WHAT?
I recently purchased a Lacie 2Big Quadra to stand in for the RAID 1 I had in my desktop. The drive works like a charm, and (to me at least) looks very good, it emanates an air of robustness that is underlined by the heft of the thing. It seems very sturdy compared to other drive enclosures I've had and the transfer speed is at the maximum available to me.
WHY?
The noise from it is unbearable though and no answers have come from Google. I decided to have a go at making it shut up. It's pretty easy.
Here is how.
Firstly, this will void the warranty, but since I already voided it by replacing the 1TB drives with 2TB drives I figured what the hell.
Secondly doing it the following way will remove the fan from the case and thereby having you rely on passive cooling only. This will make the drives hotter and possibly unstable.
Thirdly I only connect to the drive via FireWire 800, it's december and not exactly scorching inside.
Take these points into consideration and look at this as warning. Doing this may destroy your drive enclosure and drives.
HOW?
1: Unplug power and any cords connected, let the drives spin down (just let it rest till it stops vibrating/making noise).
2: Remove the drives from the 2Big Quadra by turning the locking mechanisms and gently pulling them. They should slide right out.
3: In each corner of the 2Big Quadras backplate there is a paper disc camouflaged to look like part of the drive, peel them off or just push the screwdriver through, hidden behind them are the screws.
4: Remove the four long screws from each corner of the the backplate. Be aware that these are also the ones that hold the front of the 2Big Quadra in place, so securing the front of it is a good idea.
5: Pull the back plate from the drive enclosure.
6: The fan is in the very top of the 2Big Quadra, just disconnect the cable and pull the fan from the enclosure. It's not glued or screwed in place.
7: Follow the steps pretty much in reverse and presto. Be aware that the screws are annoying, so hold the front of the 2Big Quadra and screw each on in just a bit before properly fastening them.
8: Optional: Replace fan with quieter one like Papst. (http://www.ebmpapst.us/). Though one of the causes for all the racket could be a very poorly designed exhaust opening in the back of the 2Big Quadra.
I've tested mine and it generates no alarming levels of heat - it is very cool. But as mentioned I only use firewire 800 to connect to the drive, using eSATA might mean higher temperatures.
Presto.
Will supply instructional pictures if anyone is interested.
Tuesday, 21 December 2010
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