Can a faulty motherboard cause a hard drive PCB to short circuit?

tarper24 · Jan 1, 2015

I recently got a new motherboard and CPU for my computer. After installing them, I went to turn it on and I saw smoke coming from one of my hard drives (I hadn't put the case side panel back on yet to make sure everything would be fine), and I immediately unplugged the power cable from the PSU. I pulled out the hard drive, and it had a small charred spot on it. I took my other two hard drives out to check them for any visible damage, but when I put them back in, the BIOS didn't see the hard drives, and they didn't spin up. I then took the PCBs off of all three hard drives to check the other side of them, and sure enough, there was fried spots on the other two (I have three total). I've looked around and have found replacements for the PCBs so that I can get them back to a working state.

Also, my old DVD RW drive is still functioning, and I had that plugged into the computer when this all happened.

BUT, My real question is could this have been caused by a faulty motherboard, or even CPU? Because, those were the only things I switched. Also, all of my parts are compatible. Here is the list:

Hard Drives
1. Western Digital WD10EZEX
2. Seagate ST31000524AS
3. Seagate ST31000528AS

New Parts
MOBO: MSI Z97-G45 Gaming
CPU: Intel i5-4690K

Old Parts
PSU: Coolmax ZP-750B
RAM: Kingston KVR1333D3N9/4G x2; G.SKILL F3-1600C11S-4GIS
An older DVD RW drive
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 650
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus

If any more information about the situation is needed, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Pictures
From left to right, each time: Western Digital WD10EZEX, Seagate ST31000524AS, Seagate ST31000528AS

Back of the three HDDs.

The front of the three HDDs. The scorch mark on the second drive is from the PCB on the WD drive getting fried.

The back of the three PCBs.

geofelt · Jan 1, 2015

I suspect the psu.
Coolmax is a tier 5(not recommended, replace asap) unit on this list.
https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?Redirected=true
If a poor quality psu fails under load, it will not have the protective circuitry to keep parts from being damaged.

I would replace it regardless.
If you are lucky, the damage may be limited to the sata power leads.

nostall · Jan 1, 2015

I would highly advise that you NOT plug that Power Supply back into your computer.
There is a good chance that the PSU was at fault. Take a look at this link, coolmax are know to be very poor power supplies. This isn't your unit, but you can research further on this or several sites;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4
This link/site tells it all; CoolMax are in tier 5 -- immediate replacement recommended.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html
Your motherboard may be damaged also. You would be wise to call/contact MSI and see if they will RMA the board or otherwise help you out. You can try hooking up a new PSU (refer to the tier 1,2,2a, 2b in link
above), but if the mobo was damaged as well as the HDD's you will just cook another HDD.
Looking at the pictures I will bet on the PSU doing the damage, and you won't know if it killed the hard drive motor (that spins them) and/or the actual disk till you plug the HDD's back in.
Good luck. Hope this helps, and please let us know about the mobo and HDD's

nostall · Jan 1, 2015

geofelt :

We had to be typing at the same time! LOL!

arges86 · Jan 1, 2015

I agree that its most likely the PSU
Before buying a new one, i suggest reading this article first
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-psu-brands,3762.html
interesting stuff.

its strange where the burn mark on the drive is though... that top part of the drive isn't usually in contact with a pcb or anything electrical

its either empty space above the platter, or the control arm.
some serious juice had to be going through that HDD for that to occur.

tarper24 · Jan 1, 2015

arges86 :

The burn mark on the sticker side of that middle drive is from the Western Digital HDD's PCB. It was sitting right below it when it fried.

Thanks for all the quick responses guys! I will definitely check out those links and buy a new PSU, as well as contact MSI about the motherboard. And I'll let you guys know how it goes once I have everything running again!

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Can a faulty motherboard cause a hard drive PCB to short circuit?

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