Dead External Hard Drive

[dfeezy22]

Hello,
My external hard drive has died. I think it is a power problem but no one has been able to help me and Best Buy is going to charge me $100 to just take a look. Any help would be great.

 

[Ubrales]

Can you provide some details as to what you were doing when this happened? Please include system details too.

 

[dfeezy22]

i just plugged it in one day and it smelled like something had burnt up.

 

[fzabkar]

It could be that the drive's TVS diode has shorted due to an overvoltage. If so, then there is often an easy, no-cost DIY fix.

You will need to remove the drive from the case and upload a photo or scan of the drive's circuit board.

You could also search for "TVS diode".

Here are numerous photos that show the likely damage:
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/

 

[dfeezy22]

Best answer selected by dfeezy22.