DELL Optiplex 760 Hardware?

H

helpless

I need plastic hard drive rails for Dell Optiplex 760 USFF SATA
hard drives. I have not been able to find any that seem to be right.
I have one set - they have an ID 87VYR C49. I need some more.

Anyone?

Thanks

Helpless
 
P

Paul

I think none of the above will fit my Optiplex 760 USFF except for the
last in which there is a single possibility:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Hard...mputing_Drive_Bay_Caddies&hash=item4621bd23c5

Quite expensive. How about narrow strip(s) of Gorilla tape? :-(

Thanks again

H

I think those rails slide under metal tabs in the metal drive tray.
There is a tray underneath the drive, made of metal. It has tabs
on the side, that those rails slide under, and that keeps the drive
from falling out. There is also a fan for the drive, and the fan
fits in the tray first (below the drive). Then the drive with rails
fits into the tray. Without the rails, the drive would not be wide enough
side to side, to stay in place.

To "fake it", you need strips of material wide enough to wedge
the drive into the tray. Followed by some solution to
keep the drive pushed down against the tray. With a set of calipers,
you can measure the ID of the tray, the OD of the drive, subtract,
divide by two, to get rail thickness.

http://www.pclife.bg/userfiles/productlargeimages/product_2296.jpg

http://indyandyt.cgwebsolutions.com/Img-P113H 11.jpg

Page 192 and 193
ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_optiplex_desktop/optiplex-760_Service%20Manual_en-us.pdf

You could make slides (without a retention feature) out of plexi.
Home Depot has small samples of Lexan/Plexiglass, and you could
make something from that. It comes in various thicknesses, so
not all sheets are the same thickness. I think if you made the right
outer dimensions, it would probably fit underneath the metal tabs
in the tray. But without the springy finger hold thing on the end,
there would be nothing to prevent the drive from sliding forward.
The hardest part of the project, would be making recessed screw holes,
for the screws that fasten the rails to the side of the drive. THe
screws are typically not that long, so you'd probably need to
drill two holes for each screw. A small hole all the way through,
big enough to take the screw. And a larger diameter hole part
way through, big enough to clear the screw head. It's pretty
difficult to drill holes in that stuff, with any great precision.
Once the drill gets a bite into that stuff, it wants to tear the
whole thing out.

Paul
 
H

helpless

I think those rails slide under metal tabs in the metal drive tray.
There is a tray underneath the drive, made of metal. It has tabs
on the side, that those rails slide under, and that keeps the drive
from falling out. There is also a fan for the drive, and the fan
fits in the tray first (below the drive). Then the drive with rails
fits into the tray. Without the rails, the drive would not be wide enough
side to side, to stay in place.

To "fake it", you need strips of material wide enough to wedge
the drive into the tray. Followed by some solution to
keep the drive pushed down against the tray. With a set of calipers,
you can measure the ID of the tray, the OD of the drive, subtract,
divide by two, to get rail thickness.

http://www.pclife.bg/userfiles/productlargeimages/product_2296.jpg

http://indyandyt.cgwebsolutions.com/Img-P113H 11.jpg

Page 192 and 193
ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_optiplex_desktop/optiplex-760_Service%20Manual_en-us.pdf

You could make slides (without a retention feature) out of plexi.
Home Depot has small samples of Lexan/Plexiglass, and you could
make something from that. It comes in various thicknesses, so
not all sheets are the same thickness. I think if you made the right
outer dimensions, it would probably fit underneath the metal tabs
in the tray. But without the springy finger hold thing on the end,
there would be nothing to prevent the drive from sliding forward.
The hardest part of the project, would be making recessed screw holes,
for the screws that fasten the rails to the side of the drive. THe
screws are typically not that long, so you'd probably need to
drill two holes for each screw. A small hole all the way through,
big enough to take the screw. And a larger diameter hole part
way through, big enough to clear the screw head. It's pretty
difficult to drill holes in that stuff, with any great precision.
Once the drill gets a bite into that stuff, it wants to tear the
whole thing out.

Paul
Hi Paul -
I can duplicate the 87VYR C49 rail pair that I already have to get the
size right. Those rails are blue BTW.

Another possibility - I do have a few of the larger rails (they are
green BTW and are too wide and long, as I have said). I might try
to modify a pair to fit my 760 USFF. They would have to be shorter
(that's easy), and I maybe could thin (~1/16") their height (on my
table saw) so they could fit under the metal tray tabs you mention.
The larger rails already have a flat spring to provide tension in the
insertion and have properly located screw holes and screws. I'll try
all this tomorrow.
Thanks again

Helpless
 
P

Paul

Hi Paul -
I can duplicate the 87VYR C49 rail pair that I already have to get the
size right. Those rails are blue BTW.

Another possibility - I do have a few of the larger rails (they are
green BTW and are too wide and long, as I have said). I might try
to modify a pair to fit my 760 USFF. They would have to be shorter
(that's easy), and I maybe could thin (~1/16") their height (on my
table saw) so they could fit under the metal tray tabs you mention.
The larger rails already have a flat spring to provide tension in the
insertion and have properly located screw holes and screws. I'll try
all this tomorrow.
Thanks again

Helpless

I use a belt sander for "thinning" stuff :)
Just don't do it in the house :) I remember
the first (and last time) I used the belt sander
in the house...

Paul
 
V

VanguardLH

Most of these rails (the green ones, anyway) are a lot longer than
will fit in my Optiplex 760, which is USFF with limited space. I
think the the 'C49' is the key to what I need. I will look some more

You sure? The screws in the rails look to be at the standard distance
apart for the threaded holes in hard disks. The screw farthest into the
case is near the end of the rail so there would nothing of the rail to
stick back farther than the drive. The drive is a lot longer from its
rear screw hole than is the length of the rail beyond its back screw.

The front screw is very near the tang or lip in the rail that would snap
into a recess in the drive cage/bay.

Are you sure you are positioning the drive and rails on top of the tab
guides in the drive cage?

Do you really need the rails? The Google pic for the 760 USFF at
http://tinyurl.com/nhenarx shows how the tangs on the rails would snap
past the metallic fingers at the end of the cage. However, if you have
no plans to remove the drive (except to replace it every few years, or
longer, or never), you could could use long zip ties to hold the drive
into the cage. I did that with an old computer that had a Slot2 Pentium
CPU. The retaining bracket broke that holds it into the slot. I just
ran zip ties through the holes in the mobo bracket (into which the
retaining bracket snapped) and over the Slot2 CPU. Worked that way for
around 6, or more, years until I trashed the old computer. If the cage
is larger than the hard disk which means the drive would be loose inside
the zip ties, pile up some double-stick foam tape on the non-PCB side of
the drive to fill the gap between drive and zip tie.

I wouldn't use gorilla/duct tape since after a time the glue would dry
and you end up with a mess on the drive cage when you remove the tape.
That means the next tape job won't have a good clean surface on which to
adhere. Zip ties easily snip so you can remove the drive, put in a new
drive, and use new zip ties. I'd get the pricey wide zip ties just to
ensure the locking mechanism was beefier.

The pic doesn't show the side door for that case. If it is just a solid
metal side panel, you could skip using the cage (although you'll
probably have to remove it to get it out of the way) and drill holes
into the case that match up with the screw holes on the bottom of the
hard disk. Those holes are at standard distances so they'll work for
the next hard disk replacement. They you mount the drive to the side
door. Sure, you'll need to slighty open the side door to disconnect and
reconnect the power and data cables but how often do you do that? If
the power and data cables aren't long enough, get a Y-adapter for power
and a longer data cable from mobo header to drive.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41S9aCRqYFL._SX300_.jpg shows a
SATA drive bottom mounted to an 5-1/4" bay adapter. There are screws on
the bottom of the drive that can be used, too, to mount a drive.

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/op/z_000436mountingholes.jpg

The hole on the right is for side mounting. The hole on the left is for
bottom mounting. They use the same thread sized screw.

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/op/z_000436mountingholes.jpg

Here's another pic showing the bottom mounts. Notice the PCB is slighty
recessed to prevent shorting against a metal plate when bottom mounting.
Sometime a mylar shield is included for added protection. The recess
should be sufficient but if you're concerned then apply some self-stick
mylar film to the metal plate (side door), the same stuff you get at
office supply stores to protect sheets of paper, like for IDs.
 
P

philo 

I need plastic hard drive rails for Dell Optiplex 760 USFF SATA
hard drives. I have not been able to find any that seem to be right.
I have one set - they have an ID 87VYR C49. I need some more.

Anyone?

Thanks

Helpless


I have a few sets of them, the shortest ones are 6 3/8"


If you are in the US I can mail one set to you

looks like you are in Chicago, I'm in Milwaukee


just email me if you want them (Just pay me back for postage)


my gmail addy is philo565
 
H

helpless

I have a few sets of them, the shortest ones are 6 3/8"


If you are in the US I can mail one set to you

looks like you are in Chicago, I'm in Milwaukee


just email me if you want them (Just pay me back for postage)


my gmail addy is philo565


Why - thank you very much! I don't know why they are selling for so
much - I only found one source though. I have located a couple pair
in my collections, and am now working with them. If they don't work
out, I certainly will get back to you.

Thanks again

Helpless
 
P

philo 

Why - thank you very much! I don't know why they are selling for so
much - I only found one source though. I have located a couple pair
in my collections, and am now working with them. If they don't work
out, I certainly will get back to you.

Thanks again

Helpless



OK, it probably should not be too difficult to modify what you have...
I improvise all the time...but if you need some just write.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top