I’m a sufferer of the well-known noise problem with the unit in standby, so I’m using the forced, 5-sec power-button shut down. I have two questions:
-if I leave it on standby, is it my idea or the HDD never stops spinning? I can feel a vibration, and I don’t think it comes from the fan. If it’s the HDD, then I guess it’s not that good for it, is it?
-if I shut it down by pressing the off button for five seconds, it feels like a forces shut-down which, again, is not that good for the HDD and its data. Often I find trash on it coming (presumably) from a disk-cleaning and checking routine… Is it so?
Maybe the Lost&Found folder on my WD disk comes from my Windows PC scanning it when it comes online and maps it as a network drive… But thanks for your feedback
The screws are behind the rubber legs, correct? Because mine are very difficult to pull out (looks like they’ll be torn before coming off), but I’ll try it.
Im 99.99% Sure the Internal HDD Spins Down after the 5 Second Remote Control Power Button Procedure.
Will look for a Stethoscope to verify to 100%
Attached USB’s Drives to the Hub though … Defiantly 100% Drives Light Goes OFF and picking up the 1tb WD Elements SE Pocket Drive … No Vibration … Nothing.
P.S. I’m on Windows XP Mapped to the Hub and have never seen in 2 Years a “Lost & Found” folder … so it’s likely an OS PC thing.
Apologies, yes, I know it spins down when you turn it off for 5 secs (you can actually hear the disk heads parking). What I meant was, does it spin down EVER if you let it ON or in standby?
You don’t have to dismantle the unit to see if the fan is working. There is a hole in the bottom and you could poke a piece of card or paper in and see if it gets hit.
You don’t have to dismantle the unit to see if the fan is working. There is a hole in the bottom and you could poke a piece of card or paper in and see if it gets hit.
No-one discussed if the “Fan” was “Working” or “Not” … were discussing HDD Spin Down.
“Fan” description was “It’s Noisy” … which is either bearings or wear and tear (which i suggested replacing the fan)
alternative to “Replacing the Fan” peel the “Sticker” off the fan and re-lubricate the shaft where the split washer is, with fine grade oil (eg. sewing machine oil)
Google is your friend … probably would look for “Ceramic Bearing” as opposed to “Sleeve Bearing”
I honestly don’t know what type of “Bearing” the Hub fan uses …
Advantages of Ceramic Bearing Fans Rated life span of 300,000hrs or over 34 years of continuous operation as compared with 50,000hrs for double ball bearing models. Can withstand corrosive atmospheric environments without deterioration of the bearing system. Low operational noise level due to the smooth and hard surface of the ceramic bearing system.
The screws are behind the rubber legs, correct? Because mine are very difficult to pull out (looks like they’ll be torn before coming off), but I’ll try it.
The hub doesn’t have screws. You just need to pry it to open.
Feel more comfortable Powering it off completely when not in use.
Unplug it (and everything) from the wall completely during Electrical ThunderStorms
(In my line of work, ive seen what Lightning Damage does … “Surge Protectors” ? haha Ive seen them melted into a black charcoal. Antenna / AV leads exploded every 2 inches like a shockwave)
Basically, everybody’s situation is different …
If anyone here is from Brisbane,QLD,Australia then they will know what it’s like.
I leave mine on standby all the time too. If you shut it down all the way then it’s off your network too. I want access and I don’t want to wait for it.
I hear NO noise from my fan, if I did I would replace it and BTW a replacement may not have the plug for the circuit board on it. So you better have your soldering iron and some shrink tubing handy and you can cut it off the old one and solder it to the new one’s wires. I’m betting its 12V DC…
I swear, I think the hard drive sleeps in standby after some time. Only say this because there have been a couple times from a PC that it seemed like I woke it up as there was a slight delay accessing it. If I remember to the next time I pull it out to copy files to it I’ll let it sit idle on the PC and see if it sleeps. Hummm, now I’m wondering if WD has some software that would let me alter the sleep mode…
You don’t have to dismantle the unit to see if the fan is working. There is a hole in the bottom and you could poke a piece of card or paper in and see if it gets hit.
No-one discussed if the “Fan” was “Working” or “Not” … were discussing HDD Spin Down.
“Fan” description was “It’s Noisy” … which is either bearings or wear and tear (which i suggested replacing the fan)
alternative to “Replacing the Fan” peel the “Sticker” off the fan and re-lubricate the shaft where the split washer is, with fine grade oil (eg. sewing machine oil)
Perhaps you should re-read your posts.
P.S. What’s the “Noise Problem” ? is it the Fan ? … if so dismantle the unit and replace the fan (assuming it’s out of the warranty period)
You asked if the noise problem was the fan. I was simply adding that you could test to see if the fan was working without opening the player and obviously if the fan was off and the noise was still present then the problem would not be the fan. I might also add that the original poster never mentioned that the fan was noisy that came from you, in fact he said " I can feel a vibration, and I don’t think it comes from the fan".
This is a user to user forum and we can all chip in with suggestions even if you are not discussing it, thats the way it works.
Actually, for my part, I posed two questions: one about the drive always staying on (for ever) even when idle or in standby mode (that’s what the vibration quote referred to), and one about the noise which, as stated in other posts as well, comes from the fan.
OK. I can now be a bit more helpful.
I have opened the lid of the hub and disconnected my fan (in my case it is near noiseless). The vibration you feel is from the hard disc. When you put it in standby the disc stops spinning immediately. However if you attempt to use it as a NAS and play a file from it then it will instantly spin up. After a period of time without use the drive will spin down again.
The fan operates all the time the hub is on or in standby. It comes on several minutes after powering up from a deep standby or initial power up and appears to stay on.
If you press the remote off button for 5 seconds it will put the hub into deep standby and the fan and disc will turn off immediately. In this mode you cannot use the hub as a NAS but it will stop all noise and reduce the power dramatically.
For my own interest I will measure exactly how long it takes for the disc to stop spinning in normal standby mode after been woken by a network device.
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