Do inverters cause hard drive damage?

[Necrophiliac]

I recently had a Western digital 160 GB hard drive crap out on me after about 5 months. It wasn't dropped, jostled or anything like that. I've heard several people state on various message boards that they believe that the inverters for cold cathode lights emit some sort of signal that can cause damage to the hard drive either by the harddrive itself or through the ide cable. I have my cold cathode inverter tucked behind the DVD drive.

I just got a new HD ( a 250GB WD) and I've been keeping the cold cathode switched off for now. My question is: Is there any actual truth to this or is it just a theory? I mean I would rather keep the cold cathode than use an LED ring, I have a clear case with a cleared out jewel. The Cold cathode is attached tot he top with four tiny screws (Stupid idea) and if i removed them id have a bunch of holes in the xbox with light shining through. I have heard that you can wrap an inverter in aluminum foil then electrical tape to shield it but then wouldnt it overheat? Can inverters indeed cause hard drive damage?

 

[warpunk]

Honestly, I have'nt ever heard of any solid proof of cold cathode inverters causing HDD failures. But if you're honestly that worried about it, tinfoil would help block any RF radiation that may attack your drives. You shouldn't have to wrap it with electrical tape if you do a good foiling job, just make sure that the foil doesn't touch any solder points/pads or pins. Using LEDs would be alot safer, and easier to install due to their relatively smaller size and no need for a power inverter.

EDIT:: P.S. Go with Maxtor. Never had a drive fail from them. I still have some working Maxtor MFM drives from years ago.

 

[Necrophiliac]

Honestly, I have'nt ever heard of any solid proof of cold cathode inverters causing HDD failures. But if you're honestly that worried about it, tinfoil would help block any RF radiation that may attack your drives. You shouldn't have to wrap it with electrical tape if you do a good foiling job, just make sure that the foil doesn't touch any solder points/pads or pins. Using LEDs would be alot safer, and easier to install due to their relatively smaller size and no need for a power inverter.

EDIT:: P.S. Go with Maxtor. Never had a drive fail from them. I still have some working Maxtor MFM drives from years ago.

Well I've already bought the 250 GB WD replacement. The problem is that I have a Halo LE xbox and my friend put the cold cathode in and he drilled a hole in the top and cleared the jewel and screwed the cathode through 4 points in the top of the xbox. I would hate to leave open holes in the top, and the cold cathode does look kind of nice the way it lights the whole case up. I do have an outward facing led ring I recently ordered from www.xboxleds.com however since there are intended for non-cleared jewels the disk the leds are attached to blocks the clear jewel.

Also, by wrapping the inverter in foil you are blocking the ventilation holes, can't this cause the inverter to overheat, melt, or catch on fire?

 

[warpunk]

Also, by wrapping the inverter in foil you are blocking the ventilation holes, can't this cause the inverter to overheat, melt, or catch on fire?

The heat retentiveness of tinfoil is nothing to worry about, just think of it as a heatsink.

 

[mmicrosysm]

A cathode inverter will not cause any interference to the Xbox itself or your Hard Drive. Those types of inverters are used in laptops LCD screens for the backlight which is also cold cathode with now documented issues from them. Now a transformer from a Neon sign within inches of a hard drive just might cause a single bit to be corrupted over long period of time.

 

[Necrophiliac]

The heat retentiveness of tinfoil is nothing to worry about, just think of it as a heatsink.

Well, wrapping the entire thing in electrical tape and blocking the ventilation holes would certainly trap heat.

A cathode inverter will not cause any interference to the Xbox itself or your Hard Drive. Those types of inverters are used in laptops LCD screens for the backlight which is also cold cathode with now documented issues from them. Now a transformer from a Neon sign within inches of a hard drive just might cause a single bit to be corrupted over long period of time.

Why do so many people on XS claim otherwise? Is it just a matter of "fanboyism" twards LEDs?

 

[jackdbum]

lol, led fanboys.. i hope not


i have to say though that when i had a CC in my xbox (v1.6b) it would go into a half on half off state when i turned it on.. (the xbox didnt work at all in other words)

then i wrapped the inverter in tin foil and the xbox worked perfectly .. i had the inverter placed underneath the dvd drive and it was causing interfierence with the mobo or something like that