temperature of external disk

[Jorge Almeida]

On Sat, 21 Oct 2006, Collins Richey wrote:

>
> 1. I have read that metal external enclosures are better at
> dissipating heat than plastic ones.
Mine is a metal one (Conceptronics).
> 2. I only have experience with use of two drives in an external enclosure.
> a. The previous drive in my el-cheapo ADS metal USB enclosure was a
> drive that was already failing (needed to recover a few files), and
> the enclosure was very hot to the touch.
> b. The current drive I use for backups is a new drive, and it runs warm not hot.
> 3. I don't run the drive continuously, only an hour or two at the time.
>
My drive was once working continuously for more than 24h (making a
backup through ssh). It stopped working. When I turned it off some days
later (which I can't do without physical access), it came back to normal
after a few hours rest. The drive is as new as the case (a few months)
and hasn't been subject to much use. (OTOH, it is Maxtor...)
> I conclude from this slim bit of evidence that a drive that runs hot
> most likely has other problems and that the enclosure is not the
> problem.
But what is hot? My impression on touching the case with my hand may not
be reliable, that's why I hoped to be able to monitor the temperature.
>
> Enjoy,
>
Cheers.
>

-- 
Jorge Almeida