External Enclosure Doesn't Power Down

[jthg]

I've gathered from browsing various sites that if my external enclosure doesn't power down the drive while idle, there's really nothing I can do about it. If anyone knows otherwise please share it.

My question is, how bad is it for the hard disk to be spinning 24/7? How much will it shorten the disk's lifespan?

One other thing I'm curious about: After spinning for a while, the hard disk gets very warm. Where does the heat come from? Is it friction or is it electrical resistence?

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, Most external drive enclosures have a power switch on the back. If no switch then you will have to unplug the power. 24/7 causes wear to the spindle bearings and eventually will cause problems. Worsteis that it will continue to spin until you shut it down and then refuse to spin up again. Spindle motor has very very little starting torque so any extra friction will keep it from spinning up. That's where the FREEZER TRICK sometimes gets you out of trouble long enough to save your data. I only turn mine on when I need it and always off when the comp is off. Any device using electricity for any purpose generates heat. Can be calculated in WATTS from the info on the label. Volts X current = Watts. Compare to a light bulb of roughly the same wattage.
Good Luck, Jim

 

[jthg]

Thanks for the response. Is spindle motor/bearing failure a common occurance? For drives that are kept running 24/7 (like in servers) do you know what the most common failure is?

As for your answer to my last question, I was hoping for something more insightful . i.e. specifically how the heat is generated. I'm mostly wondering how much of that comes from friction because that corrolates directly with mechanical wear.

 

[Bobthelost]

A HD draws around 10-15W of power when it's running at full speed. All that power is dissipated in the HD in some manner, obviously enough. However the same HD may only draw 5W or so when it's idling, the HD is still spinning at the same speed when it's idling. But the read/write heads aren't moving, nor is the electronics processing any of the data it's not reading from the HD.

This doesn't answer your question i know, but i thought i'd add it anyway.

Edit: On second thoughts that's bollocks, the HD slows down when it's idling doesn't it. :disgust: at me.

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi Again, I can not state it more simply or scientifically. Voltage X Current (EI) = Watts. Watts = heat. Jim