Drives suddenly increased operating temp

I have a 5-year old Dell 400SC running as a home desktop, with 2 drives.
A ST 3400 633AS and a WDC WD400BB. I have been using lmsensors and
ksensors to monitor the temp on these for a number of months. They
normally both run very close to 40 degrees C, which is below the alarm
condition.

Two days ago, they both jumped up to 42 - 43 degrees C, which tripped
the alarms on ksensors. The case fan and power-supply fan both seem to
be operating normally. I opened the case and vacuumed out what little
dust there was (I do that twice a year anyway). I also reversed the
position of these two drives within the bay (they will not fit into any
of the other bays.) However, that did not resolve the problem.

Tonight I jury-rigged an external fan on top of the vents for the
regular case fan. As soon as I oriented it the right way, then drive
temps are both steady at 39 degrees C.

All of the power-supply voltage monitors are within .02, so I don't
think that is the problem.

Suggestions?

Thanks,
JimR

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JimR wrote:
I have a 5-year old Dell 400SC running as a home desktop, with 2 drives.
A ST 3400 633AS and a WDC WD400BB. I have been using lmsensors and
ksensors to monitor the temp on these for a number of months. They
normally both run very close to 40 degrees C, which is below the alarm
condition.

Two days ago, they both jumped up to 42 - 43 degrees C, which tripped
the alarms on ksensors. The case fan and power-supply fan both seem to
be operating normally. I opened the case and vacuumed out what little
dust there was (I do that twice a year anyway). I also reversed the
position of these two drives within the bay (they will not fit into any
of the other bays.) However, that did not resolve the problem.

Tonight I jury-rigged an external fan on top of the vents for the
regular case fan. As soon as I oriented it the right way, then drive
temps are both steady at 39 degrees C.

All of the power-supply voltage monitors are within .02, so I don't
think that is the problem.

Suggestions?

Summer has started?

I think up to 45C should be unproblematic and temporary peaks
of 50C should still be ok.

Arno

JimR wrote:
All of the power-supply voltage monitors are within .02, so I don't
think that is the problem.


As others have said, summer temperatures are starting, so I wouldn't
worry about it. I have drives in my system that continously operate
above 40C, and even one external USB drive that operates above 50C.
Granted that external drive doesn't have a cooling fan.

Yousuf Khan