What to be cautious of when opening hard drive?

[yair25m]

Hello all,

My hard drive was carshed recently when it got a little hit and I decided it's a good time to learn how to fix hard drives.
I have access to a clean room and I brought a cheap hard drive to see if I can disassemble and re-assemble the hard drive.
Unfortunately, even that I'm a cautios person I failed. It seems like when I disassembled the head the two magnets touched each other and destoyed (I'm not sure of that). Is there a problem for the magnets to touch each other?

In general, I would like to hear tips on what to be aware of when disassembling hard drive.

Thanks!
Yair

[labtech]

Any kinds of shocks that can damage the heads and obviously the media itself.

[sathyan]

http://hddguru.com/articles/2006.02.17- ... k-Q-and-A/

In general, I would like to hear tips on what to be aware of when disassembling hard drive.

Correct procedure and Practice . A lot of practice.

Don't expect to get it right the first time,or even the second and third......

So don't try it on the drive you want to get your data from.

[yair25m]

Thanks sathyan!

I have another little question, I would also like to know in which case should I consider replacing platters and in which case should I consider replacing heads?

[sathyan]

Replacing platters to be avoided as far as possible(last option in case of spindle motor problems or drives with fire damages or submerged in water).
But , need expensive tools and knowledge and experience to do it right.

Do not open the drive just because it does not detects.
Proper diagnosis is required to find fault and Open the drive only if absolutely required.

All these and much more information is available on this forum, take your time and read it if you are really interested in it.

But if you are doing it to get data from your drive, as mentioned before, its not worth the time and effort and the DIY risks involved.