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Forum Discussion
HDD Trays Brittle and crumbling.
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 u...
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.
Hi StephenB,
>> I am thinking that is is more likely that this particular tray was just defective.
I do not believe that Netgear is in the habit of making defective products, unless maybe they had a defective batch? Netgear prides itself on quality as I understand it.
>> I suggest removing/inserting the remaining trays a few times, and see if they seem ok.
I gingerly tried a second HDD tray. Nope. That is how one broken front facia with fulcrum became two broken HDD tray front facias. The plastic front facias with lever mechanisms built into the plastic as a protruding nodule on all 6 trays are just to brittle with age! The trays move easily and freely once the HDD SATA connector releases from the ReadyNAS backplane board; no resistance there! It is the lever action and SATA connector release force expected to be supported by the plastic front facia with fulcrum assembly thay just cracks and crumbles when you try to gingerly release a drive for replacement. See image.
- 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. - 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.
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 themSo start by contacting support and asking for replacement trays.
FWIW, I totally agree that the trays should not have failed.
Did you buy that unit new? It certainly appears to have been stored for a long time in an inappropriate environment, as there is what appears to be a significant amount of rust on the metal components of the drive support frame. There is also a built-up of dust that should be cleaned out periodically, though that is unlikely to have contributed to the problem you are seeing.
At some point in the history of the ReadyNAS, but before the native OS6 units were introduced, the plastic components did get thinner. It is noticable in the thickness of the locking mechanism, and I have had one of those thinner ones crack in transit. Then came the removal of the metal in the locking mechanism with the OS6 models. Whether there was a change in polymer at either time, I do not know. What the point was of adding a tool-less mount system, which would be rarely used, while reducing the robustness of the locking mechanism, which would be used more often since one should be periodically removing the drives for dust removal, I cannot say. Maybe just because it looks good on a spec sheet.
The hardware manual isn't as detailed in drive insertion as it should be. When inserting a drive, one should be pushing it in (where the button is works well) as well as dropping the handle. If one only uses the handle and tries to "wedge" the drive in using it, that is going to put a lot of stress on the plastic handle.
FYI, the trays from any legacy desktop (but not rack-mount) ReadyNAS will also fit your unit. They do lack the tool-less mounting feature and provisions for a 2.5" drive (so an adapter is needed). Some, of course, will also have that hard-to-use round push button, but it's easy enough to open them with a small screwdriver instead.
Also, you may see some Chenbro caddies that look like they will work. But if you look closely, they are the mirror image of a Netgear caddy and do not work, at least in a desktop system.
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