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Opening a H.D.D

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  • Storage
  • Hard Drives
  • External Hard Drive
Last response: in Storage
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October 16, 2014 12:59:31 AM

Hi,

I've heard that HDDes are made in vacuum environment. So doesn't opening the HDD in a normal environment (like a room) damage it?

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October 16, 2014 1:03:34 AM

it might not damage in an instant.............but when you will use it....it might turn into flames because the hdd's disk spins very fast thus creating a lot of air resistance and friction thus creating heat and eventually burning the whole thing. That's why they come vaccuum packed
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a c 93 G Storage
October 16, 2014 1:03:57 AM

Aria abbasi said:
Hi,

I've heard that HDDes are made in vacuum environment. So doesn't opening the HDD in a normal environment (like a room) damage it?



Yes HDDs are manufactured in a temperature, humidity, and pressure controlled clean room. Opening the device won't damage it per-se but it will sure as heck compromise it by exposing the platter to moisture and dust. Newer HDDs are filled with helium and won't work at all if opened.

If you do decide to open it, do this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yISqCAnROh8
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October 16, 2014 1:04:57 AM

Hard drives are put together in a lab with minimal particles in the air. (as in dust) opening the hard drive at home will damage it because of all the dust and dirt flying in the air. When its sunny at your house open the blinds and look at all the dust flying around the room when sun shines through the window. All that stuff is going to settle on top of the platters and will create read errors after as well as other issues.
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a c 119 G Storage
October 16, 2014 1:06:22 AM

2 days ago we had a post from a guy trying to fix his HDD. He'd pulled the cover off and was wondering what were the water stains that were growing on the disk platter. I gather it was a humid day and the platter was a bit cooler than the ambient air.

I've got no worries about pulling one apart as long as you say that you'll bin it when done.
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October 16, 2014 1:12:25 AM

They are assembled in a clean room void of dust and other airborne particles. If crap is on the platter it will wreck the data on it. You can open it and it might still work but its not recommended. Its a cool thing to do with an old drives tho because the platters are really shiny and there is some really strong magnets in there (be careful with them you can really hurt yourself). Dont know what sanjay is on about with it bursting into flames but anyway.
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October 16, 2014 1:51:30 AM

Thanks for the answers. All are fine and very hard for me to choose just one as answer! :) 

But here let me ask another related question: Consider a hdd has one plotter so there are two read/write heads for that plotter. My question is, how those heads are working, coordinated with each other or in opposite direction? That is, for example, when one head on the plotter is moving to right hand the head under the plotter is also moving to right hand or can move to other hand (left)?
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October 16, 2014 1:55:09 AM

@pinhedd: What is the sign of newer HDDs (filled with helium) ? Have they any ditinct mark?
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a c 93 G Storage
October 16, 2014 2:16:09 AM

Aria abbasi said:
@pinhedd: What is the sign of newer HDDs (filled with helium) ? Have they any ditinct mark?


By "newer" HDDs I mean that they were just unveiled a month ago. These hard disks are 8-10TB in capacity and are currently manufactured by Western Digital as a part of their HGST brand (formerly Hitatchi)

EDIT: to answer your other question, yes each head moves independently.
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October 16, 2014 2:29:05 AM

Thank you very much Pinhedd. You solved the confusions.
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!