HD fit in ultrabay

I got one of the cheap SATA HD ultrabays from e-bay and it seems to work well. However, I noticed that there is considerable space between the drive and the ultrabay sides, as well as a small space at the top. I am concerened that the drive is not well protected from movements and dust in the ultrabay.

I am wondering if I should put some padding/foam into the side spaces and some cardboard on top. Or would that cause issues with heat dissipation?

 

Which seller did you buy your ultrabay adapter from?

 

I've never had an issue with a drive moving around in the UltraBay.

 

is it one of those ultrabay enhanced drive caddy?

 

Did you stick a raw 2.5" drive in the caddy? Or does the drive have the Lenovo drive wrapper and four screws. The wrapper and screws tighten up the fit a lot. In fact, the screws line up just below the bumps in the caddy.

 

Is a caddy supposed to be used in the ultrabay adapter or does it just help with the knock-off ones? I'm ordering an ultrabay adapter and will order another caddy too if it's required. Thanks for the tip.

 

I'm not sure what the proper terms are, but when I say caddy, I am referring to the Ultrabay hard driver adaptor.

When I refer to the wrapper, I am referring to the metal case Lenovo puts around the primary hard drive. It has a mylar ribbon and two rubber rails.

To use the wrapper in the caddy, you just set the rubber rails aside and tuck the ribbon underneath the drive as you insert it into the caddy and lock it down.

The wrapper and caddy are specifically designed to be used together.

 

No, there is no wrapper, just four screws that slightly keep the distance. The image on the ultrabay slide show something to be attached to the sides, that's why I was asking if it was advisable to stuff someting in there, like a foamy cutout from old mousepad.

 

He has a few stores with variation of names like ebestbuyer1997.

 

I think you're right. The instructions on the right look like they say to use the wrapper/caddy with the rubber rails removed.

 

But do those rubber rails come with ultrabay adapter?

 

No. You need to order another caddy (extra $5 from the ebay seller I got my ultrabay adapter from).

Found a clear picture on the lenovo site:

Lenovo Support - ThinkPad Serial ATA Hard Drive Bay Adapter III - Overview

 

Do you have a link to that item, or know where the rails can be found?

 

You're not supposed to use the rubber rails that comes with the caddy. How much of a gap do you have on the sides?

I'm ordering this caddy, same one I used in the T60:

IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad Hard Drive Caddy Rails T60 T61 T400 - eBay (item 300418292079 end time Jan-11-11 00:45:09 PST)

 

Here are two macro pictures. In each picture you'll see a hard drive inserted and locked into the Ultrabay III hard drive adaptor I use in my W510.

The Hitachi 500GB 7200rpm drive I use doesn't have the wrapper you'll find on ThinkPad primary bay hard drives.

The other photo is of a Seagate 320GB 7200rpm drive with the wrapper.

Over the years (approx. 7), I have used a wide variety of hard drives ranging from 100GB to 500GB in capacity in the T60p, T61p, T400, T410, T410s, W500, and W510. I have never concerned myself with the drive in the Ultrabay caddy and whether it had a wrapper or not, at least not until the W510.

The only reason for the concern in the W510 is because the drive bay is 12.7mm high instead of 9.5mm like many if not all of the other thinkpads. This gives the drive more wiggle room. When I travel, I usually pull the Ultrabay III hard drive adaptor and drive out, and pop the 12.7mm DVD drive in.

In other words, you shouldn't worry a whole hell of a lot about all of this.

 

Thanks, I ordered one. Why not use the rails - are they too thick?

 

The Ultrabay hard drive adaptor is designed to not use them. There is no room for them.

 

If you're using a knock-off adapter there are two designs. One is like the OEM one in the picture, the other is a bit different. I ended up ordering mine from the same seller Merlin got his from because it matches the OEM design. Apart from the inside portion being different, the non-OEM design also uses a large rectangle led in the front instead of the nice small circle like OEM.

The photo posted above from the Lenovo site clearly shows the caddy is to be used, and there's no arguing with the gap Merlin has between his hdd and ultrabay adapter. The instructions on the adapter shows the caddy is to be used as well.

 

Huh? I was pointing out via text and pictures what you get when you buy from Lenovo and how they work. If his hardware is different, so sorry. The pitfalls of buying from eBay. Buyer beware and all that junk.

It would have been helpful for him to post pictures for clarity. For instance, what is the "top" he is referring to?

 

The Lenovo picture I posted is pretty clear as far as how it's supposed to be used. Could you please post a photo of the label on the right side of the adapter. That makes it seem like the caddy should be used too.

 

It shows that you remove the rubber rails and then stick it into the bay adapter. Doesn't clearly show what to do with that thin metal caddy. Experience proves that you can leave it on, or remove it.
I really don't get why we have all these ultrabay threads. "So easy a caveman could do it."(tm)

The only potential issue is indeed with the 12mm bay and a 9.5mm caddy. When you turn your laptop upside down while the disk is spinning, that's probably not good.

 

I don't really get what's so mysterious about this picture from the l enovo website.

Here's thinkpads.com forum admin 'bill bolton's' view on the matter: