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 Post subject: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manual
PostPosted: September 12th, 2011, 8:32 
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Dear friends and colleagues,

We are proud to announce that our platter change solution is finally finished and available.

HDDS Spindle Replacement Tool Seagate 7200.10/.11

HddSurgery Spindle Replacement Tool uses the whole new approach to hard drives with jammed motors. Instead of transplanting the platters to a new hard drive, only the bearing is replaced on a patient hard drive. This way of functioning implies that the heads, spacers and platters remain in place, while only the bearing is being replaced, which eliminates almost all of the difficulties that go with the platter transplantation process.

Image

Spindle replacement process

Extracting the donor bearing

To prepare the bearing that will be used in the spindle replacement process, the whole working bearing must be first removed from a donor hard drive.

1. Best way to remove the bearing from donor hard drive is to first remove the heads from a donor, then remove the platters along with spacers between the platters. This means to remove all internal parts of the hard drive except the platter carrier – “the hat” and the bearing on which it stands.

2. When the hard drive is prepared in this way, place it in the tool so that the bottom hole of the tool is precisely under the bottom side of the hard drive spindle. To place the drive correctly, use the needle on the upper side of the tool. Push the needle down and place the drive so that the needle points to the top side of the spindle.

Image

3. When the hard drive is positioned correctly, use 6 butterfly-screws to fix the hard drive in place. Pull the needle up by unscrewing the needle-screw.

4. Turn the tool upside-down and screw the bottom cylinder in the hole on the bottom side until it hits the drive itself.

5. Through the bottom cylinder, screw the spindle-pushing screw to start pushing out the bearing from the hard drive case. Since this screw is not long enough to push out the bearing completely, we must use the piston.

6. Remove the spindle-pushing screw, place the piston inside the bottom cylinder, and then screw the spindle-pushing screw again to push out the bearing completely.

Image

After pushing out the bearing, it comes out along with the platter carrier - “the hat”.

7. Turn the tool upside-down again and remove the hard drive casing.

8. Position “the hat” with bearing above the bottom hole on the tool the same way like when placing the hard drive (using the needle).

Image

9. Screw the needle-screw to push out the bearing from “the hat”. After this, the donor bearing is extracted and prepared.

Image

Preparing the patient hard drive

10. Remove the lid on a patient hard drive.

11. Remove 4 screws from the platter fixation lid that’s holding the platters in place. Be sure to remove screws two by two from opposite sides so that the two screws on the opposite sides remain.

12. Use 4 screws previously removed to screw the platter holder to the platter fixation lid. Make sure to screw these screws tightly because these screws will suffer a great amount of pressure when pushing out the bearing.

Image

Placing the patient hard drive on the tool

13. Place the patient drive on the tool so that the platter holder coincides with the upper cylinder of the tool. The needle in the upper cylinder must also coincide with the central hole in the platter holder.

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14. Pull the needle all the way up (unscrew the needle-screw) and then screw the upper cylinder (by hand) until it touches the platter holder.

Image

15. Use 4 or more evenly distributed screws to affix the upper cylinder to the platter holder.

16. When the upper cylinder and the platter holder are firmly attached, make sure that the cylinder doesn’t move anymore. Do this by screwing the clamping nut (by hand) on the upper cylinder until it touches the ramp. At this position, tighten the screw on the clamping nut so it wouldn’t move.

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17. Tighten the casing of the hard drive using 6 butterfly-screws on the sides of the tool. Tighten 2 butterfly-screws in the middle first.

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18. When the hard drive is in place and firmly attached to the tool from the upper side, turn the tool upside-down and screw the bottom cylinder until it touches the bottom side of hard drive.

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19. Screw the clamping nut on the bottom cylinder until it touches bottom side of the tool. Tighten the screw on the clamping nut. Place another clamping nut on the cylinder also.

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20. In order to know the height on which the bearing is on a patient hard drive, screw the spindle-pushing screw in the bottom cylinder until it hits the bottom of the bearing on hard drive.

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21. Unscrew the second clamping nut (that was previously placed on the bottom cylinder) until it hits the spindle-pushing screw. At this point, tighten the screw on this clamping nut to fix it in that place. These two clamping nuts on the bottom cylinder mark the position of the bearing and they must stay in place where they are fixed until we finish the whole process of bearing replacement.

Image

22. Remove the spindle-pushing screw (but not the bottom cylinder or the clamping nuts on it) and turn the tool upside-down again.

Pushing out the bearing from a patient hard drive

23. Use the needle-screw on the upper cylinder to push out the bearing from a patent hard drive.

Image

In most of the cases, only the spindle comes out and not the whole bearing. If only the spindle comes out, use “the puller” to pull out the bearing casing.

Image

Using “the puller”

a) Pull out the needle from the bearing by unscrewing the needle-screw in the upper cylinder. Also, remove the bottom cylinder (be sure that the clamping nuts on it don’t move).

b) Place “the puller” in the bearing casing through the bottom hole on the tool. Push “the puller” all the way through.

Image

c) Screw the needle-screw again while holding “the puller” by hand from the bottom side. When you feel that the needle started pushing “the puller”, provide light counter-force so that “the puller” grips the bearing casing.

d) Screw the bottom cylinder again, and then screw the needle-screw to push out the bearing casing. After this, unscrew the needle-screw to pull the needle out, and unscrew the bottom cylinder along with clamping nuts (make sure not to move the clamping nuts).

Placing the donor bearing in a patient hard drive

24. Place donor bearing in the cocoon, and then place the cocoon with bearing in the bottom cylinder.

25. Screw the bottom cylinder with cocoon and bearing by hand to ensure that the bearing goes straight. Push the bearing this way until the cocoon hits the bottom of the hard drive. When this happens, unscrew the bottom cylinder and remove the cocoon from it.

Image

26. Turn the tool upside down and apply super glue to the visible part of the bearing.

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27. Screw the bottom cylinder again (without the cocoon) until it hits the bottom of the tool with its fixed clamping nut.

28. Screw the spindle-pushing screw to push the bearing to its place. Screw this screw until it hits the clamping nut that marks the height of the previously removed bearing. This way we will place the donor bearing at the same position where the patient bearing was.

Image

Dismounting patient hard drive from the tool

29. Wait some time needed for the glue to affix the bearing to the hard drive casing and then remove the spindle-pushing screw and remove the bottom cylinder.

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30. Turn the tool upside-down and unscrew the screws connecting the upper cylinder with the platter holder.

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31. Unscrew the upper cylinder and then unscrew the butterfly-screws holding the hard drive in place.

Image

32. Pull out the hard drive from the tool, unscrew the 4 screws holding the platter holder and remove the platter holder. Screw those 4 screws back in place. Place the lid back on the hard drive and start cloning the drive.

You can find more information about this tool and many other tools used for data recovery on our website.

http://www.hddsurgery.com/

Also you can watch the videos that show how this tool works on our YouTube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/user/HddSurgery

All comments and suggestions are welcome!!! :)

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 Post subject: Re: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manu
PostPosted: September 13th, 2011, 2:51 
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Joined: February 27th, 2009, 3:26
Posts: 1721
Location: French Polynesia Tahiti
Very nice and nicely done. I like this a lot and you did a great job with this tool and your manual congrats to you on this one.

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 Post subject: Re: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manu
PostPosted: October 17th, 2011, 10:18 
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Joined: February 24th, 2011, 9:27
Posts: 88
Location: East Coast
Anyone have issues with the "Puller" not grabbing the bearing?


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 Post subject: Re: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manu
PostPosted: October 17th, 2011, 16:45 
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Joined: November 29th, 2006, 10:08
Posts: 7843
Location: UK
Yes, at first.

But the trick seems to be not to push the needle down too far, then very slowly pull the puller out.

It does work, but does take some getting used to the amount of back force you have to apply to counteract the needle pressure.

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 Post subject: Re: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manu
PostPosted: October 21st, 2011, 8:44 
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Joined: February 24th, 2011, 9:27
Posts: 88
Location: East Coast
I have tried a range of forces with my finger, but can't seem to get it to work. The puller just slips out. The model of the drive is ST3750640A. It was randomly picked off the shelf for practice.


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 Post subject: Re: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manu
PostPosted: November 5th, 2011, 0:05 
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Joined: December 12th, 2005, 3:32
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Location: Belgrade
can You check if puller is still in one peace?
Can You put a picture on?

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 Post subject: Re: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manu
PostPosted: November 10th, 2011, 10:25 
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Joined: November 9th, 2006, 15:15
Posts: 2983
I receive Spindle Tool yesterday. After some tests in morning on test drives I try on actual case I have. I get 100% image after :)

Takes some getting used to, but after a few practice runs is pretty straight forward and works great.

As always Nikola, great job :)


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 Post subject: Re: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manu
PostPosted: November 10th, 2011, 10:52 
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Joined: February 24th, 2011, 9:27
Posts: 88
Location: East Coast
Update, I have had success with the puller. It would seem the one I was trying to get was just really stuck in there and had to put a lot of pressure to keep the needle inside the end of it.


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 Post subject: Re: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manu
PostPosted: November 10th, 2011, 12:33 
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Joined: May 16th, 2009, 9:32
Posts: 325
Location: UNited Kingdom
Interesting. Nice design.
So how does the motor work on these drives, if all the space is taken by the bearing ?
Looks like it magnetically drives the hub, with the motor 'windings' outside of the bearing


Just interested


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 Post subject: Re: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manu
PostPosted: November 11th, 2011, 7:10 
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Joined: December 12th, 2005, 3:32
Posts: 705
Location: Belgrade
if You look animation You will see, there is 2mm gap where puller can fit in...

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 Post subject: Re: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manu
PostPosted: March 22nd, 2013, 16:53 
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Joined: April 3rd, 2011, 0:19
Posts: 2003
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Awesome looking tool. I don't do enough of these to justify the $3500 price tag right now, but It's definitely on my data recovery tools want list. :D

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 Post subject: Re: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manu
PostPosted: March 22nd, 2013, 17:13 
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Joined: April 3rd, 2011, 0:19
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Please, do let me know if you ever run a sale.

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 Post subject: Re: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manu
PostPosted: March 25th, 2013, 14:48 
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Joined: December 12th, 2005, 3:32
Posts: 705
Location: Belgrade
if You buy 10pcs we will give You discount :)
Thanks for nice words. In the time we made it it was only complete solution for the job...
But seems like motors break a lot these days, we tought we sow back on .11 drive.

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 Post subject: Re: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manu
PostPosted: April 23rd, 2013, 1:12 
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Joined: April 18th, 2013, 7:05
Posts: 56
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i guess the SERT is too pricey.. the cost of it could be around 10k usd,is that correct?


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 Post subject: Re: HddSurgery - Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate - Manu
PostPosted: April 25th, 2013, 6:34 
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Joined: December 12th, 2005, 3:32
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Location: Belgrade
i do not understand sorry

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