HDD heater with SSD.

i just got a Toughbook CF-19FHGAXAM and gave it a Samsung evo pro SSD upgrade, is the heater still necessary or can i delete it? it just seems counter productive since in the server world you try to keep drives cool, not heat them.
the coldest it will be run is probably -10f at the most extreme in the dead of winter.
thanks!
-Goontron

 

Welcome to the Panasonic Toughbook Forum

Really I would not worry about it but that's just me...others might.

 

I installed the heater with my SSD in my CF-19. I carry my CF-19 in my Jeep with me and have to leave it in it over night at work. I work in a jail so it cannot come inside with me but if we get put on outside escort duty it's nice to have something.

When I booted up the other morning I got the message that the laptop was warming up before starting. Kind of neat actually.

 

On my CF-19 I kept the heater in the caddy but just unplugged it. That way it was easy to keep up with. The heater doesn't work all the time, just to warm up the bearings in a hard drive. Not sure if they have a heater in the factory SSD caddies.

 

If u use a SSD, the heater is not necessary. No moving parts. Save some power. U only need a heater for the LCD maybe

 

yep ... a SSD will not need to be heated ... it is actually counter productive .

i will be testing out the ccfl and inverter warmer this winter once it hits -30F to -40F .

 

thanks for the info guys! sounds like it doesn't matter much either way, so i will leave it in there so if i decide to do something silly like put a 1tb drive in it there should be no issues.

 

I asked a similar question either here or on TBT. I eventually spoke to one of my buddies who is an electronics master for some advice and he told me how printed circuit boards go through thermal shock testing.

The only relevant fact is the operating temperature of the SSD. The problem is with thermal shock at extreme low temperatures where certain micro components might expand at different rates and separate from their circuitry when power is applied and parts of the drive heat up at different thermal gradients. The heater might help the drive warm up more evenly which, in theory, might reduce the likelihood of this happening.

I'm guessing that this would be a rare occurrence in any case. Personally I am not worried about the potential power savings of deleting the heater. I either carry a half-dozen batteries or keep the unit plugged in the vehicle most of the time.

 

while waiting for the/a manufacturer to weigh in with hard data on cyclic thermal failures ...
as i see it , the SSD is a low power consumption and low dissipation device .
this means that the components used do not generate quantities of heat that would cause a thermal gradient across the pc board and associated components that would be of concern to joe consumer .
if the drive were going to be used in a satellite where thermal shock is/can be a real factor , then yes .

for the average user , i personally feel that disconnecting the heater would not have any deleterious effects over the long haul .

 

This is pretty much how I feel as well. I do suppose that manufacturers do some sort of thermal shock and stress testing to come up with their operating temperature guidelines. I'd love to be THAT GUY who repeatedly exceeds those recommendations with a TB in arctic conditions.

 

I checked into this when I put the SSD in my dash for my mp3's in my truck. I can't remember exactly, but the recommended low temp for a SSD is around 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
I don't have a heater on the drive in my truck, but I run the truck heater before the stereo on those really cold days.
I left the drive heaters in both my CF19 and CF30..They don't come on unless it is really cold and only run for a minute or two..I figure I already have it, leave it in.

And I converted both my LCD's to LED...I probably don't need the heater there either, but I left it in anyway.

 

The CCFL problem in low temperature regions u can eliminate by using an LED backlight indeed. But one problem is the display itself: "Loss of brightness and much slower response times in low temperature environments. In sub-zero environments, LCD screens may cease to function without the use of supplemental heating." ( Liquid-crystal display - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
So below -30°C (CF-29) -if ur battery is working- u could have a problem to see anything. But who wants to work at this conditions

 

Well, i did what should have been obvious to me to begin with, looked at the data sheet.
Operating: 0°C to 70°C
i'm a Linux and Unix admin, the first thing i should have done is look at the datasheet!

 

..........

 

/me raises eyebrow at the low operating temperature of 0C ...

 

Yep, I questioned that when I was doing my research also..
I would like to speak to the engineers and find out "why"...

 

ever been ice fishing?

 

What kind of bait do you use to catch ice?

 

Industrial SSDs can have operating temperature as low as -40c.

This is an excellent read:
Industrial Temperature and NAND Flash in SSD Products | EEWeb Community

 

nope. But I think it is only necessary to have a Toughbook beside the hole, to hit the fish until it is dead

 

ehhh ...
use the TB to beat a hole in the ice when the gasoline powered auger fails to start .
those fish will die on the ice after a short break-dancing routine .

 

LOL! that made my day!