discussion Question HDD and enclosure sponge

[aranclassicrr]

I have an Orico 25PW1 USB 3.0 enclosure case. I glued the shockproof cushion to the base (bottom cover of the enclosure) and placed the 2.5" HDD slightly tilted upwards. Then I closed the enclosure with the top cover. Will the cushion in this position and the slight tilt of the HDD cause long-term damage to the SATA connectors, HDD, and enclosure? Will it generate pressure?

See the video for a similar example of my case:

 

[FreeKnight]

A *slight* tilt shouldn't be a big concern in an enclosure, particularly if closing the shell holds it firm so there's not much moving around.

As long as the internal sata connectors on the drive aren't under a lot of stress you'll be fine and once closed they're not likely to move around much to risk breaking or snapping.

On those I found the USB end of things tended to fail well before the SATA connectors, the old notched usb micro-b connector seemed to fail more often, like from being moved much more, plugged in and unplugged regularly etc.

 

[Izerous]

I question the general quality of the enclosure to have that sponge in that location in first place. The distance of the sata ports to the bottom of the drive is a consistent number where the TOP of the drive to the sata ports is variable especially with SSDs coming in different thicknesses. That whole approach could have been done a lot better.

 

[FreeKnight]

I question the general quality of the enclosure to have that sponge in that location in first place. The distance of the sata ports to the bottom of the drive is a consistent number where the TOP of the drive to the sata ports is variable especially with SSDs coming in different thicknesses. That whole approach could have been done a lot better.

I feel like a lot of the cheap basic enclosures include them, though I doubt they do much to really provide shock absorbtion. Likely cost saving to avoid having mounting screws/frames inside the enclosure or to keep the enclosure as small as possible.

I wonder if aranclassicrr put the sponge on the other side/piece if there'd be any deflection at all.

 

[aranclassicrr]

generates pressure in sata connectors hdd and enclosure in future break damage?

 

[gingerbee]

It's supposed to prevent the drive from rattling around inside the case, that's it. In this enclosure, the foam should be on top of the case to hold the drive still, i.e. to prevent it from rattling in the case, which will end up killing the drive.

 

[moocow]

Looks like the cushion acts as a shim since not all SATA drives have the same thickness. During install, I would hold down the drive to make sure the angle isn't too big to prevent pressure on the SATA connector. It should be fine when the lid is installed since the cushion is foam so it will be compressed. It does not look like there is a lot of room under the lid so it should make sure the drive is in a leveled position.