HD's running hot?

Recently I had to move to a new place, and due to extreme space conflicts, my comp must now reside in a not-very-well-ventilated corner.  I usually keep my system running 24/7, and a few days in, it began running erratically, restarting itself.  Upon opening the case, I found the hard drives to be searing hot to the touch.  Now, I'm not the most experienced here, but I've had to open my case up for various reasons over time, and can never remember the HD's being this hot.  I immediately shut down, unplugged, and moved the comp out to a better ventilated spot to cool down.  Unfortunately, it needs to go back to that stuffy corner if I want to be using it again due to my apartment's setup.  Is the ventilation the problem?  How can I alleviate the problem if so--do I need more fans perhaps (let us assume that the comp NEEDS to be in that corner and skip the "try moving it" suggestions)?  I'm sure flaming is inevitable, but I'm not all that experienced yet.  I do know that I've been running this system in exactly this configuration for at least a year now with few problems, so I'm guessing it's the airflow in that corner?

Oh, I should add that I tried temporarily moving the comp to a better ventilated area and plugging it in, then leaving it on for a day or two.  It no longer restarts/acts erratically when in that area, but the hard drives are still running hella hot.  So hot you could scald yourself with a momentary touch :(

>>2
...shit.  Okay, JUST now it fucking froze up (running it in the ventilated area).  Never had this problem before, what's up?

1. open case
2. leave case open
3. acquire box fan
4. point box fan @ computer
5. ????????
6. PROFIT

wouldn't hurt to dust off your cpu with canned air

>>4
Yeah, I can do step one and two, but I've been doing that since moving the comp to the ventilated area, and as I said, it just froze up.  The box fan is a no due to space issues.  I've been pointing a small fan at the hard drives to attempt to cool them, but I can't keep it there all the time, and I dunno how well it's actually working.  Anyway, why might this be happening?  I've had this system for about two years now and haven't had this problem even when running it in considerably poorer ventilated areas :(

Maybe you could check what the sensors are reading if your hard drive(s) support temperature readings using software. Download Everest @ http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181 and check the what the sensors are reading. I would post your CPU, Mobo, Case, PSU, etc. temps also if they are available to get an idea of how hot the air is in other areas around the case. Also, what is the room temp? If you could maybe get an air conditioner or cooling system or something that will actually COOL the air itself, instead of just blowing it around. Or just open some windows let the cool breeze in, unless that is, you live in a desert or tropics region of some sort.

Do you live in a cool climate? If so:

1. Get tube
2. Run tube out window
3. Connect tube to case
4. Get another tube
5. Connect tube to other end of case
6. Vent tube away from from computer
7. Set up fan at end of tube 1 to pull in cool air.
8. Turn on fan
9. ??????????
10. PROFIT

I also suggest backing up your important stuff to other drives immediately. That kind of overheating happened to one of my harddrives once. It was okay the first time but the second time it happened, the drive fried and I lost everything. Not saying it will happen, but it pays to be safe.

>>7
the internet is a series of tubes

>>6
I live in Hawaii, and it's none too cool nowadays.  This problem is compounded by living in an extremely ill-ventilated place.  Air conditioning isn't in the cards financially right now, nor is a window nearby.

>>7
Well, shit.  I guess  better jump on the backing up.  What worries me is that I think my master is the one that's heating up, but due to the close proximity of my backup drives, those appear to be getting pretty hot as well.  Or I could be wrong, and all three could be burning up :(  Sooo...I'm hoping this doesn't lead to all three failing or anything.

How hot are hard drives supposed to get, anyway?  I mean, I remember them being pretty fucking warm in the past, but never actually so hot you couldn't touch them...

>>9

Most hard drives should not go over 140 F. I would use the software posted >>6 to make sure this isn't happening. Usually any hard drives manufactured within the last few years should have a temperature sensor.

>>10
Using that program proposes a bit of a problem.  I believe that running it while the desk fan blows through the case would give incorrect values, as I'm pretty sure the fan is the only thing keeping the hard drives cool as is.  And I really don't want to remove said fan, even for the test, as the hard drives heat up to frightening temperatures quickly and I don't want to risk a disk failure.

Does anyone have any idea, once again, how this might have happened in the first place?  Everything appears to be the same as it was for the last 2 years that I've had this system.  It only has space for one fan, but I've verified it to be working.  I need a permanent solution, basically--this desk fan shit is not going to cut it in the long run and it's wasting electricity running said fan 24/7.

>>11
The electricity you are wasting running the computer 24/7 (which isn't all that much, really) pales in comparison to the electricity running the fan

Corners have bad ventilation.  (Some) apartments have bad ventilation.  You say the weather's hot.  Maybe you got dust buildup too.  Combined, these are all having a synergistic effect where one situation wouldn't cause a problem.

Anyway, your only solution is A) get more air to it or B) lower the temperature in/around it.  That's it.  There is no other way out.  It's not our fault you're living in a cramped Chinese apartment with no airflow.  Quit bitching at us.

>>7
Same thing happened to me. The overheating warped the drive and that was the end of it. Everything I had, gone in a flash. OP had better start saving up for new ones, seriously.

After a head crash, I became kind of paranoid about HDs. After that, I made a hole in the side of the case and put a fan there, so it could cool my HDs directly. Not pretty, but it works and that's all that matters to me. Now they never go above 30ºC (one of them once got to 40ºC, but that was the hottest day I've ever seen in my life).

Shit.  Well things aren't looking so good then.  OP here btw.  I've been constantly running the fan at the case, but I need a more permanent solution, since if you guys are right, even if I buy new HD's they will apparently become subject to the same problem.

Modern hard drives must be directly cooled by flowing air from a fan. This isn't listed as an operating requirement, but I've found that when drives are not cooled their lives are significantly shortened.

There are computers (dell, etc) that seem to get away without this but they actually design their cases with carefully controled thermal and air flow zones.

Your 25 dollar chinese made computer case, however, is not that well designed. Just make sure your case can mount a fan that will directly cool the hard drives. Just a little air flow will do the trick.

>>16
It's actually a Compaq case.  Which, in retrospect, may be worse than a 25 dollar Chinese computer case.  And no, it wasn't my fucking choice to buy a Compaq.  This case only has one hole to mount a fan, and it's in the back.  Would swapping that single fan out for a larger/more powerful case fan do the trick?  I'd prefer not to cut any more holes in it if possible.