The 15" mbp stock hdd have the breathing holes covered up

I know this has been already been talked about in a previous older thread but compared to the 17" mbp hdd placement the 15" is a bit different where the hole on the bottom right (breathing hdd hole) is actually covered up...

I was shocked that the stock hdd the hitachi 5k250 the breathing whole was covered up completely (with the sticker that clearly said do not cover) and I installed my hitachi travelstar 7k200 and this is my 7k200 with the breathing hole unblocked.

bcaslis said:

I thought you had the MBP 17" hi-res LED?

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I sold it as it was too big (already have a mac pro) and resolution was too small for me.

I should have taken the picture before I installed my 7k200 on it.. but the 15" mbp that I had with the stock hdd the hole was completely covered up with that orange part taped right over it. Maybe because of the hole being covered some users are complaining about the heat issue??

On my previous SR mbp I remember the left side palm rest got extremely hot because I didnt know about the hole and covered it up just like how the stock one was (installed over the hole because I installed the orange piece back on top of the hole to mimic how the stock hdd was installed). Now that I know about the hole it runs very very cool on the palm rests.

Its a bit different on the 17" mbp because I notice that the positioning of the hdd is different where the hole is not on the bottom right anymore. But I clearly remember that the hole cannot be covered up on the 17" mbps.

e12a said:

The breather holes have nothing to do with heat.

http://searchwincomputing.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid68_gci1212435,00.html

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So its just dust going inside the hole? Even though the article doesnt mention about heat issues correlating with the holes being blocked, maybe it still has some connection as the platters move generating heat and the hdd needs to blow out (breathe) some of the heat trapped inside.

All I can say is first hand experience that previously I blocked the hole while installing the hdd on my mbp and my left palm rest got really hot and now after leaving it unblocked it is very cool to touch (the hdd doesnt get hot as it did before while doing the same intensive work on each hdd).

e12a said:

That is the only hole in the hard drive, and the only way for air to get in/out. So it is impossible for it to pull in air and blow out air at the same time. Its just there to equalize pressure and as the article says to provide some sort of air cushion

Heat is due to the hard drive working. The more it works the hotter it gets. Inside, the air expands due to heat, which the hole provides relief. But it is far from an "exhaust" port, as the drive doesnt actively push the air out. Besides that hole the drive is hermetically sealed.

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I would think since the platters are spinning at 7200rpm on my hitachi travelstar that it would generate heat/air inside the hdd before exhausting the heat/air outside of that one and only hole.

Even if it doesnt matter in the heat/air department its not a good idea to cover up that hole as it directly saids "do not cover up this hole" and clearly the orange circuit thick part where its sticky on the bottom was taped right over the hole where I had to pry it out with alot of force to take off... I would suggest mbp owners with stock hdd to reseat the orange circuit stickers to uncover the hole (only applies to the 15" mbp as the 17" the hole is not covered up).