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modding a HDD - is it possible ?

G

game14

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Nov 8, 2006
Messages
1,454
i was thinking about modding a HDD , replacing the top with one made out of plexiglas and add a LED inside for some lighting effect .
Anyone ever done this who could give me some advice ???
or is it impossible and simply will destroy the drive ???
thx for any suggestions
 
Short answer: Do NOT try this. Google the raptor X and see what they went through just to get the results they got, it's incredible.
 
its not recommended but, if you insist go find an old 8 or 10GB hard drive (brand doesnt matter) and try on that. I HIGHLY suggest you DO NOT do it on anything you plan to continue actually using for data and such (i.e. - anything bigger or newer than a 10GB).
 
It's been done. On this forum.

There were a lot of folks saying "Oh no, don't. It can't be done". Some folks said "You must have a clean room".

But the guy did it. You'll have to take extreme measures against any dust getting on the platters. ANY dust. One speck will ruin you. But you can do it.
 
upriverpaddler said:
It's been done. On this forum.

There were a lot of folks saying "Oh no, don't. It can't be done". Some folks said "You must have a clean room".

But the guy did it. You'll have to take extreme measures against any dust getting on the platters. ANY dust. One speck will ruin you. But you can do it.
Click to expand...

The only correct answer in this thread is this.
 
Bah.

Pop the top. Holesaw that sucker and glue down some plexi.

While you're at it - get some UV reactive paint down on the drive head, and a nice spiral pattern down on the platter.

And glitter. Don't forget the glitter. Maybe some swarovski crystals and some blue LEDs.

It'll be a goddamn disco inferno.






Just don't expect it to store... data.
 
Dust isnt the only problem.
Plexiglas wont sink Magnetic Fields and EM Radiation and as such the plexiglas front will allow external radiation and magnetic influences to come in contact with the data on the disk.
The inside of a PC isnt exactly clean from Magnetic Fields and EM Radiation!

Its not something I would do to a workhorse hard drive but its a fun thing to do with an old drive.
 
I know there was a warning sticker on my Raptor X saying not to expose the top to direct sunlight.
 
It can be done but apparebtlyl due to the sensitivty of new harddrives even if you can do it, the drive likely wont live for very long unless dont in a complete dust free clean room.


old drives like sub 20G seem to last longer when done.
 
I think someone on these forums did it with a 74G raptor and it worked fine, he worked in a hospital and took the cover of in a airtight room or something then put the hardrive in air tight bag (so no dust or anything gets into it) then sent the cover to danger den i think it was and they sent him a copy of the cover in plexi glass then again in the surgery air tight room whatever it is he put it back and it worked perfectly. Try searching for it.
 
Why doesn't anyone just paint a hard drive? Put a stripe on it.......maybe even polish the hell out of one....
 
markintosh13 said:
Bah.

Pop the top. Holesaw that sucker and glue down some plexi.

While you're at it - get some UV reactive paint down on the drive head, and a nice spiral pattern down on the platter.

And glitter. Don't forget the glitter. Maybe some swarovski crystals and some blue LEDs.

It'll be a goddamn disco inferno.

Just don't expect it to store... data.
Click to expand...

lol I missed this before The glitter bit made me snort tea :D
 
Qtip42 said:
Why doesn't anyone just paint a hard drive? Put a stripe on it.......maybe even polish the hell out of one....
Click to expand...

I did that with a 80gb barracuda, peeled the sticker off and polished the surface with some metal polish from the grocery store . Worked fine and looks better than those ugly stickers .:D
 
Didn't people used to do this mod on old worthless drives, then just used them for decoration inside of their case?
 
Qtip42 said:
Why doesn't anyone just paint a hard drive? Put a stripe on it.......maybe even polish the hell out of one....
Click to expand...

Look in the head brain


I conformal sprayed teh HDD just like I do my mobos when installing a phase change unit. I painted it afterwards. Yes, there is a waterblock thermal epoxied to the hdd as well (I did not treat or paint the spot where the block is attached).
 
game14 said:
i was thinking about modding a HDD , replacing the top with one made out of plexiglas and add a LED inside for some lighting effect .
Anyone ever done this who could give me some advice ???
or is it impossible and simply will destroy the drive ???
thx for any suggestions
Click to expand...

Quite.

People used to do it all the time at the now dead Moddin.net

The forum has died since then. But yes, it is possible by all means.
 
I did this over 5 years ago. Still works today.
It was only a 20 gig drive. Large drives are another story.
06210009.jpg
 
delbert said:
I did this over 5 years ago. Still works today.
It was only a 20 gig drive. Large drives are another story.
06210009.jpg
Click to expand...

thats really looks cool !!! Its exactly what i had in mind . How did you do that ??? Any worklog ???
 
i suggest using a single platter HDD. they have alot more space on the inside, and who cares about a old HDD. I have done it... twice. once i didnt do too good of a clean job ( i guess i got some dust on it) and the arm would SCREAAAAAAAAAM when it would start seeking, it looked cool as hell though. I ended up throwing that drive out. the 2nd one worked well enough. windows recognized it, but couldnt partition it. the head still moved ALL the time, so it was cool to show friends. Iam thinking of doing a third one and installing blue LEDs into it. but this time I want to drill through the HDD metal casing and put them on the sides. I like the idea of UV paint too:p
 
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