Western Digital Head Alignment

[darkosski]

Ok guys ive searched the forum and i've scoured the internet looking for the reason behind the dreaded DR 'monster' associated with WD hard drives and the head alignment after a hsa swap.

so im asking the pros here when i spend hours turning and turning the screw in the HSA wat exactly is that doing because i've open a couple drives and did some searching and i doesnt make clear sense to me.... i know what the outcome is but why does it work???

[poehere]

Yes WD has issue with head alignment that many people have spent thousands of dollars and endless hours to over come on this one. It is not an easy drive to work with or to master this problem in. You will need to do some R & D of your own and invest in a lot of drives and spend the time to research on this one. You answer is not here on the internet but in your shop and where you work. Sorry but I feel nobody will tell you what they have found out on this one. Good luck and happy researching on this one.

[darkosski]

hi Poehere

im not asking how to solve the problem, because like i have said i have gotten a couple drives working again after a hsa swop by trial and error. What i am asking is why does WD drives suffer from this issue when other drives dont seem to suffer that much from alignment issues. so the question im asking is WHY does it happen as opposed to how to fix it....

thanks for your input as i see they have been many views but only 1 reply

[Jar]

Its pretty obvious if you have taken a wd and any other drive apart.

[loki]

WD on some models decided not to have the HSA secured to the hard drive assembly but instead had it secured & alligned via the screw that goes through the hdd cover in to the HSA. So when you undo it or remove the screw you alter the allignment.

Loki

[hddguy]

What i am asking is why does WD drives suffer from this issue when other drives dont

Because HSA is not secured internally like other models, instead it is secured by a single screw through the top cover. Because the HSA is not in a fixed position prior to securing it in place the actual alignment can vary. Only after it is secured service and adaptive info is recorded to the surface.

Should the securing screw be removed, whether for repairs or through curiosity, and replaced there is a very high possibility that it will re-align itself to a new position and will be unable to operate, even if the difference in alignment is down to a matter of nanometres

[Russwinters]

Of course only older WD drives *really* have a big alignment issue like this. New ones do, but it's a completely different issue and solution. You HAVE to have special tools to manage these new drives; with the old drives you could make a jig that could help without too much work, but these jigs are not even needed on new WD.

My only hint is that just because the heads "match" doesn't mean they actually do.

[loki]

Of course only older WD drives *really* have a big alignment issue like this. New ones do, but it's a completely different issue and solution. You HAVE to have special tools to manage these new drives; with the old drives you could make a jig that could help without too much work, but these jigs are not even needed on new WD.

My only hint is that just because the heads "match" doesn't mean they actually do.

PM sent

Loki

[darkosski]

thanks loki and hddguy those were the answers i was hoping for..... did some testing of my own on 2 wd3200bevt drives and it went smoothish.... the test patient is now imaging with the test donor heads but is imaging pretty slowly so i guess that a clear indication that the alignment is not spot on... dunno but so far i used a very simple technique i will try gain with another pair of drives as they come available.

[pcimage]

thanks loki and hddguy those were the answers i was hoping for..... did some testing of my own on 2 wd3200bevt drives and it went smoothish.... the test patient is now imaging with the test donor heads but is imaging pretty slowly so i guess that a clear indication that the alignment is not spot on... dunno but so far i used a very simple technique i will try gain with another pair of drives as they come available.

Alignment is not usually so much of an issue on laptop drives.

Try it on a WD2500JS

[northwind]

thanks loki and hddguy those were the answers i was hoping for..... did some testing of my own on 2 wd3200bevt drives and it went smoothish.... the test patient is now imaging with the test donor heads but is imaging pretty slowly so i guess that a clear indication that the alignment is not spot on... dunno but so far i used a very simple technique i will try gain with another pair of drives as they come available.

Alignment is not usually so much of an issue on laptop drives.

Try it on a WD2500JS

[darkosski]

hummmm so im barking up the wrong tree.... ok i have 2 wd10ears in the office will open them up and see what is what... actually no i will open 1 remove the heads replace them and see if im crying this time next week.. lol... but thanks for the heads up...as usual i will keep the thread updated till im done...

[labtech]

We10ears are not much problematic with the aligment either. Try pcimage's suggestion.

[helpdisc]

WD on some models decided not to have the HSA secured to the hard drive assembly but instead had it secured & alligned via the screw that goes through the hdd cover in to the HSA. So when you undo it or remove the screw you alter the allignment.

Loki

this is not corect

[loki]

WD on some models decided not to have the HSA secured to the hard drive assembly but instead had it secured & alligned via the screw that goes through the hdd cover in to the HSA. So when you undo it or remove the screw you alter the allignment.

Loki

this is not corect

Ok then would you be so kind to explain?
What i put is correct on some models of wd they do not secure the head stack to the drive assembly but instead it is secured to the cover/lid via a screw. If the screw is undone or removed then the head stack will move & you lose alignment hence the jigs that are for sale with micrometers which allow for fine adjustments of the screw so that you can manually find the alignment & get it to a drive ready status.

Loki

[helpdisc]

those Jigs dont work!
and open working drive and screw it back again it will work...
trust me it is not it!

[Tawfeek]

i believe it's just practice . do it alot of times and your hand will have this sense . i do it many times with royal

[darkosski]

Ok i have an up date i opened the WD10ears 3 of them, 1 with a known problem BAD and 2 which were working before..... DRIVE 1 DRIVE 2 now with the heads from the BAD drive i put into DRIVE 1 and it clicks which i expect and it doesnt show up in ddi or anything. Now i take the good heads from DRIVE 2 and put into DRIVE 1 and it does not click or anything but it still doesnt show up in ddi. Indication that i need to work on the alignment? as i was expecting some clicks or something way more than just spinning. Also if connect the drive directly to the motherboard it detects as blank and does not say NONE as it would with a "defective" drive ive connected to the SATA port. Any ideas.... if this is guru secrets PM please.

TODAY i will put the original heads back in and update you guys later.