ben@tasis.utas.oz.au@munnari.oz (Ben Lian) (09/04/89)
The cooling fan in my Rodime external HD draws air OUT of the case. This
means that dust collects very quickly inside the case, especially on
anything that happens to be near to the places where air gets in. The
HD doesn't live in a particularly dusty environment, but I still have to
open up the case to vacuum out the dust that has settled, and there is
quite a lot! I guess that the filtration for the HD assembly itself is
good enough that nothing of consequence gets through to the innards. But
being somewhat of a pessimist in these matters, I am still not convinced
that drawing air through the case without a filter is all that healthy.
Ten minutes ago, after my latest clean-out (done once every couple of
months), I did the following:
(1) Unscrewed the muffin fan, reversed it and re-attached it, so that
it draws air INTO the case.
(2) Reassembled the drive.
(3) Doubled up a piece of Chux Superwipes, cut out a 2.5in square
piece, and inserted it into the space between the back of the
fan and the case. The makeshift airfilter is held in place with
sticky tape so that it doesn't fall out. (The piece of tape has
to be small enough to not obscure the air inlet.)
Note: The above works for Rodime externals. I don't know about other
drives. Furthermore, my drive is already out of warranty (and I have
a very friendly dealer).
Questions which spring to mind are:
(1) What is the maximum operating temperature for HD assemblies?
The Rodime 1400RX in particular? Rodime manuals, such as they
are, contain precious little information.
(2) Am I being paranoid?
Ben Lian