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Data recovery and disk repair questions and discussions related to old-fashioned SATA, SAS, SCSI, IDE, MFM hard drives - any type of storage device that has moving parts
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WD 18TB not spinning

May 3rd, 2023, 6:38

Hi all, I seem to be blessed with none spinning HDDs lately…

This time it’s a Western Digital 18TB WD180EDGZ-11B2DA0 nothing happens when power is applied.

I do have a clicking spinning donor to play with this time so I did a simple PCB swap and my clients drive now spins up. My question to the community is what do I now need to do to the donor PCB to get it to work with the clients HDD? I do see 2 ROMs but I’m unfamiliar with this generation of HDDs so need more guidance..?

I have traced power to as many devices as I understand and have found voltages missing when compared to the donor PCB is it easier to just swap ROMs when faced with such a complicated circuit? Or repair the failed PCB?

Re: WD 18TB not spinning

May 3rd, 2023, 7:02

Did you buy a job lot of faulty WD drives or something?

It's always a better idea to fix the original pcb if possible. Post a image of the pcb (component side) and we can see about the test points and power protection.

Re: WD 18TB not spinning

May 3rd, 2023, 7:39

Ok here goes...
Attachments
20230503_123614.jpg

Re: WD 18TB not spinning

May 3rd, 2023, 8:26

Fuses, Diode, and efuse - fzabkar cover similar here https://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=43291 and here https://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=42330

Re: WD 18TB not spinning

May 3rd, 2023, 10:47

Well so far Vcore is missing 0.8v measured on my donor PCB so I swapped the Buck Converter chips from one PCB to the other and fault remains, all surrounding resistors measure good. And the clicking drive spins up like before and clicks.

I shall continue to compare voltages…

Re: WD 18TB not spinning

May 3rd, 2023, 12:28

STEF512PUR, STMicroelectronics, Dual electronic fuse (eFuse) for 5V and 12V rails, marking W51, QFN10:
https://www.st.com/resource/en/datasheet/stef512pur.pdf

Re: WD 18TB not spinning

May 3rd, 2023, 13:29

Show us the voltages you have measured. If the fuses are open, they can be bridged, if appropriate checks are made. I have helped many users repair boards such as yours, without needing parts.

Re: WD 18TB not spinning

May 26th, 2023, 17:58

WD180EDGZ and other WD white label drives are shucked drives from external WD HDDs.

Many of these drives won't spin up when there is power on the 3,3V pins
WD wants to prevent the users from shucking drives and many of these drives will only work in the external enclosure, because there is no 3,3V.

Try to insulate the 3,3V pins, when the drive is attached to a normal PSU.

Re: WD 18TB not spinning

July 10th, 2023, 14:26

Brand new Western Digital 18TB WD180EDGZ-11B2DA0 shucked out of of a My Book external enclosure spins up fine without 3.3V pin isolation.

The damaged drive I received with electronics issue had component damage.
Component replacement worked without further issues in my case.

Note: I noticed that with similar or compatible model PCBs being finicky about ROM swaps.
Some would spin the drive, but throw UNCs on each block read.
Other PCB would not spin at all.
Very strange behavior...

Definitely recommend repair before jumping into swapping ROM. At this time, the PCBs are fairly difficult to find and expensive anyway.
Attachments
WD.jpg

Re: WD 18TB not spinning

July 10th, 2023, 15:51

labtech wrote:The damaged drive I received with electronics issue had component damage.
Component replacement worked without further issues in my case.

How much do people charge to replace an open fuse?

Re: WD 18TB not spinning

July 10th, 2023, 17:17

It depends on how much they value their work, operating costs speed of service, etc. Whatever they decide, I don't know.

Re: WD 18TB not spinning

July 11th, 2023, 10:24

Shucked a Western Digital 18TB WD180EDGZ-11BLDS0 from a My Elements external. Works fine, no 3.3V pin isolation needed.
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