We've seen a number of drives with stuck motor bearings, particularly some that had been dropped while operating. The optimum solution to this problem (assuming everything goes perfectly) is to migrate the platters and heads into another enclosure with a good motor. However, on drives with multiple platters and spacers or air dampeners (e.g. Seagates, Maxtors, etc.) there is no margin for error or mishap, and the transplant process is not trivial.

We've been able to get some success by applying rotational force to the motor bearing in many cases. But it takes A LOT of force. We had tried things like snap-ring pliers & such, but there was too great a chance for tool slippage give the force required. So we developed our own tool (see photo).

It works in many cases, but not all. Maxtors are very hard to loosen. A dropped drive can have slightly bent shafts or eccentric bearings, which introduce too much vibration to read the data. It's hit or miss, but I've been able to recover data from a number of drives without risking platter mis-alignment.

I'm curious how other shops deal with this problem . . .

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http://www.datasaversllc.com

Hello,

I am working on one "universal"* drive independent platter re-aligning methode wich is usable on a lot of cases.
The * is because the methode is not or not always good if somebody removed the platters individually, but maybe we will be able to solve the most stucked and SOME individually removed cases.
The problem is in here, there is almost none dropped/stucked cases for dr to work/practice on....
(I have got only one, but i have forwarded this to pepe, because the case was time sensitive, and we was not ready to recover at that time...)

But for generally, if somebody have any case wich needs to re-align the platters or the platter transplant went wrong, and the case is worth a medium price (€800-1500) recovery, please PM me for the options/prices.

Btw: Jono, can you sold one of this tool? How much is the price?

Thanks,
Janos

Janos,

Your solution is a good deal more high-tech than mine! Let us know if you are marketing the technology.

I made a number of extra tools -- I'll PM you privately.

Jono

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http://www.datasaversllc.com

Jono,

Of course I will tell You, if I starts the marketing, but now I am more closer to the beginning of the work.
I have the tools to do the job, but need more cases to practice on...
More brand, more family, more modells....
Without these jobs, I can work only on known good drives, wich is almost only a waste of time, because nobody wants to pay for this, except me for the parts/drives...

Thank you for your PM.

Janos

Hi Jono,

Nice tool.

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ZeBong
" что случилось в России - останется в России "
" Россия еще раз"

I got that tool for sale (not exactly same but very similar design), PM with an offer cause i haven`t got price for it.

jono-ats nice tool!

do all the girls say that?

hehehe same as my tool.. However, I have my tool clamped to a high torque drill :O) hehe extreme recovery!

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All went well until I plugged the drive in.

i have a similar tool butt using it with a torque drill is much faster. if the heads are in the parking zone do you always remove them from the platters?

No. I leave them in the ramp.

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http://www.datasaversllc.com

I have tried to use a similar tool on a bunch of Seagate 320 and 500GB drives with no success. They are *so* stuck, they won't never come free again.
Now my mech is working on a platter swap tool which takes account of the stupid spacer thingy between the platters. Maybe I should ask him to add an automatic head stack remover into the tool, would be the best way to be killed by flying tools

i am sorry i wasn't very clearly. on a seagate drive without a ramp if the heads are in the landing zone near the motor axis and the motor is stuck butt the heads are free do you remove them from the platters?

Not always. But you really should. If you accidently move the tool in the wrong direction, the heads might buckle.

Case in point: I recently freed a Seagate 500 GB. Something killed the head on the top platter-- probably debris. I recovered all of the data but only after swapping the heads.

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http://www.datasaversllc.com

I also have a tool similiar like this hand made, but i test in two / tree disk and i notice that when i make force in the spin for a while i can make the spin working but the disk stay´s with vibration !!!

Anyone know´s why this happen ?

Thanks
ZeBong

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ZeBong
" что случилось в России - останется в России "
" Россия еще раз"

try to use drill installed in docking frame to make sure you force in straight line. if u know what i mean. otherwise motor structure is changing shape inside, even 0.01 mm matters

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banned user

Wouldnt it be safer to remove heads before trying to free motor?

for sure. i`m always taking heads out in that case.


has anybody got tools to remove heads (100 % safe) from 7200.9 and higher?

it might be time for new post.
(i might upload picture of some of my tools)

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banned user

I am interested about this head removal tool too.
Please post if somebody have a good and safe solution!

Thanks,
Janos

* * *

Of course it would.

My procedure now is to remove the heads first. But I found out by experience what may be obvious to others . . .

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http://www.datasaversllc.com

We also had this kind of tool and a new one that is perfect for solving seized motors in most of the drive families.

pepe

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Adatmentés - Data recovery