Best way to store donor drives/spare parts? Rack?

[zed]

Hi All,

I am building up my collection of spare parts for pcbs and heads. I have about 600 hard dsks and at the moment i jut put them into anti-static bags then stack them on top of one another and store them on metal shelves.

Does anybody know of any type of foam cut for 3.5" and 2.5" disks i can put the disks into to store them in a safer way?
e.g when you order 20 Seagate 3.5" hard disks from a wholesaler you get it in a foam package which fits 3.5" disks with dividers. I would need about 20 of these, anybody know if these can be purchased on the internet?

Otherwise - how else would you suggest i store my hard disks? Any other type of rack or storage system i can buy? 2.5" disks are worrying as they are almost too small to label - any suggestions would be greatly apreciated.

Thanks.
Zed

[suff]

Zed

Just go to Austin Computers, PLE or Net Plus in Osborne Park / Wangara..

Ask for the foam trays.. we used to throw them away all the time (10-20 a day at times)

I am sure you will get them for free (at Austin, there is a bin in the disbatch area.. just have a look in there (ask first of course!)

[wiseleo]

And don't forget to barcode them all.

That really makes life easier.

[zed]

wiseleo - what information would you suggest i put into the barcode?

and suff , thanks but i am looking for new ones, all of them to be the same colour and type to provide a professsional presentation - do you know anywhere i can buy these brand new, unused (i.e not out of a bin)?

[suff]

You wont be able to get them new.. manuf. have them made to order, the only option you would have would be to go to an injection molding place in WA and order them.. expect to pay a LOT though..

I would still suggest that you ask at Austin, PLE alike.. eg all WD hdd's use the same packaging.. when I was there we used to go through about 60 hdd's a day, so every day we would end up with 3 trays.. if you ask someone, I am sure you will end up with 20-30 trays, all identical in a short period of time (a few weeks)

[rchadwick]

Actually, you can get them new. I don't recall the website offhand, but I think it was Seagate that listed them as a source of 'Approved Shipping Boxes'. The company had a box, with matching foam, that could ship 20 Hard Drives. The price wasn't too horrible, but needing to buy dozens of these, with shipping, would lead you to re-think a free source.

[wiseleo]

wiseleo - what information would you suggest i put into the barcode?

Just your database ID.

Get a typical inventory management system and a list of tiny sequential barcodes on a sticker. Stick the sticker on the drive.

Use a software inventory management system with barcode support. Laser scanners work better than CCD units do, so you might as well invest in a laser unit.

The point is simple - you put information into your inventory management system and then simply look up the inventory ID. The information that matters is, as you know, part number, serial number, firmware, manufacture date, PCB revision, what the drive is suitable for as a donor.

This way you can pick up a random donor disk, quickly scan it, and identify exactly what it is.

[SOSdonnees]

There are silicon sleeves.
The benefit is that it is that they take up less space than foam.
But they cost around 6 - 11 $ each.
It can be costly for large collections and are maybe not worth if the drives are cheap.
Does anyone knows the approximative price/unit for large quantities of such sleeves ?

I sometimes wonder if there is not a risk that the powerful neodymium magnet from one drive cannot demagnetize other drives when it is inserted between them. I never encountered such problem nor read anything about it but would like to learn more about if such risk exist.

[Nick_CT]

This works for me.

Attachments

[LarrySabo]

Google "uline storage bins" then peruse the images for some alternative ideas.

[northwind]

This works for me

[SOSdonnees]

Otherwise - how else would you suggest i store my hard disks? Any other type of rack or storage system i can buy? 2.5" disks are worrying as they are almost too small to label - any suggestions would be greatly apreciated

.

For 2.5'' drives, I use wood cases from good wines, in which I store the drives vertically.
I add intermediate walls to store by brand, by capacity, a.s.o.

Something like this one :


In my country, they're easy to find for free, especially after Christmas -...

They easily enter into office sliding drawers.