need help with a case mod for adding hard drives to my optical bay

[dreamcast4599]

so i bought a 5 base 3.5 inch to 5.25 inch drive cage so that i can put some hard drives into the optical bay of my enthoo primo case. only i ran into a problem the optical bay has several small metal edges/rails stickling out for the dvd drives to rest on. how do i go about cutting them so that i cant get the cage to properly fit? i cant bend them as they are way to small for that as you can see in the red square of the last pic thats what i need to remove

Edited January 4, 2022 by dreamcast4599
added more info to my post to help others out

[Vishera]

17 minutes ago, dreamcast4599 said:

only i ran into a problem the optical bay has several small metal edges/rails stickling out for the dvd drives to rest on. how do i go about cutting them so that i cant get the cage to properly fit?

You can file those down,i don't know if a nail filer would work but you can try.

It's important to note that you will have lots of metal dust after that so you will need to clean that well (the last thing you want is the dust to short components in your system).

[dreamcast4599]

@Vishera im thinking tin snips/aviation snips would work better since they would produce less dust/shavings and should give a clean cut only other option is for me to modify the drive cage instead of the optical bay

[OhioYJ]

46 minutes ago, dreamcast4599 said:

@Vishera im thinking tin snips/aviation snips would work better since they would produce less dust/shavings and should give a clean cut only other option is for me to modify the drive cage instead of the optical bay

You're going to have a lot of drives when you get done. Doesn't that case have like 6 mounts already?  I actually ordered one of those drive bays as well. 

 

As for your issue, wouldn't it be easier to use 5.25" to 3.5" brackets? They used to be everywhere. I'm guessing you could get them still cheap. When I need them I pick the up at the local surplus store.

 

Here are a couple examples, though these seem pricey, so I would search around (going this route wouldn't require cutting, as they would mount the way a 5.25 drive would, but it would require a set for each drive)

 

• These are what I remember, have mostly. Just plain steel brackets that screw to the sides of the HD.
• Bit fancier, aluminum bracket. Actually works with 2.5" drives too.

[dreamcast4599]

@OhioYJ yes it has 6 bays 3 per cage but thats not enough for me i will consider using brackets instead of the cage will you update me on how you plan to use the cage you bought

[thrasher_565]

just use pliers and bend it up and down or just bend them flat

[OhioYJ]

20 hours ago, dreamcast4599 said:

@OhioYJ yes it has 6 bays 3 per cage but thats not enough for me i will consider using brackets instead of the cage will you update me on how you plan to use the cage you bought

I actually just finished up my NAS upgrades actually. The case I'm using wasn't intended for NAS use, nor a bunch of HDs. I just bought it because it was on sale and cheap. It's actually a fairly nice case for the $35 I got it for actually. So I ended up mounting that cage to floor of the case:

 

 

The cage has threaded holes top and bottom. The case has threaded holes as well on the floor. On the bottom I drilled some holes to line up with the threaded holes in the floor of the case, so I could screw the cage to the bottom. I also added some double sided tape, just to help with any vibrations. On the top I added a brace over to the motherboard tray just to stiffen everything up to prevent it from wobbling. However overall I was pretty impressed with the cage, it was a thick material, and it was fairly decent kit. Mine was short 2 rails, but I wasn't fully loading it anyways. It was nice they included all the cables and such, but I ended up using some cables I "trusted".

 

Kind of wish it was black, even thought about painting it. However it won't be seen anyways.

[dreamcast4599]

@OhioYJ just a thought my enthoo primo has a rear case fan right where the psu would sit. psu in my case is mounted behind the mobo so in theory i could mount the cage to the back of the fan thats mounted at the rear whatcha think?

[dreamcast4599]

@OhioYJ im just trying to figure out how i would mount it to the bottom of my case since it has fan on the bottom for intake i dont really wanna drill holes or use screws as its a pita getting the bottom of my case off just to screw in another fan im thinking just double sided tape and foam furniture pads to hold it in place and protect from vibrations

[OhioYJ]

I didn't modify my case to mount mine, I was pretty careful to make sure my mounting was reversible. So any holes I drilled where in my "cheap" piece.

 

I keep lots of flat aluminum plate here at my house for various things, so I would be tempted to cut out a transition piece between the case and cage. One I could bolt down to the case (since it's only fan holes, and you are trying to avoid taking it apart), and screw to the cage (since the cage has thread holes). Something to try and span the fan hole gap. You could cut out the centers, so it would not block air flow.

 

I don't have that case, but I know in my NAS case that cage took up a lot of room. I'd be surprised if you get that intake fan in there in it's current location still. I think it's going to have to move.

 

Those adapter brackets would be the least destructive, best looking, and most reversible route here I think. However the most expensive, especially since you already have the cage. However, I'm not one to talk, I used the cage, and screwed it to the floor of my case as well....

[dreamcast4599]

@OhioYJ i may just use double sided tape so i dont have to use screws we shall see