Hi all, My first thread I want to mod my new HDD (transparent cover) but I want to add LEDs 1)which type of LEDs match my project 2)how can I connect the LEDs to power (maybe the SATA power?) Thanks.
Not to burst your bubble but, hard drives are assembled in a clean room (ie. not dust at all). By removing the cover of the HDD you WILL let dust in and destroy your HDD. I'm telling you this because I have already done this project and took every precaution to prevent dust from getting to the platters and failed. I ended up with a plexi glass HDD that glowed but couldn't store anything. I wrapped in saran wrap and put it in two zip lock baggies: http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p240/BillyBoB4869/?action=view¤t=P1010009.jpg&newest=1 Best of luck to you though
Not trying to be mean, but I find the combined amount of fail contained in the above two posts to be absolutely hilarious
Welcome to the ultimate "Balls of Steel" mod. Forget stealth-modding the ATX plug on your mobo. Forget hardware-modding the caps on your GPU. Forget cracking open PSUs with thousands of residual Volts lurking in the caps. Modding your HDD is the real deal. You need to open your HDD in a perfectly clean atmosphere. A single speck of dust or flake of skin is like a boulder scouring the platter. A stray eyelash is like a tree trunk flung across the path of a HDD read/write head. Some people have tried taping up the bathroom door and window and steaming it up with a hot shower, hoping that the water particles will capture the dust and pull it down as the room cools again. They wait inside the bathroom all this time, of course; opening the door would break the seal and contaminate the air. They have also stripped down to their underwear and wear a shower cap --all before entering the bathroom-- and face mask. Then they put on new plastic or latex (non-talc!) gloves and remove the drive cover inside a new, unused ziplock bag. Replacing it with the perspex/lexan cover is tricky because it is by its nature statically charged and will attract dust. Usually it has been washed in a mild detergent solution and left to dry in the same bathroom. After all those precautions it is often found that the HDD still croaks it in a matter of days because somehow, somewhere a particle still got in. Western Digital did a few limited edition HDDs with transparent cover. They were pretty but cost more than the standard version and their lifespan was considerably shorter. Lexan does not appear to make a good cover material.
I forgot to tell you that I working in clean room class 1 so don't worry about dust+particle waiting for your advice
sorry but I forgot to mention that I'm working in clean room class 1 (Intel 45nm Fab) my plan is to open the cover in the clean room then I'll leave the HDD into the clean and take the cover to my home and make the cut. I'm very weak in Electronics and want to know what the best way to put LED into the HDD where to get power to LED waiting to your suggestion
'Scuse you, my WD Raptor X gets plenty of use and is still going strong Nexxo! Considerably shorter lifespan indeed! Pah! And it's still under warranty *childish hand/nose gesture* Anyway yea, welcome to the world of modding OP. This can't be done.
If you are one of those sick-makingly lucky people p) who has access to an industrial clean room, then you stand a chance. Make sure that the custom cover is absolutely clean when you put it on the HDD. Make sure that the seal is good. Keep in mind that HDDs get toasty --up to about 50C-- and the cover has to cope with the expansion/contraction. I would suggest polycarbonate, at least 5mm if you can get your hands on it. I would edge-mount the LEDs on the transparent cover. Get surface-mount or subminiature LEDs which have a lens diameter of about 1.6mm and glue them into notches that you have made in the edge of the cover --make sure this does not impinge on where the cover meets the seal. You could use a modded SATA power splitter to splice into the HDD power line and feed the LEDs. The white (or occasionally orange) line is 3.3V which is just about right for most LEDs.
Thank to all Nexxo : thanks ,If I use Acrylic this will be OK ? I'll use special glue that not fall apart of particles so I should look for 3.3 volt LEDS that will connect directly to SATA power ? BTW this my last modding project ( I took #1 in the competion and won CoreI7 and Intel MB X58) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VxjfR6uqLE enjoy Thanks
Acrylic generates static electricity; I'm not sure how well that will work on a HDD. It is easiest to look for 3.3V LEDs. You can of course simply use resistors. Nice mod, btw.
I'd severely doubt you'd be allowed to bring a HDD from home i.e. contaminated, into an industrial size class 1 clean room without authorisation. It was hard enough bringing in items when I was using the uni clean rooms and they were only ISO 7. Which is a shame really because thats about the only way you can do it really As for the LEDS, if you're up to it i'd use a multimeter and find a 5v or 3.3v contact on the HDD's control board and solder away. Tapping from the molex is a FAR easier way to do it, but if done correctly, I think the solder option will look far neater. Hell if you're going to all the trouble of windowing your HDD you might as well make it look as good as possible right?
I've done the clear cover on a hard drive mod, in the bathroom. Used part of a cd case for the window. Ran just fine for a few years. I eventually threw it away because it was too small. It was only a 40Gb drive. Ran X-Plane off it on my Mac, so it got some heavy use. http://picasaweb.google.com/barry99705/DriveWindow# I've been bouncing around the idea of using a smaller unused sandblasting cabinet for a clean room. Could put in a portable hepa filter fan and then put in all the tools and whatnot you'd need, close the door and wait an hour or so for the filter to clean up the air.
