www.deadharddrive.com

[newton]

Wanted:

Hitachi
HDE721010SLA330
MLC: BA3120
Part Number: 0A38028
S/N: MS072YWK
CHS: 16383 16 63
7200 RPM 3.0 Gb/sec
1 Terabyte Drive

It must have the firmware BA3120.

Circa Date: June 2009

Came in the SimpleTech Simple Drive Backup Solution. If you have the PCB / logic board or complete working drive, please contact me. Thanks.

[newton]

I was asked to describe the problem exactly and I am going to because it is so easy for anyone to encounter this problem.

Short and sweet of it: I pumped too much current into the SimpleTech backup drive unit.

1. I accidentally swapped the power supply plug for my laptop for that of my SimpleTech Hitachi backup drive.

My laptop runs on 20 V and up to 2 Amps according to the Delta Electronics power supply that came with it. The SimpleTech back up unit has a 12 V at 1.5 Amp DC power supply, meaning I put way too much current into the SimpleTech Hitachi backup unit.

2. I bought a replacement SATA plastic box with SATA connector controller thinking that the preliminary elements to convert power to the Harddrive were fried, but it turned out that my actual drive STILL did not spin, meaning that the high amount of current actually went to HITACHI drive's logic board. Simply put, with a new power supply interface SATA plug card, my Hitachi drive still did not spin. However the light on the OUTSIDE of SimpleTech still blinks when I attach it back to the original case, but the drive doesn't spin.

3. So I believe that the logic board is completely fried. Now if you can isolate the specific element that is damaged, that would be interesting.

I don't see any diodes on the PCB but I am not an engineer however.

Enclosed please see attached pictures if this tells you anything. Please let me know asap.

[newton]

[fzabkar]

It sounds as if you may have shorted the 12V TVS (transient voltage suppression) diode.

You can identify the components here:
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/HDE721010SLA330_TVS.jpg

The 12V diode (location D3) appears blistered. You can remove it by snipping its pins with flush cutters. The drive will work without it, but it will no longer have any overvoltage protection on the +12V supply. Otherwise, for continued protection, you can replace it with an SMBJ12A from Farnell, Mouser, Digikey.

I would use a digital multimeter, set to the 200 ohms resistance range, to measure the resistance between the ground and +12V pins in the SATA power connector.

Here is a pinout:
http://pinouts.ru/Power/sata-power_pinout.shtml

Good luck.

[newton]

yeah, i was just looking at that pic...it looks bloated...like fried! what about the 5 V diode?

1. can i still use the circuit board on the SimpleTech box which you see with aluminum foil?

2. do you want me to measure the impedance across the 12 volt diode to see if it is a short or an open? can i connect between pins 13, 14, or 15 and across the diode? what should the resistance be approximately for a good diode?

3. can i just use a solder tool to solder it out?

4. is it safe to run the drive without this diode to get all my data off of it?

5. is it safe to use the Simple Tech PCB that has the SATA connector plug?

[newton]

okay,

1. i measured zero ohms across the diode.

2. i measured zero ohms across pins 13,14,15 and 4,5,6.

so that means i have a short between power and ground, disabling my drive?

so is this totally safe to remove and run with my correct 12 volt power supply with the SimpleTech PCB connector interface card?

can i solder d3 out? is that heat safe or should i remove it from the drive first? thanks.

[fzabkar]

Yes you can desolder D3. I always advise people to snip the diode because it is less risky. That's because some people use a soldering iron like a weapon. :-)

I'd measure the voltage of your power supply before using it, just to be absolutely sure it is regulating at 12V.

I'd also confirm that the short is no longer present on the HD PCB.

Then you should be good to go, assuming that there is no other damage.

BTW, I'm assuming that the enclosure has a single +12V input, and that there is additional circuitry on the USB-SATA bridge board that is not visible in the photo. This circuitry would consist of a stepdown regulator that reduces the +12V supply to +5V. There could also be a fuse and a transistor switch.

In any case, you could install your drive in another enclosure, or attach it to a computer motherboard.

[jetk]

I have the exact same drive, and the exact same problem. Were you successful in repairing it?

If the 12V TVS diode is fried would it be visibly so? I have 2 of these drives, and the diodes on the bad one look the same as the diodes on the good one.

Thanks

[sunnydreamspace]

hi,
if it's just diode problem that you can just remove it.
_________________
provide Hard drive PCB,entire drive/ Data Recovery service.... big HDD resource. talk to me immediately! sunnydreamspace@hotmail.com
skype: sunnydreamspace

[jetk]

For the 12v diode, on the drive g-tech told me was bad, I get an initial reading in the 120 range when I make the connection, but then it fairly immediately jumps to read "OL" which, I gather means open loop. On the one the told me was good, the same initial number range, jumps down to hold between 0.2 to -0.2. The 5v on both I end up at OL.

As this is my first venture into HD repair any thoughts or advice would be appreciated before I start snipping diodes.

[jetk]

I still don't quite believe it. I had pretty much written it off as a loss. Turns out the 12v diodes were bad on both drives. But, after removing them, my 2 TB G-raid mounted without a problem and all crucial data (only about a gig) is burned off and redundantly backed up). The folks at g-raid told me I'd have to send it for data recovery (impossibly expensive). My techie friends told me I was screwed. But, thankfully I found this forum, and I'm deeply grateful for the knowledge that you all have shared here.

[sunnydreamspace]

hi,
i can handle it. please feel free to contact me by email or MSN if need help. thanks.
_________________
provide Hard drive PCB,entire drive/ Data Recovery service.... big HDD resource. talk to me immediately! sunnydreamspace@hotmail.com
skype: sunnydreamspace