this one can interfere with the reliability of a SCSI disk?
I mean, I am having problems with my SCSI HD, it doesn't get detected at boot or sometimes just goes "offline" when not used. If I want to use the HD again I have to reboot several times. If I'm lucky.
Now, I just removed the cooler on it and it started up normal, I don't know if it was luck or if it will happen again, but I'mgetting tired of it. It's already my third disk in 2 years. I RMA it every time. I'm thinking this one is gonna die soon too.

It's possible, I suppose. The fans do have magnets in them and even though the HD is supposed to be shielded against magnetism, the fans may still be affecting the drive. It would probably be better to use a drive cooler that blows air on the front of the drive rather than one that attaches to the top.

It is possible that the magnetic field from the fan motors is inducing noise in some of the analog circuits. It is also possible that mechanical vibration from the fan motors could result in reliability issues over the long term.

I've tried mounting hard drives in 5-1/4" bays, and using the ventilated faceplates that have small fans in them... the fans are almost always way too noisy.

My current preferred method of hard drive cooling is to mount the drive in a 5-1/4" bay with adapter rails, and use a faceplate that is vented (but does not have fans in it). I make sure my case has more exhaust than intake fans, so that air is sucked in over the hard drive.

I already had 3 SCSI drives failing in 2 years. The first not because of cooling because I didn't cool iit. I'll be running my drives with the coolers off for a time and see what it gives. I have 3 drives and 2 are cooled with a 3.5" cooler like I showed you.

I've been using a couple of these for a few years with good results. And unless you're using 1.6" drives, one should fit all your hard drives.

Steel wrote:

I've been using a couple of these for a few years with good results. And unless you're using 1.6" drives, one should fit all your hard drives.

Wow, that looks really nice. I think I may need to order a couple of those...