Hi Netgear Support Community, I am the proud owner of a ReadyNAS NAS 316 unit (6 drive bays). In fact … I am a long term Netgear ReadsyNAS client whom owns 1 x NV+, 1 x NVX, 1 x 316 and 2 x 628 units. However … I recently wanted to upgrade the HDDs in my 316 NAS unit for larger capacity HDDs. Upon attempting to remove the HDD caddies / HDD trays the front sections cracked and broke away from the metal part (see images supplied). Upon inspection, the plastic portion of the HDD trays have become very very brittle and fragile. It seems the plastic used in the product is not really of the right type and not durable enough. I am seeking a set of replacement trays please so that I can update my 6 x HDDs. At the moment when I try to remove the drives / drive trays (even delicately), the front plastic section simply cracks and crumbles away from the mtal tray. The 316 NAS unit is out of warranty, so of course, I do understand if there is a nominal charge applicable for replacement HDD trays. Refer to images attached. Can you please help?Regards, A

Folks,Really? Some of your remarks are so condescending and off the mark by a long shot. All sorts of off-centre, left field, unrelated observations and comments. Not really helpful folks.The issue is simple. The HDD trays, of blended materials construction (nickel coated mild steel caddies and injection moulded plastic facias), have failed due to aged brittle plastic. The plastic used in the HDD trays (model RTRAY09-10000S), which by the way ... is still the current HDD tray model in many of Netgear's deskside units, is simply not of the right quality and polymer blend to go the distance! The unit was purchased new and has only ever been used in a loungeroom (and in an open space, not in a closed cabinet), setting of a residential home. The unit is out of warranty and now and approaching 7 years old. I have two 628X units in primary use now and the 316 is acting as a reserve for some backups and non-critical data, but other than the brittle plastic HDD tray facia’s it’s a good functioning unit.I was simply seeking any assistance in locating new / replacement HDD trays (model RTRAY09-10000S) for purchase. There is nothing I can locate via WWW, eBay, Amazon, etc. It seems that Netgear is not selling trays into any spare parts distributor model / market channels. Very disappointing.In fact, it is rather clear by the policies … Netgear purposefully only want to support in-warranty units and are not interested in any spare parts channels for loyal customers whom own their ReadyNAS products and want to keep them in service after the warranty expires (aka Netgear is adopting and essentially imposing a “disposable” culture).After much effort I can find no replacement parts channels to purchase (not for free) a replacement set of HDD trays also no one here on this Community has been able to refer me to a channel to purchase HDD trays. Netgear clearly want their out of warranty products in landfill rather than to support their loyal clients maintain their NAS units. A sales and after sales support model that is qustionable in today's "green" ecologically conscious world and certainly is left wanting.

I understand your frustration. I suspect there is some skepticism simply because many of us have ReadyNAS of similar age that don't show any evidence of tray degradation. But clearly you do need replacements, and I agree many of the comments were off-topic. Sandshark did offer one practical suggestion when he observed that the trays from any legacy desktop (but not rack-mount) ReadyNAS will also fit your unit. There are two older tray designs for desktop ReadyNAS - the oldest one has a circular button on the front. That particular design tends to stick, but there is an easy way to release it when it does. Both will fit. You sometimes can find non-working (or untested) ReadyNAS sold on ebay and similar sites. Older ReadyNAS are often inexpensive, and use trays without the molded facia. For example, there's an NV+ offered on ebay for ~$65 that looks like it includes 4 trays. The seller will only ship to US and Canada, so that particular unit won't work for you. But there are others that do appear to ship to your location. You do need to make sure that the unit includes the trays (as sometimes they don't). The seller might also be willing to only ship the trays. FWIW, I do see a couple of sites that appear to have the trays in stock: https://www.insight.com/en_US/shop/product/RTRAY09-10000S/NETGEAR%2C%20INC./RTRAY09-10000S/NETGEAR-hard-drive-tray/ \ https://shop.techdata.com/products/category/category?kw=NETGEAR&cs=80000024&refinements=80000024 http://www.neutronusa.com/mfgstores/netgear.cfm?categoryid=0 There could be others (I didn't google extensively). No idea whether the sites above actually have them, or will ship to your location. But they are expensive - going the used ReadyNAS route would be similar cost (or cheaper), and the older tray design might actually last you longer.

AT- ReadyNAS Welcome to the Community! Sorry to hear on what happened on your trays to be honest I have not yet encountered such issue with my RN102 NAS which is quite old as well. Have you placed the unit on cold or hot locations at anytime? Since it's plastic there might have been an occurrence of such where temp has something to do with it. The easiest I can think of getting replacement trays would be to check online for sellers where they have trays from their old ReadyNAS avaiable or you can contact Support and check for stocks that can be purcahsed thru them HTH

Hi Mark, >> "Have you placed the unit on cold or hot locations at anytime? Since it's plastic there might have been an occurrence of such where temp has something to do with it." No, actually I have not placed the unit in any cold or hot locations. The unit has always been kept and operated in an open space, well ventilated environment (not endlosed) located on top of a side table in the living room near the wall mounted TV. I do live in Singapore where ... the average ambient indoor temperature is between 25 degrees Celsius and 31 degrees Celsius all year round. Thunderstorms occur on 40% of all days in a year. Relative humidity is in the range of 64% – 96% and averges 80%. If I was to speculate it appears that the plastic used in the metal and plastic composite HDD tray design is not really of the right polymer / compund for the job and does not remain pliable over time; instead becoming very brittle. Being located in Singpaore would not likely help, but that should not be a disadvantage or a product operating environment restriction. I note the earlier design of HDD trays was more robust than the current generation. The earlier trays had the locking and release fulcrum made of mild steel. The current generation use a plastic release fulcurm and it simply is not sturdty enough as the plastic ages, which really compromises the strength of the front assembly of the HDD tray. All plastics release thier polimers over time and degrade in a variety of ways. >> The easiest I can think of getting replacement trays would be to check online for sellers where they have trays from their old ReadyNAS avaiable.I have tried this option and sadly can not locate any. It appears Netgear has pulled these from sale. Ganeral Internet, eBay and Amazon searches do show a few listings (but only a very few) in the past, but all show as NIL stock. >> You can contact Support and check for stocks that can be purcahsed thru them.I would certanly be willing to try, but I would kindly request the specific email and a contact person's name to work with on this vexing problem with my 316. Coming in on a genral enquiry channel will take hours on to top of the hours and days I have already spend trying (without success) to source trays. Can you assist me in some way to make the right support connection by email and name please? Else I fear it will be an ever revolving door without any real progress. Regards, A.

I am thinking that is is more likely that this particular tray was just defective. I haven't seen this, even on my RN102 (which was a pre-production beta unit, and wasn't built with the normal manufacturing process). But I live near Boston (US), so my climate is completely different. But I also haven't seen this posted before - and if it were due to material choice, we should have seen this from other posters. The best option is to contact paid support. Personally I'd ask for a courtesy replacement, but they might need to charge. While you can try to get a used tray (or even a used NAS for parts), that would likely be more expensive (and in the case of a tray, might be from a rack-mount or legacy ReadyNAS). I suggest removing/inserting the remaining trays a few times, and see if they seem ok.

HDD Trays Brittle and crumbling. | NETGEAR Communities

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Marc_V
NETGEAR Employee Retired
Mar 08, 2021
AT- ReadyNAS

Welcome to the Community!

Sorry to hear on what happened on your trays to be honest I have not yet encountered such issue with my RN102 NAS which is quite old as well. Have you placed the unit on cold or hot locations at anytime? Since it's plastic there might have been an occurrence of such where temp has something to do with it.

The easiest I can think of getting replacement trays would be to check online for sellers where they have trays from their old ReadyNAS avaiable or you can contact Support and check for stocks that can be purcahsed thru them

HTH
- AT-ReadyNAS
  Tutor
  Mar 08, 2021
  Hi Mark,
  
  >> "Have you placed the unit on cold or hot locations at anytime? Since it's plastic there might have been an occurrence of such where temp has something to do with it."
  
  No, actually I have not placed the unit in any cold or hot locations. The unit has always been kept and operated in an open space, well ventilated environment (not endlosed) located on top of a side table in the living room near the wall mounted TV.
  
  I do live in Singapore where ... the average ambient indoor temperature is between 25 degrees Celsius and 31 degrees Celsius all year round. Thunderstorms occur on 40% of all days in a year. Relative humidity is in the range of 64% – 96% and averges 80%.
  
  If I was to speculate it appears that the plastic used in the metal and plastic composite HDD tray design is not really of the right polymer / compund for the job and does not remain pliable over time; instead becoming very brittle.
  
  Being located in Singpaore would not likely help, but that should not be a disadvantage or a product operating environment restriction.
  
  I note the earlier design of HDD trays was more robust than the current generation. The earlier trays had the locking and release fulcrum made of mild steel. The current generation use a plastic release fulcurm and it simply is not sturdty enough as the plastic ages, which really compromises the strength of the front assembly of the HDD tray. All plastics release thier polimers over time and degrade in a variety of ways.
  
  >> The easiest I can think of getting replacement trays would be to check online for sellers where they have trays from their old ReadyNAS avaiable.
  I have tried this option and sadly can not locate any. It appears Netgear has pulled these from sale. Ganeral Internet, eBay and Amazon searches do show a few listings (but only a very few) in the past, but all show as NIL stock.
  
  >> You can contact Support and check for stocks that can be purcahsed thru them.
  I would certanly be willing to try, but I would kindly request the specific email and a contact person's name to work with on this vexing problem with my 316. Coming in on a genral enquiry channel will take hours on to top of the hours and days I have already spend trying (without success) to source trays. Can you assist me in some way to make the right support connection by email and name please? Else I fear it will be an ever revolving door without any real progress.
  
  Regards, A.
  - StephenB
    Guru - Experienced User
    Mar 08, 2021
    I am thinking that is is more likely that this particular tray was just defective.
    
    I haven't seen this, even on my RN102 (which was a pre-production beta unit, and wasn't built with the normal manufacturing process). But I live near Boston (US), so my climate is completely different. But I also haven't seen this posted before - and if it were due to material choice, we should have seen this from other posters.
    
    The best option is to contact paid support. Personally I'd ask for a courtesy replacement, but they might need to charge. While you can try to get a used tray (or even a used NAS for parts), that would likely be more expensive (and in the case of a tray, might be from a rack-mount or legacy ReadyNAS).
    
    I suggest removing/inserting the remaining trays a few times, and see if they seem ok.
- AT-ReadyNAS
  Tutor
  Mar 08, 2021
  Marc,
  Is Netgear going to help with this or not? The plastic in the trays should not have failed if they were made of the right type of plastic. The ambient operating temperature range, etc is not a factor according to the units rated operating parameters.
  Regards.
- AT-ReadyNAS
  Tutor
  Mar 08, 2021
  Marc,
  Is Netgear going to help with this or not? Or am I just wasting my time here on this channel. As an electrical engineer and from a family whom was in the plastics business, I really do not want to be here for idle speculatiion from all and sundry. The plastic in the trays should not have failed if they were made of the right type of plastic. The ambient operating temperature range, etc is not a factor according to the units rated operating parameter ranges.
  Regards.
  - StephenB
    Guru - Experienced User
    Mar 08, 2021
    AT-ReadyNAS wrote:
    Marc,
    Is Netgear going to help with this or not? Or am I just wasting my time here on this channel.
    
    This is a user forum, and Netgear folks often don't engage. Marc does work for Netgear, but he already gave you his advice on how to proceed.
    
    Marc_V wrote:
    
    The easiest I can think of getting replacement trays would be to check online for sellers where they have trays from their old ReadyNAS avaiable or you can contact Support and check for stocks that can be purcahsed thru them
    
    So start by contacting support and asking for replacement trays.
    
    FWIW, I totally agree that the trays should not have failed.
ukbobboy01
Apprentice
Mar 08, 2021
Hi AT-ReadyNAS

I'm by no means an expert in ReadyNAS use, but more of an interested domestic user. I was bouncing through this forum when I came across your post and, especially interesting, your photo of your problem.

And from the discolouration I can see looks very much like rust, as well as the crumbling plastic. So I can only imagine that where you had your NAS has a high amount of moisture in the air, hence your crumbling plastic and discoloured metal parts.

At this part of my post, I do not know where in the world you live, i.e. a country with a humid climate, or if you have stored or placed your NAS in a humid room or area. Either way, you will have to check all your NAS computers to ensure that they are not afflicted with the same problem, i.e. moisture intrusion. And then you will have to move your NAS computers to a more controlled environment so you don't loose them, along with all your data.

Next, if Netgear cannot supply you with new HD trays/caddies, your best bet will be to try Ebay, I say this because I recently bought myself a ReadyNAS Duo v2 (a covid19 lock-down purchase) from my country's Ebay online store. And I presume that wherever you live your nearest Ebay store will have similar products for sale.

Finally, I wish you the best of luck hunting down your Netgear spare parts and in mitigating your humidity problem.

UK Bob
- ukbobboy01
  Apprentice
  Mar 08, 2021
  Hi again AT-ReadyNAS
  
  I've just read in one of your post that where you live has, on average, 80% humidity all year round. I fear that even if you manage to replace the damaged parts of your NAS you will inevitability suffer from the same problem some time in the future.
  
  Therefore, in order to lessen the destruction of your NAS computers, may I suggest that you purchase a Dehumidifier. I have no idea of how large a device you will need or how much it will cost you but I would think that any electrical device not specially made, i.e. hardened, to work in your country's climate will eventually fail unless special precautions are taken.
  
  UK Bob

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HDD Trays Brittle and crumbling.

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