Tightening 750D Drive Bay Sleds

Obviously this also applies to any case that has the same or similar modular drive cages to the 750D.

 

The way I understood the method of installing a drive in the cage is to pop the drive into the four prongs on the removable sled and simply slide it into the cage until it "clicks". This was straightforward enough, but the drive often vibrates its way to a point that produces irritating high pitched noises. Sometimes the only way to resolve the issue temporarily is to open the case and gently nudge the drive to reduce the vibrations. But this is happening far too often to be acceptable.

 

I have noticed there is what I assume is a single screw hole for each sled on either side of the cage. Am I meant to have screwed the sled in after inserting it? Does the placement of the cage in the front bottom mean I could only screw it in from one side? Would this minimize any vibrations?

Screwing in the sled has helped quite a bit, but it hasn't completely eliminated the vibrations, and I don't think I can screw it in any more without causing stress damage. It can still sometimes vibrate enough to cause a very subtle yet high pitched noise that's very irritating. Often some slight pressure on the bottom of the case can adjust the drive just enough to reduce the vibrations, but sometimes I still have to remove the side panel.

 

Also, since the bottom PSU dust filter is very flimsy, the hard drive can often vibrate at a specific frequency that can actually cause the filter to vibrate with a much louder noise. I'm surprised the filter is held in so loosely, I thought the guides could be packed much tighter to create a more firm fit. Additionally, it would have been great if instead of having to slide it all the way out, something I can't do since the rear of the PC is against a wall, the guides should only cover half of the filter and allow you to simply slide it out a bit and then it can drop down.

 

At the end of the day though, I guess this is just one of the pitfalls of using mechanical drives. Hopefully in a few years large capacity SSDs will be more affordable.

I put some sticky pads (sticky on one side only) onto the sled, pushed the drive down onto them and screwed it into place.