spec of mounting screws for internal drives?

[Ian R]

Hi

I'd be grateful if anyone could tell me the spec of the mounting screws used
on internal drives i.e. 3.5 and 2.5 inch hard drives, CD/DVD Drives, floppy
drives.

I realise that some drives can only accept a specific length but is it a
standard type thread for all interanl drives?

Is there a generic one size fits all?

Also if anyone knows of a low cost UK supplier that would be a big help too.

Thanks very much.

Happy New Year!

Ian

 

[Rod Speed]

I'd be grateful if anyone could tell me the spec of the mounting
screws used on internal drives i.e. 3.5 and 2.5 inch hard drives,
CD/DVD Drives, floppy drives.

There's just two threads, for 3.5" hard drives and the rest.
The 3.5" hard drives are 6-32 UNC, the rest are M3.

I realise that some drives can only accept a specific length but is it a standard type thread for
all interanl drives?
Yes.

Is there a generic one size fits all?

Two sizes fits all.

Also if anyone knows of a low cost UK supplier that would be a big help too.

The better suppliers of misc PC parts should supply bags
of mixed screws which include the stuff used in cases too.

 

[Arno Wagner]

Hi

I'd be grateful if anyone could tell me the spec of the mounting screws used
on internal drives i.e. 3.5 and 2.5 inch hard drives, CD/DVD Drives, floppy
drives.

I realise that some drives can only accept a specific length but is it a
standard type thread for all interanl drives?

Is there a generic one size fits all?

Also if anyone knows of a low cost UK supplier that would be a big help too.

Thanks very much.

Happy New Year!

There are two in use:

The first are standard, modern M3 screws with flat head.
These go into floppies, CD/DVD drives and 2.5" HDDS. All
manufactuers specify some maximum lenght in their individual
datasheets. I have found that 6mm works well for the standard
sheet metal cages. 4mm should also work in most cases, so
get some 4...6mm M3 screws in the hardware store of your
convenience.

3.5" HDDs use an imprecise, historic and ugly screw type, which is
here (Europe) referred to as a "PC screw", since it is used absolutely
nowere else. This is a completely screwed up design and should
have been dropped a long time ago.

To make it worse, there is a slighly thicker variant that
you can get in with some force, but afterwards the threading is
ruined. I also had threadngs ruined by imprecisely manufactured
screws on HDDs. Seagate calls them 6-32 UNC and says they should go
not more than 5mm into the drive. Maxtor allows 6mm from the side and
5mm from the bottom. Samsung plays it safe and gives you 4 mounting
screws with each drive. They are 5mm long. So using 4..5mm long
6-32 UNC (whatever that may mean) screws should be fine.

The important thing with these is to never use force, except
for the final tightening turn.

Arno

 

[James Brown]

There are two in use:

The first are standard, modern M3 screws with flat head.
These go into floppies, CD/DVD drives and 2.5" HDDS. All
manufactuers specify some maximum lenght in their individual
datasheets. I have found that 6mm works well for the standard
sheet metal cages. 4mm should also work in most cases, so
get some 4...6mm M3 screws in the hardware store of your
convenience.

3.5" HDDs use an imprecise, historic and ugly screw type, which is
here (Europe) referred to as a "PC screw", since it is used absolutely
nowere else. This is a completely screwed up design and should
have been dropped a long time ago.

To make it worse, there is a slighly thicker variant that
you can get in with some force, but afterwards the threading is
ruined. I also had threadngs ruined by imprecisely manufactured
screws on HDDs. Seagate calls them 6-32 UNC and says they should go
not more than 5mm into the drive. Maxtor allows 6mm from the side and
5mm from the bottom. Samsung plays it safe and gives you 4 mounting
screws with each drive. They are 5mm long. So using 4..5mm long
6-32 UNC (whatever that may mean)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Thread_Standard

screws should be fine.