[comp.misc] Help: High pitched noise from hard drive

jansson@uwovax.uwo.ca (01/18/90)

My hard drive makes a rather loud high pitched noise intermittently.
I have not been able to determine a distinct pattern in the occurance 
of the noise.  For a while I thought that it occured more often when the
room I keep it in was warmer than when it was colder.  But I am not so sure
anymore.  It seems to make this noise for about fifteen minutes and then
stop for a few minutes.

I bought the computer from MICRO 1 and do not really want to ship it
from London, Ontario to Arizona if not absolutely necessary.

MICRO 1 states that the sound I hear is static electricity being discharged
throug a wire from the hard drive to the case.  I have never heard of this
before.  Is it possible?  Can I fix it myself?

If you gather that I do not have much faith in Micro 1 you are correct.

Specifics:  Toshiba 22ms, 66Mb, RLL.

Any, and all, help on this would be much appreciated.
Mikael
Jansson@uwovax.uwo.ca
Jansson@uwovax.bitnet

davidsen@crdos1.crd.ge.COM (Wm E Davidsen Jr) (01/18/90)

In article <4714.25b49999@uwovax.uwo.ca> jansson@uwovax.uwo.ca writes:

| MICRO 1 states that the sound I hear is static electricity being discharged
| throug a wire from the hard drive to the case.  I have never heard of this
| before.  Is it possible?  Can I fix it myself?

  It is very likely MICRO 1 is wrong. What is much more common is that
on a drive with a ground strap touching the spindle, the strap vibrates
slightly, giving off a whine, hum, or other ominous noise.

  The best solution (my opinion) is to bend the strap slightly to one
side or the other. Note that a few thousandths (0.1mm for people with
metric fingers) will usually do it. You are bending the strap to the
*side*, not away from the spindle, so the strap still works, but a
different part of the strap rubs on the spindle. This still protects
against static but doesn't make noise.
-- 
bill davidsen	(davidsen@crdos1.crd.GE.COM -or- uunet!crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen)
            "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me

dlawyer@balboa.eng.uci.edu (David Lawyer) (01/19/90)

In article <4714.25b49999@uwovax.uwo.ca> jansson@uwovax.uwo.ca writes:
>My hard drive makes a rather loud high pitched noise intermittently.

You could glue rubber strips to the grounding strap (brush) or put
silicone rubber on it.  Decreasing the tension may help (but don't
decrease it too much).

It the printed circuit board vibrates, one may put it under
compression by using wedges.  If the hard drive metal cover is
vibrating, one may tape a heavy weight to it to stop the noise.

			Dave Lawyer