Lian Li PC-60 and Drive Heat

[Paul]

I have a Lian Li PC 60 all aluminum case. The system is an ECS K7S5A
with Athlon XP 1700+, 1GB DDR Kinston RAM (2x512k), 350W Enermax PS.

The drive cage is at the bottom of the case in the front. There are
two fans blowing in from the front of the case onto the drive cage.
The fans pull intake from vent holes on the front panel of the case.
There is an air filter between the vent holes and the fans.

I recently had a WD80GB drive lose the circuit board. I was able to
replace the board, extract data, etc. I'm am now ready to re-install
the drives. I had one WD800BB and two WD400BBs. During this process
I ended up with another WD800BB. I now have four drives. All four
drives (two WD800BBs and two WD400BBs) are 7200RM Ultra ATA 100.

I noticed that when I pulled the cage out originally it was pretty
warm and I'm wondering if that is what killed the circuit board on the
drive that died? Right now I have all four drives mounted in the cage
running on a piece of cardboard outside the case on the floor. The
side of the case is off. The drive cage gets pretty warm to the
touch. I'm kind of afraid to put the drive cage back into the case
and seal it up without knowing what to expect. Anyone had any
experience with this case and drive temperature? What is the best way
to load it up with drives?

TIA,
Paul

 

[David Besack]

I noticed that when I pulled the cage out originally it was pretty

warm and I'm wondering if that is what killed the circuit board on the
drive that died? Right now I have all four drives mounted in the cage
running on a piece of cardboard outside the case on the floor. The
side of the case is off. The drive cage gets pretty warm to the
touch. I'm kind of afraid to put the drive cage back into the case
and seal it up without knowing what to expect. Anyone had any
experience with this case and drive temperature? What is the best way
to load it up with drives?

TIA,
Paul

Presumably if air is flowing properly in the case (fron to back) your
drive cage will be cooler than just sitting outside the case.

 

[John Weiss]

I have a Lian Li PC 60 all aluminum case. The system is an ECS K7S5A
with Athlon XP 1700+, 1GB DDR Kinston RAM (2x512k), 350W Enermax PS.

The drive cage is at the bottom of the case in the front. There are
two fans blowing in from the front of the case onto the drive cage.
The fans pull intake from vent holes on the front panel of the case.
There is an air filter between the vent holes and the fans.

I noticed that when I pulled the cage out originally it was pretty
warm and I'm wondering if that is what killed the circuit board on the
drive that died? Right now I have all four drives mounted in the cage
running on a piece of cardboard outside the case on the floor. The
side of the case is off. The drive cage gets pretty warm to the
touch.

The best thing to do is use it as designed -- put the case side back on. That
way the air flow will be directed over the drives, as designed.

The drives produce heat. The metal cage and case help conduct heat away from
the drives, as well as channel cooling air around them. That's why the cage is
warm. If it gets cold, that's when you worry...

 

[Matt]

I have a Lian Li PC 60 all aluminum case. The system is an ECS K7S5A
with Athlon XP 1700+, 1GB DDR Kinston RAM (2x512k), 350W Enermax PS.

I guess Lian Li's are supposed to be good. But looking at the pictures
of that case at newegg, I see that it comes stock with four 80mm case
fans, which to me is a bad sign. It appears that the fan vents are
mostly decorative. Are those 200 little holes at the bottom fromt the
only way to get air through to your hard drives? Offhand I'd say the
unmodified case can't breathe well.

 

[Fitz]

I have the same case. I increased air flow through mine by adding a
"blowhole" in the top to the case to assist in removing hot air. It reduced
the temp on the inside of the case significantly, so the individual
components in the case should also be cooler. I'm running two 10000 RPM SATA
drives (RAID 0) and a 7200 RPM PATA drive with no problems.

The mod is easy, the aluminum case cuts nicely ( I used a drummel tool). No
filter is needed, as the fan will be blowing out. Just a fan and a grill.

Fitz

 

[Paul]

I have the same case. I increased air flow through mine by adding a
"blowhole" in the top to the case to assist in removing hot air. It reduced
the temp on the inside of the case significantly, so the individual
components in the case should also be cooler. I'm running two 10000 RPM SATA
drives (RAID 0) and a 7200 RPM PATA drive with no problems.

The mod is easy, the aluminum case cuts nicely ( I used a drummel tool). No
filter is needed, as the fan will be blowing out. Just a fan and a grill.

Fitz

Is there such a thing as a high volume fan that will move more air?
Maybe I can replace the fans with better fans.

I've also seen fan assemblies that mount in a 5.5 inch bay. The fan
pretty much blows vertically either up or down. Would something like
that disrupt air flow through the case by creating turbulence more
than assist cooling?

I like the hole in the top idea but I'd like to try some other options
before attempting a mod like that.

Paul

 

[Fitz]

Your already have 2 fans sucking air from the front and only one exhaust.
Heat rises....placing an exhaust fan in the top of the case will remove the
"used" air and will help the lower front fans suck in more cool air. There
are "high volume" fans, but most turn in the 7000 RPM range, so are noisy.
You want something that turns at a lower RPM but moves a high volume
(usually measured in cubic ft) of air. I'm using Vantec Stealth fans (I
haven't looked, but I'll bet there are better ones on the market now). If
you use a 120mm fan vs an 80 mm fan in the top, you can afford a lower RPM
(and therefore quieter) fan and still move more air.

Fitz

 

[Ed Medlin]

Is there such a thing as a high volume fan that will move more air?

Maybe I can replace the fans with better fans.

I've also seen fan assemblies that mount in a 5.5 inch bay. The fan
pretty much blows vertically either up or down. Would something like
that disrupt air flow through the case by creating turbulence more
than assist cooling?

I like the hole in the top idea but I'd like to try some other options
before attempting a mod like that.

Paul

My PC-60 came with the top exhaust fan, and the two front fans have a speed
control switch. I have never had any problems with heat at all. I have 4-5
year old HDDs sitting in the cage (mine install vertically rather than
horizontally) and they run fine and cool. If you have a filter on the front
fans, make sure you clean it periodically. All the fans are extremely quiet
too.

Ed

 

[Paul]

My PC-60 came with the top exhaust fan, and the two front fans have a speed
control switch. I have never had any problems with heat at all. I have 4-5
year old HDDs sitting in the cage (mine install vertically rather than
horizontally) and they run fine and cool. If you have a filter on the front
fans, make sure you clean it periodically. All the fans are extremely quiet
too.

Ed

I really like the case. It is well made. The panels seal tightly,
which keeps a lot of the noise inside. The drive cage maxes out at 5
drives mounted vertically. I had a drive circuit board go bad and I
was beginning to wonder if it fried due to overheat.

Now I've got 4 drives in there (one more than when I started). Its
getting a little tight. There's probably 1/4" between two of the
drives. I left the middle slot open. Maybe I should get a tempature
monitoring device and see how hot it gets inside the case? The drive
specs for the WD800BB says it will operate from 5 to 55 degrees
Celsius. The case temperature can be up to 65 degrees Celsius. Maybe
put it together and check the temp then cut a blowhole if the temp
gets up there???

Paul