External enclosure = hot hard drive?

[AndroidVageta]

I have the following external enclosure:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-074-_-Product

Now, I seem to be having a problem...maybe. I have two of these enclosures, one with a 2TB WD Green HDD, and the other with a 1.5TB Seagate drive.

The WD is very silent, vibration free, and pretty cool to the touch (Id say about room temperature) where as the Seagate seems to have a very slight vibration and is running pretty hot...not like SUPER hot but pretty damn warm...

The question I have is...is this OK for the Seagate? Is something wrong with the hard drive or is this just the nature of the beast? Im convinced that although the enclosures aren't actively cooled they do seem to dissipate heat pretty well as the WD is never hot or anything or is the WD just a more cool running drive in its own right?

I like the enclosures as they are eSATA and definitely cheaper on the money scale, plus they match and work quite well. Should I be worried about my Seagate? Can hard drives stay warm or should I remove it and find something else?

 

[Zap]

Is the Seagate the 7200RPM version or the 5900RPM version? If it is the 7200RPM version, then it is to be expected that the drive runs hotter and vibrates more. The 5900RPM version will also run hotter and vibrate more than the 5400RPM WD, but the difference would be very slight.

Hard drives usually have operational temperatures up to 60°C, so it is okay to run warm. That being said, hard drives can also overheat. I've experienced this several times and each time the drive would just lock up, but would be fine once it cooled down. That isn't to say it can't become damaged, but I've never experienced that.

BTW I own five external enclosures and experienced overheating in the first one, so all subsequent purchases of external enclosures were for ones with fans in them.

 

[Blain]

I prefer to use 5 1/4" external enclosures to mount HD's. They tend to give the drives more circulation.

 

[corkyg]

Hard to judge whether or not the heat is excessive. But, your link has this comment by a user reviewer . . .

"Pros: Cheap price.
Cons: No vents to allow for air movement around enclosed hard drive.
Other Thoughts: I am returning this enclosure. I'd suggest spending a few extra dollars and getting a better enclosure."

I have several externals with 7200 RPM SATA drives, connected by eSATA, and no problems. But, they are Vantec NexStar 3's - a little higher on the food chain.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=370891

 

[jjmIII]

An external NEEDS a fan IMO!

I love the Rosewill above and have been running it 24/7 over a year.

 

[tcsenter]

I stopped using 7200RPM drives in passively cooled enclosures a couple years ago. I mostly use laptop drives in 2.5" enclosures but the several 3.5" enclosures I've used have featured an aluminum screen/mesh design for better ventilation. e.g. Eagle Tech Consensus M Series