Safe to place a hard drive right next to a computer case speaker?

Jason wrote:

Is it safe to place a hard drive right next to the speaker in a
computer case (roughly one quarter of an inch away)?

I know as a general rule it's important to keep magnets away from hard
drives, but after searching on Google it sounded like (though no one
stated it explicitly) the average computer case speaker magnet is too
weak to do any damage even if you stuck it directly on the top metal
casing of the hard drive. Is this correct?

I'm just looking for some confirmation first because I have an old
(poorly designed but working) computer case that I was thinking about
adding another hard drive to, but the speaker is inside the front of
the case and the magnet portion would almost be in contact with the
front of the hard drive if I put it there.

Should make no difference at all. If you're really worried though either
pull the speaker or move it or replace it with one of the itty-bitty
piezoelectric types.

--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Previously Jason wrote:
Is it safe to place a hard drive right next to the speaker in a
computer case (roughly one quarter of an inch away)?

I know as a general rule it's important to keep magnets away from hard
drives, but after searching on Google it sounded like (though no one
stated it explicitly) the average computer case speaker magnet is too
weak to do any damage even if you stuck it directly on the top metal
casing of the hard drive. Is this correct?

That is the common wisdom. However there is a difference whether the
drive is spinning or not. There have been reliable reports of notebook
HDDs being damaged in some german trains. These trains have fold-down
tables with strong magnets at the edges that keep them up when
unused. The mechanism is that apparrntly the magnets induce a current
into a spinning platter that in turn _can_ erase part of the platter,
including servo information. A non-spinning platter is apparently
not in any danger.

Keep in mind that these are notebook hdds and strong magnets in very
close proximity (maybe as little as 2-3mm). It is also unlikely
for this problem to exist with glass platters. So your HDD may be
perfectly save.

I'm just looking for some confirmation first because I have an old
(poorly designed but working) computer case that I was thinking about
adding another hard drive to, but the speaker is inside the front of
the case and the magnet portion would almost be in contact with the
front of the hard drive if I put it there.

To be on the save side, I would advise to remove the speaker.
It is not really useful anyway.

Arno
--
For email address: lastname AT tik DOT ee DOT ethz DOT ch
GnuPG: ID:1E25338F FP:0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus

On 10 May 2004 17:52:02 GMT, Arno Wagner wrote:

Previously Jason wrote:
Is it safe to place a hard drive right next to the speaker in a
computer case (roughly one quarter of an inch away)?

I know as a general rule it's important to keep magnets away from hard
drives, but after searching on Google it sounded like (though no one
stated it explicitly) the average computer case speaker magnet is too
weak to do any damage even if you stuck it directly on the top metal
casing of the hard drive. Is this correct?

That is the common wisdom. However there is a difference whether the
drive is spinning or not. There have been reliable reports of notebook
HDDs being damaged in some german trains. These trains have fold-down
tables with strong magnets at the edges that keep them up when
unused. The mechanism is that apparrntly the magnets induce a current
into a spinning platter that in turn _can_ erase part of the platter,
including servo information. A non-spinning platter is apparently
not in any danger.

Keep in mind that these are notebook hdds and strong magnets in very
close proximity (maybe as little as 2-3mm). It is also unlikely
for this problem to exist with glass platters. So your HDD may be
perfectly save.

I'm just looking for some confirmation first because I have an old
(poorly designed but working) computer case that I was thinking about
adding another hard drive to, but the speaker is inside the front of
the case and the magnet portion would almost be in contact with the
front of the hard drive if I put it there.

To be on the save side, I would advise to remove the speaker.
It is not really useful anyway.

Arno
not usefull until you have a component failure.....ie video etc...when
the computer refuse to boot often the speake will beep and by counting
the beeps you can determine what the problem is.....
relloman

I like to remind people of this too, there are magnets in the HD itself
already!
--Dan

"Arno Wagner" wrote in message
...
Keep in mind that these are notebook hdds and strong magnets in very
close proximity (maybe as little as 2-3mm). It is also unlikely

"dg" wrote in message . com...
I like to remind people of this too, there are magnets in the HD itself already!

Yes, and?

--Dan

"Arno Wagner" wrote in message ...
Keep in mind that these are notebook hdds and strong magnets in very
close proximity (maybe as little as 2-3mm). It is also unlikely