About Tech Support

[Lenp]

I have a Maxtor network drive, a few years old. Recently it's been turning itself off after a couple of hours. Press power switch and it's online and working again. Internal diagnostics say it's A-OK.
I contacted Maxtor (now Segate) and their tech support said to back up the drive, then update the firmware. No special reason, just do it. He also suggested that the drive electronics was failing and that I should consider replacing it as soon as possible. No more options or suggestions since it was well out of warranty.
The next day I noticed....The fan in the rear of the unit was not running
Yup, the unit was shutting down on over-temp. While waiting for the $4 fan to arrive it is been running naked, with no shutdown for several days.
I guess tech support today is limited to a keyboard, and a screwdriver is not in their mind, or hand!

The moral here is.. Be careful, and question what they tell you! Blind faith can sometimes be a disaster!
-----
Years ago a friend, a hands on tech type of guy, worked for Digital, and they acquired a batch of older CRT monitors. For the most part they were OK but had poor images because of low emission.
He borrowed my CRT rejuvinator, and took it to work to 'shoot' some of the tubes. A lot of the 'techs' left in fear of the high voltage when he started removing the covers.
Even his boss was concerned until he saw the results on the first monitor, but still, he would not get too close to the uncased monitor.

A little knowledge is dangerous!

[Janitor Tzap]

I have a Maxtor network drive, a few years old. Recently it's been turning itself off after a couple of hours. Press power switch and it's online and working again. Internal diagnostics say it's A-OK.
I contacted Maxtor (now Segate) and their tech support said to back up the drive, then update the firmware. No special reason, just do it. He also suggested that the drive electronics was failing and that I should consider replacing it as soon as possible. No more options or suggestions since it was well out of warranty.
The next day I noticed....The fan in the rear of the unit was not running
Yup, the unit was shutting down on over-temp. While waiting for the $4 fan to arrive it is been running naked, with no shutdown for several days.
I guess tech support today is limited to a keyboard, and a screwdriver is not in their mind, or hand!

The moral here is.. Be careful, and question what they tell you! Blind faith can sometimes be a disaster!

I can't really blame the support guy for it completely.
I've seen overheating issues with Maxtor, WD, and Seagate's.
Thus, I have installed Hard Drive Coolers for Customers on their replacement Hard Drives.

These really help, if you have air circulation problems in the computer cabinet.
Just remember too dust out the computer cabinet every few months.

-----
Years ago a friend, a hands on tech type of guy, worked for Digital, and they acquired a batch of older CRT monitors. For the most part they were OK but had poor images because of low emission.
He borrowed my CRT rejuvinator, and took it to work to 'shoot' some of the tubes. A lot of the 'techs' left in fear of the high voltage when he started removing the covers.
Even his boss was concerned until he saw the results on the first monitor, but still, he would not get too close to the uncased monitor.

A little knowledge is dangerous!

I've rejuvenated CRT's too.
Sometimes the effort was worth it, and I got like two years more out of a CRT.
But most of the time CRT's were so far gone, no amount of rejuvenation, and clean would bring the CRT emission back up.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

[Lenp]

Do those coolers just sit on top of the hard drive?
In many cases there may not be enough room for the added cooler's height.
This Maxtor drive is a standalone, and it has a 30x30mm fan at one end, with a grill at the opposite end.

[Janitor Tzap]

Do those coolers just sit on top of the hard drive?
In many cases there may not be enough room for the added cooler's height.
This Maxtor drive is a standalone, and it has a 30x30mm fan at one end, with a grill at the opposite end.

That one mounts too the underside of the Hard Drive.

I've only had problems with some cases that have tabs in the drive bays that caused some mounting issues,
when the hard drive cooler was installed. So, I removed the bay tabs, and the drive slid in just fine.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

[Lenp]

Thanks!
I'll have to look into them. I am surprised at their low cost.
I am considering a water cooler for a CNC router, so
maybe these would make a compact package.