I was confused why I was having so much trouble removing the top panel of my case, and only realized after I was about to put the motherboard into my case that the back wall of the case was bent inwards, I assume from a drop/impact, or from too much stuff being placed on top of the box during shipping. I was able to bend it back into the right shape, but it kinda sucks paying $800 for a case and it being delivered in a damaged state (even though the box was more-or-less in good condition).
Might I suggest either reinforcing that section of the case for shipping, or using more rigid boxes? That section seems like a weak area in general.
It’s probably awful for the environment, but might help prevent some of the shipping damage being reported if crates aren’t being used. Just a thought.
I was too eager to get my nas up and running, I didn’t take any photos of the damage prior to bending it back into shape. It was bent inwards about an inch. Box looked a little ragged, but no puncture holes (I think).
I received my HL15 today and had the same issue. Back wall is bent and also the lip on the front of the top cover to which the face plate attaches to was bent on one side. I will try to bend the parts to their correct form once I have confirmed that the system is booting up fine and that the internal components aren’t damaged.
Sorry to hear this. Please send us an email at info@45drives.com with some pictures if you can. We will also be more than happy to assist with and/or rectify any issues that may have arisen as a result.
Shout out to 45drives for sending me a new back plate free of charge which I received today! However unfortunately, I may have come across another QC issue on my fully-built unit.
Since the back plate on my unit was bent inward quite severely, the IO shield was wedged between the motherboard and the back plate. So in order to remove the plate, I had to unseat the motherboard for easier access to the IO shield. This is when I noticed that several of the screws that attach the motherboard to the standoffs were extremely tight - so tight that it was a real struggle to loosen them with with a manual screw driver. Eventually I used an electric screw driver and got all of them off except one where the screw head is now stripped. Therefore I am unable to install the new back plate with the IO shield. I will work on removing the damaged screw tomorrow.
Anyways to me it seems that the screws were over-torqued… atleast on my unit.
I understand how you feel, and I want to make sure I do my best to help you out. Can you please send me an email at info@45homelab.com with some pictures so that I can escalate this and do my best to help you out?
Please let me know at info@45homelab.com if you face any issues with the unit because of the damage to it during shipping, and I will do my best to help you out.
Really? Ive had a few networks switches like that, but of the 100+ Dell servers I’ve gotten in, it’s always been some kind of pre-cut foam “bars”.
Not meaning this to come off as “I don’t believe you”. Really just genuinely curious, as I’ve not seen the formed stuff.
Yeah, I’m not kidding. And like I said - most of my stuff has come from used 3rd party sellers. Even the one “new” server I had bought had that kind of packaging. I’d take pictures but I re-use all the packaging I get to continue my hobby of buying and selling hardware for my home lab and recently I have been selling more than buying.
Hi folks, I have experienced the exact same issues, my back plane is also badly bent inwards. And my top lid couldn’t even be “opened” without a second person’s help.
The three lock holes on the top lid are not aligned on a straight line, I had a lot of trouble opening up the top cover as well.
I had to squeeze both side of the case very hard and let the second person lift the lid.
So I reached out, and the replacement I got not only has the same issues (this time the top lid finally opens tho…)
But also, the front plate is again bent outwards, and I tried to fix the issue myself, when I’m actually trying to unscrew the front plate and bend it back, how surprising, the front plate actually misses FOUR screws…
Maybe it sounds like nitpicking if you don’t care about any of these, I don’t know how other folks feel about this purchase, but I’m pretty disappointed with the QC as its asking price is 2000 dollars. I believe more importantly it’s not only about money, many of the home labs are paying to get the “premium server".
I was not expecting this as I was paying for a “premium” product, clearly I’m no one of the YouTube influencers, so as a regular consumer, I don’t know if I can trust the quality now.
I love the idea 45 Drives stepping into Home Lab community and bring such niche product to the marketplace, but I can’t help but feeling disappointed when I keep discovering more QC problems…
