alfiehicks wrote on 2026-08-13, 23:54:

possibility that the PC might be damaged from the printer shaking it about.

Unlikely. Those XTs were build properly so it shouldn't be affected by slight vibrations.
Besides, it is a neat looking set.

alfiehicks wrote on 2026-08-13, 23:54:

could anything else in the machine or the monitor be damaged by the shaking motions of the printer?

It's a tricky question. In general no, but you just never know with such old stuff. It might eventually crack the solder under HV transformer in the monitor for example. For HDDs it also depends how the disk is installed/oriented vs the source of vibrations. It would probably take quite some time but I can imagine the heads rubbing a "bald spot" on the platters - while parked heads might be locked in position, the platters are not and will rotate a bit with enough external force. Vibrations are best avoided. But nothing bad should happen short term unless the whole setup vibrates a lot and you are using the printer 24/7.

As a side note, is that a box of floppies right next to the monitor? It's not a great idea to keep them there. Safe-ish with mono monitors but a color one might just affect the floppies with the degaussing coil. Plus the heat, while not that high, is also bad for floppies long-term.

smoke86 wrote on 2026-08-14, 20:39:

Unlikely. Those XTs were build properly so it shouldn't be affected by slight vibrations.
Besides, it is a neat looking set.

They are tanks, yes, and these vibrations are probably far more gentle than what it went through on its ride home to my house. Having the 3D printer there is ultimately a temporary solution, anyway: it's just the only place it will fit at the moment.

Deunan wrote on 2026-08-14, 22:56:

It might eventually crack the solder under HV transformer in the monitor for example.

That is concerning. Ultimately, I am more worried about the monitor than the PC, because if it came down to it, the computer would obviously be a lot easier to get back to a working (if inauthentic) state.

Deunan wrote on 2026-08-14, 22:56:

I can imagine the heads rubbing a "bald spot" on the platters - while parked heads might be locked in position, the platters are not and will rotate a bit with enough external force.

Do the heads really park hovering above the platters? I've honestly never seen one of these full-height drives with its lid off.

Deunan wrote on 2026-08-14, 22:56:

Vibrations are best avoided. But nothing bad should happen short term unless the whole setup vibrates a lot and you are using the printer 24/7.

Yeah, I'm not using it much at all right now, and when I do, I'm only doing small prints (< 45mins) on the 'silent' setting - which I have to say is not very silent at all, but I can clearly see it shakes the PC far less than the default speed. I tried 'balanced' to see how it would be, but I stopped immediately after seeing how badly the PC was moving. You are correct in your assumption that this will only be a short-term setup. I'm planning to move things around soon, but for now I'll just be responsible with my use of the printer.

Deunan wrote on 2026-08-14, 22:56:

As a side note, is that a box of floppies right next to the monitor? It's not a great idea to keep them there. Safe-ish with mono monitors but a color one might just affect the floppies with the degaussing coil. Plus the heat, while not that high, is also bad for floppies long-term.

I appreciate the concern, but that's just the Guide to Operations, and I've checked that there's no floppies inside it. My disks sit underneath the keyboard tray; you can just about see them above the red and green LEDs on the NJD unit of the rack. I didn't know about heat damage, though - it did get up to 37 degrees in here earlier in the week.