I have a seagate, Barracuda 7200.10, st3500830as, firmware: 3.afd, site code: tk, that has a jammed motor. The drive has spacers on both sides of the platters. I have that i purchased from HDRC, that has fork grips at one end and a screw tightener at the other that allows you to left the platters from those ends. I have tried these several time do a platter swap and so far I not been successful in any of my attempts.

Is there a better to go about swapping platters with spacers?

Yes.

What is the proper method?

Whatever it is.......
But it surely doesn't go through HDRC tools (search for them in this forum, you will know, why.)

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I just hate spammers...It was a Spammer, who ruined my life!

After did the platter exchange on this Seagate could end´s with a excentricity problem, on terminal sending something like this
AMR Adress Mark Recquired. SFI, Switch to full int each time

Regards

I thank your right, HDRC is not as efficient as I hoped it would be. So what tools are available, GOOD ONES, that works for platter swapping with spacers, I really need them?

Can't you design and have them made ?

Hi

What part # are you using. PEWS401 or Adjustment tool PEAD0011 should work.

DF

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DF
www.datatracksystem.net

There is a simple solutions, you do not need any expensive commercial tools with low success rates, just use your

Use your imagination, try to see it, how can be done.

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

I have pretty good luck freeing up motors with a spindle motor rotation tool, without swapping platters. However, there are limitations to this method - getting the motor to spin is only half of the battle. In most cases these drives have been dropped and there is heads / media damage as well, or the platters are warped or the bearing is out-of-round, which prevents reading a good signal.

We tested one of the HDRC "tools" on a 500 GB Seagate like yours, and it dropped the bottom platter. Luckily, it was not a customer's drive.

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I am sorry that I can not tell you a solution, but...

This is what I did:
1. Take a logical Thinking approach
2. Take apart a few test drives with spacers, put them back together and play around
3. Think & get creative
4. Ask some DR people
5. Ask some other people, for example: mechanical engineering or design buddy's if you have any.
6) Think some more
7. Come up with a potential solutions
8.Test it

Agree with quasimodo.

This is the correct way....

Janos

Hi
But for me it worked perfectly fine. What issue you are facing.

DF

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DF
www.datatracksystem.net

I was also looking for a solution to do platter swaps on 500GB Seagate 7200.11 drives with spacers. I received a Seagate 7200.11 500GB from a customer that was dropped and had a frozen spindle motor. After working on the frozen spindle motor by turning the motor back and forth many times, I was able to free the motor. When applying power to the hard drive, the bearing and platters wobbled very bad. I doubt if the heads would even be abe to track with all the vibration. That solution was a total failure and waste of time. Don't waste your time trying to free the stuck spindle motor. The best solution is to swap the platters. I ended up designing my own platter change tool just for Seagate 7200.11 500GB and 1TB drives. The tool that I designed is still in the testing stage. I suggest making your own tool to change the platters with spacers, since there is no inexpensive commercial solution available. That I am ware of. There is also one more thing to consider. I went one step futher with that same drive and swapped the platters with my platter swap tool. It turned out that was also a big waste of time. As it turned out, the drive had hidden platter damage on the lower platters which destroyed the bottom heads. The heads probably danced or bounced on the platters when the unit was dropped and pitted the platters. The top platter was examined with a microscope before I replaced the original heads from a donor drive and there did not appear to be any platter damage. After spending a few months on and off on this spacer problem, in my opinion it is probablby not worth all the effort dealing with Seagate 7200.11 drives with frozen spindle motors. There is easier money to be made on other drives without stuck spindle motors. My guess would be that in most cases, if you are able to move the platters perfectly from one drive to another, the drive may have hiddem platter damage that will ruin the new heads as soon as the drive is powered up. Just my humble opinion. I am curious, has anyone had good luck recovering data from a 7200.11 Seagate drive with a stuck spindle motor by swapping the platters.

you probably destroyed the platter by trying to unseize it and then you powered it. You already stated it had platter wobble.

And to answer your last question, yes, and it was nothing to do with luck

Hdd Surgery tool looks very professional but is 2,500 Euros
I have bought the DTI Base Replace tool for $399 its a lot cheaper & works.

Loki

Of course it doesn't have to do with luck.

We now practice own technique about platter transfer on these drives with almost 100% success.

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Hello hello I assume you mean HDDSerxx.. I have your Head remover.. nice work.. but I think you need to bevel-edge the tips...
otherwise the tips can force or bend good Heads... if your not careful.. or if alignment is OFF or not perfect..

Remember you are dealing with two spindles... Not just the Motor... but the HDA too.

If the Hard Drive took a fall, the Shaft of the Platters.. may be Off and tilting to one side..
so the two Points will not be level... this can cause your tool to scrape the platter or perhaps.. not lift the Heads nicely..
perhaps a (non-magnetic) Metro-Card strips would be better in those cases to remove the heads.. and not your (or anyone's) tool.
Your tool is good for simple Stickage or seized bearings, with no Bent or Warp in the spindle Axis..

AGAIN!!! I don't suspect a problem when dealing with a leveled working drive. like when you already transfered the platters to a new Chassis.. and are about to place new heads in position... STILL, you need to bevel the tips.. for optimal polite lift.
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Send me the Platter swapper and I'll give it a thorough evaluation and rating.. If it works I will buy it. and give an honest review.

Nice work guys... Pricey, but nice work..
I only used the HDA swap about 3 times.. still haven't made my money back.. I have my fingers crossed.

The wooden box is a nice touch too. But I keep it out of the clean room..