Stopping my Synology NAS from vibrating/buzzing

Feek · 11 Jan 2023 at 11:19

I bought my Synology DS-1019+ a couple of years ago and although it's worked perfectly, I've always been a little miffed as to how loud it is. Not the drives spinning, accessing or the fans but just a general vibrating buzz type of noise. If I put pressure on the case, the noise would reduce or change. It's always been there, some days it was louder than others. I've got it on a foam bed with noise cancelling feet and extra pads. None of these really made any difference.

Yesterday, I shut it down, removed all the caddies one by one and put pads of sticky velcro (the soft side, not the hard rings) along the side runners and also inside the caddy in a couple of places where the drive touches the plastic.

Here it is on the side runners.

On the inside of the drive caddy.

When I powered the NAS back up, I could instantly tell that it's better. I can still hear the drives spinning quietly and the access sounds but the vibration and buzz appears to have gone completely. It's so different, so much better.

I can't claim responsibility for this, I found it somewhere on line and I thought it worth sharing here.

If you've got a Synology (or probably any NAS) with hard drive vibration sound, this is a really simple, easy, cheap solution.

Snapshot · 12 Jan 2023 at 09:22

I've not found my DS1618+ to be noisy but it has plastic drive trays rather than metal. Identical design though.

I've found isolating the fans from the back panel can also help. I've used the rubber isolators that come with some fans or disk isolation washers between fan and back panel.

Meddling-Monk · 13 Jan 2023 at 13:47

One method I've used was to isolate the NAS from the storage its in. I placed some small cut sponges under the feet of the NAS so that it vibrates on the sponges and thus less of it is transferred to the storage and echoed out. It won't help with all sources of sound in a NAS but will help in an instance where HD in a NAS vibrates the whole NAS casing into the storage it sits on.

Semple · 13 Jan 2023 at 13:52

I guess this is one of the flipsides of toolless parts. Had it been caddy-less and you had to fix the drives to the chassis then it'll very likely not rattle.

Feek · 13 Jan 2023 at 14:16

Snapshot said:
I've not found my DS1618+ to be noisy but it has plastic drive trays rather than metal. Identical design though.

These drive trays are plastic as well.

Snapshot said:
I've found isolating the fans from the back panel can also help. I've used the rubber isolators that come with some fans or disk isolation washers between fan and back panel.

I've never had a problem with fan noise, it was always the vibration that annoyed me. Now all I can hear is the drive heads seeking which is a significant improvement.

Meddling-Monk said:
One method I've used was to isolate the NAS from the storage its in. I placed some small cut sponges under the feet of the NAS so that it vibrates on the sponges and thus less of it is transferred to the storage and echoed out. It won't help with all sources of sound in a NAS but will help in an instance where HD in a NAS vibrates the whole NAS casing into the storage it sits on.

Yes, I've effectively done this as well, I replaced the standard feet with AcoustiFeet Anti-vibration Case Feet, it's sitting on BJADE'S Anti-Vibration Isolation Rubber Pads and a layer of vibration absorbing foam but although they stopped vibrations rattling the shelf it's on, they did nothing to stop the vibrations within the unit itself.

Semple said:
I guess this is one of the flipsides of toolless parts. Had it been caddy-less and you had to fix the drives to the chassis then it'll very likely not rattle.

Aye that's exactly it. I don't think it's the drives rattling against the caddies themselves but I put some pads there anyway, I'm pretty sure it's all the caddies vibrating against the cage they mount in. When I put them back in with the velcro, they're noticeably a bit harder to push back in place but still lock back in nicely positively.

Meddling-Monk · 13 Jan 2023 at 14:28

Feek said:
Yes, I've effectively done this as well, I replaced the standard feet with AcoustiFeet Anti-vibration Case Feet, it's sitting on BJADE'S Anti-Vibration Isolation Rubber Pads and a layer of vibration absorbing foam but although they stopped vibrations rattling the shelf it's on, they did nothing to stop the vibrations within the unit itself.

Ah a shelf, yeah that'll be less able to counter certain vibration noise. I have mine in a sturdy tv cabinet (with some heavy books and file folders on top) so it's able to soak the vibrations in and not let much if any back out. Much like you, managed to reduce noise to disk start up and access noise now. Good times, hated that low vibrating hum.

Semple · 13 Jan 2023 at 15:14

Feek said:
Aye that's exactly it. I don't think it's the drives rattling against the caddies themselves but I put some pads there anyway, I'm pretty sure it's all the caddies vibrating against the cage they mount in. When I put them back in with the velcro, they're noticeably a bit harder to push back in place but still lock back in nicely positively.

Do these just slot in on a plastic rail? My old PC tower has toolless drive cages and they have a rubber bit that goes over the screw to slide into the cage. Bit hard to describe without a picture, but I know they fit really snug so no chance of any wobble.

Feek · 13 Jan 2023 at 15:24

Semple said:
Do these just slot in on a plastic rail? My old PC tower has toolless drive cages and they have a rubber bit that goes over the screw to slide into the cage. Bit hard to describe without a picture, but I know they fit really snug so no chance of any wobble.

There's a rubber bit inside where the drive goes in the caddy but no, where the caddy slides into the cage, there's nothing. You can see from the pictures above where I've added the velcro. It's no wonder they rattled.

bloodiedathame · 13 Jan 2023 at 15:27

Miines noisy, or the drives are, I built a ply box with some sound-deadening squares inside it. The back is open so it can breathe, works well enough.

Feek · 27 Apr 2023 at 12:17

It's been a few months since I did this so it's time for a quick update.

It's been perfect. No drive rattling, buzzing or vibrating whatsoever.

Armageus · 27 Apr 2023 at 12:36

Thanks for the bump - I'd forgotten all about this

I've got some left over from a roll of car-interior felt tape - I will certainly give this a go on my DS1520

darael · 1 May 2023 at 10:33

@Feek
Thanks for this, I've only just seen this thread. I might give this a go for my hard drive which is mounted in my Corsair 650D case.

As a result of the padding, did you find that the hard drive was difficult to reinstall?

Feek · 1 May 2023 at 10:35

darael said:
As a result of the padding, did you find that the hard drive was difficult to reinstall?

No, it was a little firmer to push the caddy back into the unit but not difficult at all. No problems at all fixing the drives into the caddies.

darael · 1 May 2023 at 10:42

Feek said:
No, it was a little firmer to push the caddy back into the unit but not difficult at all. No problems at all fixing the drives into the caddies.

Nice, I'll get some and let you know my findings.

hornetstinger · 2 May 2023 at 10:49

I changed the fans in the Synology, that made it quieter.

Feek · 2 May 2023 at 10:59

hornetstinger said:
I changed the fans in the Synology, that made it quieter.

I've never even heard the fans in mine.

hornetstinger · 2 May 2023 at 11:05

Feek said:
I've never even heard the fans in mine.

Fan noise wasn't too bad but slight motor noise. Initially I thought was the hard drives but stopping fans with my fingers temporally made it quieter

Wasn't expensive I think about £4 a fan. Also removed the fan cover to reduce airflow restriction

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zyarra · 30 Mar 2024 at 11:01

Feek said:
I bought my Synology DS-1019+ a couple of years ago and although it's worked perfectly, I've always been a little miffed as to how loud it is. Not the drives spinning, accessing or the fans but just a general vibrating buzz type of noise. If I put pressure on the case, the noise would reduce or change. It's always been there, some days it was louder than others. I've got it on a foam bed with noise cancelling feet and extra pads. None of these really made any difference.

Yesterday, I shut it down, removed all the caddies one by one and put pads of sticky velcro (the soft side, not the hard rings) along the side runners and also inside the caddy in a couple of places where the drive touches the plastic.

Here it is on the side runners.

On the inside of the drive caddy.

When I powered the NAS back up, I could instantly tell that it's better. I can still hear the drives spinning quietly and the access sounds but the vibration and buzz appears to have gone completely. It's so different, so much better.

I can't claim responsibility for this, I found it somewhere on line and I thought it worth sharing here.

If you've got a Synology (or probably any NAS) with hard drive vibration sound, this is a really simple, easy, cheap solution.

i was going CRAZY over the vibration! THANKS

Feek · 30 Mar 2024 at 11:14

zyarra said:
i was going CRAZY over the vibration! THANKS

You're welcome - I can confirm that over a year later, it's still as silent as it can be. The caddy rattles haven't returned.

zyarra · 30 Mar 2024 at 11:19

Feek said:
You're welcome - I can confirm that over a year later, it's still as silent as it can be. The caddy rattles haven't returned.

It didn't sound like a caddy rattle for me, so i did not think about this... it was more like, it shook the entire table(3.5m so everything was vibrating....
Funny thing is my girlfriend(shared 3.5m desk, NAS mounted under HER part) didn't even notice this... but for me it seriously felt like the entire ROOM is WRMMWRMMWRMMWRRM all the time

i registered just now to thank you !