2.5" HDD enclosure

thingiverse

This is a direct replacement for the cheap chinese USB 3.0 aluminium enclosures that have plastic caps on each end that often break. These enclosures have no dampening whatsoever and using them can damage the hdd, my enclosure fixes that to a degree. There is also USB 2.0 variant of said enclosure which should fit as well but I don't have it and therefore can't test it. **Please note that this is only made for SLIM drives and SSDs. Old thicker HDD won't fit in this box.** The enclosure has a bit of space on top and on the back for vibration decoupling. I personally recommend cheap foam-ish double sided tape from aliexpress for that (see images). There is also free space in the middle which prevents the HDD from being pressed. Take a look at the images to see how I applied the tape. Apply several layers to press the pcb and USB connector down firmly. Only apply one layer on the sides so that the HDD doesn't wiggle inside, make sure there's no excessive pressure on the hdd. There's also one layer of the tape at the back to prevent the hdd from sliding inside when usb is connected / disconnected. I left the top of the double sided tape covered so it doesn't stick. If you don't have the tape, you can secure everything with some handsome blobs of hot glue :) Supports are not required. I recommend printing it from translucent filament, ideally same color as the LED and with some nice infill pattern. I also replaced the LED to match my filament and it looks awesome :)