Two dead drives after using power splitter

[Guest]

Hi there.
My problem is simple enough to explain: I had a new 2TB sata drive that I was using externally for a few months, then I decided to add it internally alongside 3 drives that I was already using internally. I used one of those 1 molex to 2 sata power splitters to add to use the same molex power connector as one of the existing sata drives, which previously had a single molex/sata adapter.
The problem arose when I powered the system back up, or tried to. It wouldn't boot to POST, just spun the fan once and died, though the front panel LED stayed on. This behaviour continued till I removed both drives on that splitter. Now neither drive will spin up at all; I tried with an external power source as well from a USB adapter. And I mean they don't even try to spin up, no clicking, nothing. It's like plugging into a brick.
So my question is, is there anything I can do to resurrect these drives? I'm willing to write them off and put it down to experience if I have to (there was nothing essential on them, but together they made 3TB and it's annoying to lose the storage space), but a quick scour of the web suggests this isn't a common situation, most seem to suggest these splitter cables are safe to use. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Ubrales]

There is nothing wrong in connecting a Y-splitter to power 2 HDDs as you did. HDDs consume very little power; less than 15 Watts each. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storage/display/hdd-power-cons.html

It is quite possible that something else happened coincidently; a voltage spike?

For information, in my computer, I have 4 HDDs (1-750GB, 3-1TB) all connected to the same power cable plugged into the PSU.

Now coming to your question about resurrecting the drives. You can try replacing the controller boards on these HDDs. Wear an anti-static wrist band when you do this. Under no circumstances remove the cover and expose the magnetic platters inside (because of airborne dust particles).

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the link.

About replacing the hdd pcbs, if I'm right I need to track down the board from the same manufacturer, model and size as the hdd? If that's the case I think I'd be just as well buying new hard drives, given the effort and expense I expect that will involve. Or is it easier than that?

 

[fzabkar]

ISTM that your splitter may be incorrectly wired. If you don't already have one, invest in a cheap digital multimeter (US$10) and measure the unloaded voltage at the SATA power connectors of your splitter.

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

Note that only the +5V and +12V supplies are used.

The fact that your PC doesn't power up suggests that there is a short circuit on one or more of the supply rails. The usual symptom is that the fans will kick once, and then the supply will shut down.

In most case the solution involves an easy, no-cost DIY repair. Usually what happens is that a TVS diode sacrifices itself to protect the drive's electronics. If this is the case, then all you need to do is to remove the shorted diode with flush cutters. The drive will work without it, but it will no longer have overvoltage protection on the affected supply. Therefore be absolutely certain your power source is good.

If you upload detailed photos of the component sides of each board, one of us will help you identify the faulty components.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info. That's interesting, and it makes me optimistic
I have ordered a cheap multimeter, will try to get to the bottom of what went wrong when it arrives.

Here are the pcbs of both drives:

 

[fzabkar]

On the WD10EAVS drive, measure the resistances of the 5V TVS diode (D3, marking "5L"), 12V TVS diode (D4, marking "13L"), and zero-ohm resistors R64 and R67 (marking "000"). They are located near the SATA power connector.

On the Samsung drive, there are also two TVS diodes near the SATA power connector. The larger one is the 5V diode, and the other is the 12V diode. There is also a zero-ohm resistor.

Set your multimeter on the 200 ohms range.

 

[kosak]

I got problem with plugging hdds with molex to 2x sata power connectors too.

The solution is to plug the Y splitter up the molex chain to reduce total ohmage.

Ive come to the conclusion that there must be no more than two junctions between PS and the hdd connector.

Hope that help !