breather hole and enclosures
 

Hi guys,

I wonder if anyone has ever encountered this:

I just got back from the shop with a brand new shiny 2,5" seagate momentus drive and an external enclosure to put it in. Now, all happy about assembling it, i came across a small hole on the top surface of the drive and an inscription saying that this breather hole is not to be covered or sticked over or anything. Now, since the enclosure has no cut outs on its top surface at all, if I slip in the drive, naturally the breather hole becomes covered all over. And seagate says damage resulting from covering the hole voids warranty.

I've googled a bit and come across one single enclosure model to actually have a cut out for the breather. So what now, are these breather holed drives not meant for external use at all, without that being put forward anywhere, or can i safely use the thing? Alternatively I've thought of cutting in a hole in the enclosure myself, but what if that leads to dust and crap clogging the breather instead?

W.

Don't give it another thought - unless the enclosure you have it in is 100% hermetically sealed (and it won't be).

All drives have a breather hole, so that the air around the platters can escape when it gets hot and enter when it cools down. Otherwise the resulting build-up of pressure would damage the drive.

SD