BAYCOOLER-2 by inClose
The Ultimate Hard Drive Cooling Kit!

Written: 6/28/2000
Written by: Zero
Price: $29.95 US
Supplied by: CoolerGuys

Initial Thoughts/ Introduction:

I bet you thought I forgot about you today!  Didn't you?  Nope... I got the situation well under control.  Plus, I still have plenty of stuff in the CoolerGuy goodie box to review!  It's time to step off the beaten path and do a review of something other than a heatsink to break up the monotony.  I'm not straying too far, though.  I'm sticking to the cooling week theme.  But, I'm going to touch on cooling an often overlooked heat monger...  The hard drive.  With the newer hard drives reaching higher and higher RPM's it's pretty obvious that it's going to produce a bit more heat.  Where's that heat going to go?  I for one, does not want that heat to sit around and  cause heat related problems in my PC.  But, how often do most people even consider that?  If you are anything like me, most time is spent wondering if my CPU heatsink is working efficiently instead.  That's where "BayCooler II" comes in.  The BayCooler II is a hard drive cooler which fits in a 5.25" drive bay that houses three fans in the front that cools 3.5 inch hard drives. The design is basically the same as many other similar products on the market right now, but the people at inClose boast the BayCooler to be the original.   Let me be your guide as we take a closer look without trying to sound like an infomercial...

Features

The BayCooler II features an innovative ventilation system that pushes absorbs a stream of cool air that flows directly above and below your hard drive to keep its temperature low.  This is key  in reducing the possibility of data loss due to overheating.  It's designed for high-performance PCs and servers. Additionally, it's recommended by several major hard drive and system manufacturers because of its effective means of dissipating a significant amount of heat from hard drives.  The three high-efficiency, ultra-quiet 40mm cooling fans are rugged and powerful, too!  This aids in lowering the internal operating temperature by 10° ~ 30° Fahrenheit.  Its innovative ventilation system is powerful enough to circulate cool air through practically any PC.  I think the most striking feature this cooler has is its  pre-assembled, solid steel construction.  No plastic parts to break here!  It also has a removable filter that can be cleaned in water.  It even has hard drive indicator busy LED and mounts easily in any standard 5.25 inch drive bay.   Personally, I really don't like the coolers currently using a part plastic, part metal construction.  This is not one of them...   Other than the three 40mm  ball bearing fans and the filter there's not one other plastic component  this cooler. It looks and feels like it's a very high quality cooler   Here's some technical info...

Specifications:

The features are pretty cool... It really seems like it can do a bang up job to keep a hard drive cool.  But, how about some numbers?  Here's some technical specs from the manufacturer:

• Air Flow: 5.19 CFM per fan

• Noise: 25 db(A) per fan

• Power: 12 VDC @ 50 mA per fan

• Drive Mounting Kit: Standard 3.5 inch drive mounts (screws included)

• Air Filter: Washable foam

• Dimensions: 5.9 (W) x 6.9 (D) x 1.7 (H) inches

• MTBF (Fans):
  - 35,000 hrs. (B300 M2B)
  - 50,000 hrs. (B300 M3B and B300 M3BB)

• Factory Warranty: Limited Lifetime Warranty

Not too shabby at all in my opinion!   Ahhh... But, how simple is it to install?

Next page: Installation

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