Custom HDD bay and eclipse mods, lots of pics.

Mark A · 19 May 2007 at 21:37

Hi,
I bought a hdd enclosure to quieten down my hdd, unfortunately it didn't do its job at all. The rubber mounts you get are so hard they transfer the resonation into the case anyway. I placed the enclosure onto the bottom of my case on top of the paxmat Ive put in there. This really did help and my case was very quiet, but it wasn't an ideal solution.

I decided to make a wide hdd bay to bungee mod 2 enclosures. This would stop any resonation and would also quieten airborne noise coming from the drives.

I had some 6mm alloy tread plate lying about so used that to make it. It was really hard to work with being so thick but its ultra strong, i can jump on it and nothing happens lol.

I cut out the plates ready to be bent and assembled.

This is the hdd bay assembled with 4.8mm rivets, i put 5 in each corner as its such good fun.

This is after 2 coats of etch primer ready for the black top coats. I filed all the sharp edges away before spraying as well.

And here it is stood side by side with the old hdd bay, yep its massive and yep theres a lot of dust on the old one

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Mark A · 19 May 2007 at 21:49

Installed in the case, the paint is a pretty good match to the rest of the interior imo.

I need to get some thicker shock cord as the hdd and enclosure are too heavy for 3mm cord and its sagging slightly.

Side shot.

Mark A · 19 May 2007 at 22:03

I also got some HIFI style feet for my case as Ive always liked the look of them on Silverstone cases.

This is a pic of the foot with a acusti soft rubber foot glued to it. They come with a really soft foam pad on them but this will not do for the weight of the eclipse, it'll compress so that its just plastic touching the desk. I had to remove a slight raised plastic ring with my dremel in order to get a flat surface to stick the rubber foot to.

This is the mounting bolt and a washer, i wanted there to be a slight gap between the case and the foot.

This isn't a great pic, I'll try and get a better one when i have the PC on my desk. the feet look really good in the flesh.

p4radox · 19 May 2007 at 22:08

That looks really really good. I'm a fan of industrial-style flooring stuff so I really like it.

RJC · 19 May 2007 at 22:12

Thats looks excellent, well done

Rob

Jonny L · 19 May 2007 at 22:20

That is one sweet looking case with the addition of those feet, welldone mate.

mishima · 19 May 2007 at 22:25

Sweet that mate, well done. Looks very good.

Dingleberry88 · 19 May 2007 at 22:28

Nice. Not sure if the HDD cage really fits, but you've done a good job.

The feet are a nice addition.

ChoÞÞer · 19 May 2007 at 22:55

Nice... i like the feet

elfy · 19 May 2007 at 22:59

just out of curiosity where dyah buy the string and the self etching primer?
very nicely done btw

gt_junkie · 19 May 2007 at 23:06

Looks awesome!

Good job!

gt

Mark A · 20 May 2007 at 02:37

elfy said:
just out of curiosity where dyah buy the string and the self etching primer?
very nicely done btw

Ebay, the shock cord is £1.45 for 2 meters posted :cool:

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Thanks for the positive replies guys, I'm pretty pleased with my work. Its really has made a difference sound wise as well which I'm chuffed about. The main reason i did it is because I'm buying a raptor soon and Ive read numerous times that they are loud. I'm used to an almost silent PC so hopefully this mod will tame it.

Both Hdds are currently sat at 22oc with the front amber fan @ 7v.

Nice. Not sure if the HDD cage really fits, but you've done a good job.

When you say doesn't fit do you mean the size of it? or it looks out of place?. The pictures you see make the paint look a different colour, i think this is due to the flash as in the flesh its pretty much exactly the same.

I have a few more mods planned so watch this space.

Dingleberry88 · 20 May 2007 at 03:16

Mark A said:
When you say doesn't fit do you mean the size of it? or it looks out of place?. The pictures you see make the paint look a different colour, i think this is due to the flash as in the flesh its pretty much exactly the same.

I mean it looks a bit out of place, probably just because I'm not a fan of that industrial plate stuff.

Colour looks spot on though.

Bloodust · 20 May 2007 at 09:49

Nicely done

The main reason i did it is because I'm buying a raptor soon and Ive read numerous times that they are loud.

I have one and it sure keeps noise and I think I have to buy hdd enclosure to keep it quiet

PinkFloyd · 20 May 2007 at 10:35

Very nice job mate. Don't see many mods on Eclipse, Might have to get myself some of that alloy plate stuff for a mod I've got planned

markyb · 20 May 2007 at 13:26

Great mod. Nice work.

Mark A · 20 May 2007 at 16:31

PinkFloyd said:
Very nice job mate. Don't see many mods on Eclipse, Might have to get myself some of that alloy plate stuff for a mod I've got planned

Cheers, yeah its good stuff, but really hard to bend if you don't have the right tools like me. I had to score the edge with my dremel then use a triangle file to turn the score line into a V to make it easier to bend. I think you can get different thicknesses but thats what i had lying around doing nothing so thought id put it to good use

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Next mod is making a new logo for the front of the case out of polished brushed stainless steel. I'm going to make the logo first then if it looks good ill remove the old logo. The way I'm picturing it in my head it should look really good.

I was thinking of using this or a similar handwriting font, i have about 10 here.