HDD GURU FORUMS

Hi.

This must be a scary day. My main work Hard Disk failed. There is a year of work in there. (Music Production)

Today my Samsung HD501LJ died just by plugging it in another computer. I am suspecting o a bad PSU. At first, the CPU would not start. I tried several times until I saw a smoke coming out of the drive. When I stopped the panic attack, analyzed the PCB, and it looks like a resistor or something like that near the power connectors is blown. Now the drive does not spin up.

http://barbared.iespana.es/HDD1.JPG
Here you can see the damaged part

http://barbared.iespana.es/HDD2.JPG
This one you can see the little hole in the component

I am thinking in buying another drive so I can swap PCBs. I read the other post regarding the issue, however, I do not know if that component is the same "suppressor" you are talking about there. And the fact that the drive has the ROM inside the shell... I hope does not apply

Any help would be greatly apprecciated.

The picture links didn't work for me. In general, if the part that burned only has 2 leads, and is near the power connector, it's likely it's a surge suppressor. If you're handy with a soldering iron, and don't mind risking a years worth of work, you can try replacing it with one from another drive. Of course, the safest thing to do is take it to a professional.

If you decide to do this yourself, take it slow, and ask on here about any questions. For God sake, don't open the drive!

I think, from what I have read in this forums that the damaged part we are talking is the same. I think its called the Voltage Transient suppressor (VTS). Somewhere I read that can be bypassed, but I really dont want to risk the little chip next to it. I had to examine it with a magnifying glass to find it has a clear sign of burn (a hole on the top) and the green coating of the PCB surrounding it looks different that the rest of resistors. Also, I found some numbers written over it (000), that I would love to understand.

I want you people to see the pictures, that server is down, so I am attaching them.

If you people know about the possible causes, I would love to know, so this would not happen again!

It seems to me that it is a fuse or low-ohm resistor that has blown. The cause can be a short circuit in one of the VDR's next to it.
You'd better measure this out before replacing the fuse.

Dobre

Can you give me some directions? I have my multimeter at hand.

Do you know the specs of the damaged component? It has three zeros on top. (000)

Is it easy to find in another disk for spare?

The spec for a 000 is a jumper. It's a Zero Ohm resistor. They are sometimes used to jump over a trace, or likely in this instance used as a crude fuse. If you're feeling brave or lucky, you could replace it with a piece of wire, although I'd use thin wire that might act as a fuse. You could also wire up a 2 or 3 Amp car fuse, which will look ugly, but should work, and might be safer.

Also, as Dobre said, check for shorts first.

Thanks for the info, guys.

I checked for shorts as Dobre said, and I did not find anything unusual. I am suspecting seriously about that being a bad PSU (chinese made "delux" brand), since my disk was in my computer for very long without failing. (enermax PSU)

I am handy with a soldering iron, however, I would love to replace the component with another of the same specs, just for mental peace. Do you know if its easy to find? or should I use another from a hard disk?

As for the car fuse solution, it is pretty clever! I would love to have a little more detail into this, since I have seen a lot of types of car fuses. Some in a tubular shape, some in a "H" shape.

It is likely a PS issue. A few years ago, I made a list of great, good, and crap PS brands, and I never even heard of delux. Without a short, the jumper likely wouldn't burn without a PS issue. Getting the exact part from an Electronics supply house will be difficult, as the manufacturer and model number is important, but hard to find on a Surface Mount device. 0 Ohm means just a jumper, but one jumper might handle 2 Amps, and another might handle 20 Amps. By far the easiest way to replace the jumper with a part that looks like the original is with a part from a junk drive. Not all drives have jumpers. Some have real fuses, and most also have TVS devices. As for car fuses, You could really use any physical size fuse, but a small blade type might be easier to mount. What's important is the rating. I'm guessing 2 or 3 amps would do. Too low, and it will blow, too high, and it won't even if it should. Just make sure it's a fast blow. If it makes you feel better, the factory might use a 0 ohm jumper one week, and a real fuse the next. Specifications change based on what's cheap at the moment, and who wins the Engineers-Vs-Bean Counters battle.

Also, based on your desscription, there's a possibility a defective component might not show up as a short, but draw a lot of current when powered. You might be much safer with a real fuse, instead of a Jumper used as a fuse. It will be better to start with a lower value, and move up in value if needed. If this is done wrong, you may smoke the board, and this all becomes harder.

Can you please give me some advice on where am I most likely to check for shorts? I did it and did not find anything.

I am attaching an image of the PSU just for the record...And for people to know...

There may be no shorts. When I mentioned a PS issue, I meant the power supply is likely putting out too high a voltage, which could potentialy damage other components on the board. Hopefully the TVS protected everything (It acts like a short when the voltage is too high, which is probably why the jumper burned). An obvious thing to mention is that you should use a different PS, preferably another computer where you know the PS is good. It's rare, but if you pop a new PS in the case, it might just be bad...

Never, ever buy something that says "DELUXE" !!!!

It normally isn't...


Duncan

Due to this specs, what would be the suggested fuse? Still 2 to 3 Amps?

Extracted from Samsung tech service:

Power Requirenents Voltage +12V±10%
Spin-up Current 2,000 mA
Seek 10.6 W
Read/Write 10.0 W
Idle 8.2 W
Standy 0.7 W
Sleep 0.7 W

If the drive draws 10W when its reading, and I put a 3 amp fuse, should it blow?

Whats the best to look for in the specifications of a new psu, to ensure its a good one. Or can it not be found out this way.

I am trying to find the damaged component, but is a hard task. Thats why I am considering the car fuse option.

Personally, I'd start with a 2 amp. If it works for a while and blows, then up it to 3 amps. If a 2 amp, or especially a 3 amp immediately blows, it indicates a problem with the board.

If you want to be real cautious, you could start with a 1 Amp, but it's probably not needed.

If it draws 10W while reading, a 3 Amp fuse shouldn't blow. 10W on the +5 line is 2 Amps.

I checked a Maxtor disk and it has two very similar components marked "0" near the power connector. I am guessing it is the same piece. ¿Am I right? ¿May I use this piece?

You could. '0' and '000' are both used on surface mount parts as 0 Ohm jumpers. Personally, I'd still use a fuse over a jumper to start with. If everything is OK, a jumper would be good if you want to return the drive to service.

¿Do you know if these jumpers have different specs?

Well, that's the problem. It's purpose is simply to act as a short. It's only visible spec is that it is a 'resistor' with 0 ohms resistance, which is electrically the same as a piece of wire. One model or brand of 0 ohm jumper might burn up at 5 amps, and another at 20. Yet, they are used as a fuse in this case. A fuse is designed to precisely blow at a specific current. I'm guessing jumpers are cheaper than real fuses, which is why they are used. What I'm trying to say is that a 0 ohm jumper is a poor excuse for a fuse. If you want the drive to look the same, and you've finished the recovery, you'll probably be fine with a jumper. If you want to do the safest thing while recovering your data, use a real fuse. If you're thinking the best part to use, no matter what the part or circumstance, would be exactly what the factory used, you would be absolutely wrong.

If you want to be really nutty about it, take one of those 0 ohm jumpers used as a fuse, put it across a variable power supply, and crank up the current until it opens. Then, you'll know what current it's 'rated' for. If you use a lower current fuse, the only danger is that it might blow, and you'll need to replace it. The rest of the PCB will be fine. If you use too high of a fuse, then it could damage the PCB. Again, the problem is the 0 Ohm jumper has no real spec on what current it opens up at. I suppose the Engineers figured it was better than nothing, and it is, but a real fuse is much better.

Again, I'm not sure how to make this any clearer.. The ONLY specification of a 0 ohm jumper is that it's resistance is close to 0 ohms. If you can somehow track down the manufacturer, and the specific model, you might find a datasheet that MIGHT mention how much current it can handle. However, fuses are specifically designed to open up at a specific current, within a specified amount of time, and to do that reliably. A Jumper might open up too slow, or maybe open up, and then short again, or perhaps 2 different jumpers of the same model will open at 3, and at 6 Amps. It wasn't designed to be a fuse. It's like pouring Vodka in your gas tank. It MIGHT run your car, but don't count on it.