Hot disk hang

[Goofy]

I was running data restore on a 2Tb WD black disk. There are 3.9 billion sectors on this drive, and the full scan was estimated to take 13 hours. Approximately half way through, the scanner froze (Data Rescue PC v3). Since this was half way through a 13 hour ordeal, I was hacked. I called the vendor and they said it was probably a hardware issue. I wrote that off, but after I cancelled the program, DiskPart couldn't find the drive. I had a disk 0 and a disk 2. I knew this was a hardware issue.

I had touched the disks (two extra disks were connected to my laptop via eSata in Thermaltake eSata-USB enclosures. The disks simply plug in the unit. The second green disk was there as the data recipient, and I used it to compare. The WD black was uncomfortably hot. Although it wouldn't burn my hand, it was hot. The WD green (with very little activity) was much cooler.

Since this was after about a billion reads, I'm wondering if anyone else has "hot" disk issues. I never dreamed the disk would get that hot in an "open to the air" scenario, and certainly not hot enough to hang. After cooling for five minutes or so, it came back online to Windows. I haven't experienced any other issues with the disk.

Inside my PC case, air movement is forced via fans that run constantly as opposed to "open air" cooling, but I'm curious if this is normal or a sign the disk should be replaced.

 

[TrainableMan]

I had a hard drive that would actually get too hot to hold. There are actually heat sinks built on/in hard drives to help draw the heat outside away from the components. Even so, heat is extremely bad for electronics and will often cause them to fail.

BTW: It is "green" for a reason, it spins slower so it reads slower but it also saves energy and by spinning slower it should naturally generate less heat.

 

[Goofy]

Thanks for your reply. It's hard for me to believe the drive would get hot enough to fail or drop out in the "open air" regardless of disk activity. That's why you ask your peers!

 

[TrainableMan]

Well if it gets hot enough that it shuts down then I would replace it, especially if it is new and still under warranty.

 

[Goofy]

Do you think WD will accept a drive as bad if it takes a billion I/Os to reproduce? What if a cabinet with fan would actually keep it cooler since the back of the drive is half covered and without a fan? I don't know about the overheating. I suggest to you the cooling requirement for a billion I/Os might be outside the envelope of the BlacX.