Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!ria!uwovax!baer From: baer@uwovax.uwo.ca Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Effects of Heat on Hard Drives Message-ID: <6352.268ba592@uwovax.uwo.ca> Date: 29 Jun 90 23:01:38 GMT References: <12384@sun.udel.edu> Lines: 43 Perhaps of no immediate use to the individual who suspects overheating on his hard drive, I thought I'd relay some experiences I have been having with my AST Premium 286. AST's machine is configured with memory on a separate proprietary board (beside the motherboard), and I've installed a 2nd "Fastram" card to bring my system memory to 4 mB. The proprietary memory boards must be installed side by side (one can't space them out across 16-bit slots -- they have special slots). Now, about 2 months ago I encountered massive disk errors -- culminating in my inability to read from my 72mB micropolis drive at all. Scary. I think I've tracked down the source of the problem, though: I had stacked papers and stuff on top of the case of my machine, and when I took them off, the metal case was quite warm to the touch. Now I was very careful not to put any junk near the power supply fan (at least 3-4" of open space to the back of my machine), but apparently this was not enough (the boards generated a fair amount of heat, it appears). The problem also occurred when I had left the central A/C in my house off (the ambient room temp. at the time was about 78-80 degrees F). Since then, the problem has occurred again once (not papers stacked on top of the machine but ambient room temp above 78 degrees F) -- again, the portion of the case just above the memory cards + motherboard got a bit warm [the machine had been on for 4-5 hours]. I seem to be able to avoid the problem by placing a small room fan near the machine, and I can always avoid the problem by turning the A/C on and keeping the room temp. in the mid 70s or lower. I believe it was the disk controller on the motherboard of my AST which was giving me problems. Implications of my experiences: if my assumptions are correct, machines crammed with extra boards *might* generate heat in unexpected places, and this might affect individuals' plans to run their machines "turned on their sides". This might also have implications for the whole "is it a good idea to leave the machine turned on overnight?" debate -- the answer to this question might depend on the heat-generating characteristics of the machine & the boards which have been installed. Finally, I suspect there's a message regarding add-on boards here: if possible, avoid adjacent slots for any board which might generate heat (obviously, this advice is of no use to someone who comes close to filling all available slots). Comments on my comments are welcome. I remain willing to be corrected with respect to any of my observations or assumptions. - Doug Baer Sociology University of Western Ontario .