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Vertical mounting

kevindickinson

kevindickinson

Active Member
I'm considering moving my HDR Fox-T2 to a location where I have limited vertical space.

I'm thinking of using a vertical holder designed for use with PC's to stand it vertically.

Can anyone think of any issues from using a PVR in a vertical position for an extended time rather than horizontal?


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Tee hee :D

kevindickinson said:
Can anyone think of any issues from using a PVR in a vertical position for an extended time rather than horizontal?
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None. Nothing inside is orientation sensitive, and although the convection may be different all that means is the fan may kick in wth a different repetition pattern. Don't obstruct any vents.

kevindickinson said:
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Can't you get rid of that???
 
The post does not give an authoritative reference for that snippet of information, so needs treating with due caution.

That would have been the case for stepper motor controlled HDDs (the orientation could affect the alignment of the head over the disk surface, as they used 'dead reckoning'), but no drives use that technology any more - the heads are positioned using a servo feedback mechanism, and orientation will be compensated for. The only other reason I can think of is bearings, which may get "worn in", but again if a drive bearing is going to wear in at all it would indicate a life limiting mechanism that does not appear to be born out in practice.

Unless someone can come up with some authoritative information, I say try it and see. What's the worst that can happen? If you want to be ultra-cautious, fit a new drive first.
 
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I have a sneaking suspicion that changing the position of a drive is an urban myth on modern drives. I have searched several times on this, and the only ref I can find are along the lines of your link, and couldn't find anything definitive from a drive manufacturer (didn't look very hard this time though). The nearest ting I came to definitive was HERE which claims to quote manufacturers.
And in answer to your question, in my opinion, it doesn't matter a toss what position you put it in or when providing there is sufficient airflow/cooling.
Just try to orientate it with the PSU at the top if aesthetically satisfactory.
Bear in mind that a high proportion of NAS enclosures mount the drives vertically for better ventilation and heat dissipation, so there is nothing wrong in doing that.
Further searches produce these links. Here you go, from Seagate HERE
And a 'second hand' quote from HERE
Taken from Western Digital faq:

"Physical mounting of the drive:
WD drives will function normally whether they are mounted sideways or upside down (any X, Y, Z orientation). Of course, the physical design of your system may limit the positions in which the drive can be mounted. However, in all cases, you should mount the drive with all four screws for good grounding. Also ensure that there is enough air space around the drive for adequate air flow, and avoid mounting the drive near sources of excessive heat (such as some CPUs)."
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I don't know where the PSU is but I'd try to get the fan at the top. Warm air rises so better for the fan to help it than try pulling it back the 'wrong' way. (I wouldn't be surprised if it could work with the fan off when vertical.)
As Trev says, vertical is probably better for cooling of drives, and probably circuit boards too though that depends on how they've been designed.
 
Black Hole said:
Of course you do!
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I don't. I have a slight idea from when I last opened the boxes a few years ago, and I expect that if I read the huge volume of info in the link you gave I would know. But I don't know, and currently don't need to, so that's OK :)
 
Why didn't you just say "Left hand side when viewing from the front" and save 4 wasted posts?:rolling:
 
Black Hole said:
Just look at the pictures!
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I did, but as there wasn't any obvious labelling I still wasn't sure what was what. I have the time to pursue pointless knowledge but I'm selective about which loose ends I decide to pull at. Until I need to get inside a FOX again this one can dangle :)

Trev said:
Why didn't you just say "Left hand side when viewing from the front" and save 4 wasted posts?:rolling:
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You do realise this is BH you're talking about?
 
Oh, so the circuit board with a mains lead going to it isn't obviously a PSU. OK, must be an engineer thing.

(Just giving a snippet of info instead of referring out to a source of all such info isn't very educational for other readers)
 
Yes it is. The question was effectively "Where is the PSU?". The answer is "Left hand side when looking from the front." Simples.
So best stand it on it's right hand edge. Apologies for starting a sentence with 'So'.
 
Black Hole said:
Oh, so the circuit board with a mains lead going to it isn't obviously a PSU. OK, must be an engineer thing.

(Just giving a snippet of info instead of referring out to a source of all such info isn't very educational for other readers)
Click to expand...

I followed the link expecting perhaps an annotated picture. It was a wall of text. I scrolled down and found some photos, but no labels, so gave up. As I said, it was more trouble than it was worth to me. The best answer would have been what Trev said with a 'more info here' +link underneath.
 
Have the rear pointing sideways? That way hot air goes up and the psu is not below the fan.
 
Thanks all for the advice.

My hard disk is on its way out anyway I suspect, it's lasted longer than I thought it would and I've nothing important on the disk I'd be worried about loosing so will give it a try.


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