Helium-filled drives on the way?

[pcrecovery]

According to Hitachi, 7-platter , Helium-filled drives are coming next year. Hot air? apparently the technology has been around for quite some time namely in manufacturing processes... http://bit.ly/PeCpG8 Should pose some interesting DR challenges. For one, does the drive perform lower or not at all without helium, etc

[northwind]

According to the sheets I've read, drive would stop spinning if left without enough gentle air (Helium). This would pose serious problems to DR, because even if Helium is easy to find, a way must be found to pump it inside the drive after the repair process (and also find a way to seal it from escaping).

Hmmm...

[loki]

Hmmmm can you imagin all the dr pros working with high pitch squeaky voices

So these drives are going to be hermetically sealed then.
Helium is easy to buy for party balloons etc but for hard drives it would need to pass through a HEPA filter to get rid of contaminents + you would need some sort of 1 way valve in the HDA or lid.

Loki

[loki]

Interesting read

Loki

[ReclaiMe]

are they the same guys who invented (or used) glass platters for DTLA a while back?

[NeverSayDie]

Since they can't use a vacuum because of the heads needing an air bearing to float close to the platters, I can see why helium would be a good choice for reducing turbulence but sealing in helium is a lot more difficult than sealing in regular air. It can seep out of much smaller holes for the same reason that it makes less turbulence. Maybe they have some kind of easy to replace seal along with a way to minimize the pressure difference inside and outside the container holding the platters.

I can see the posts now...
"I heard a loud hiss, my voice got high and squeaky and my hard drive suddenly stopped working. Is there a video on YouTube that can help me fix this?"

James

[lcoughey]

As interesting as it sounds, I don't foresee it happening due to the limited supply of helium.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... le4466013/

[freakzy]

An idea of HEPA area + Helium filled chamber/laminar bench to work with these drives.

[northwind]

Helium filled chamber/laminar bench to work with these drives.

And then you would turn to your partner and say, in high pitched voice, "eeeerrr pass me those screws mate"

[hddstudio]

Helium filled chamber/laminar bench to work with these drives.

And then you would turn to your partner and say, in high pitched voice, "eeeerrr pass me those screws mate"

Hahahahaha....I couldn't desribe it better

[Keatah]

Would degassing them be an effective security wipe?

[Keatah]

Should also make for light weight systems too!