Hi all. Hope you are good.

I have a Samsung HD501LJ 500gb T166S that will not spin up. I was running it off one of those SATA to USB cables from outside my case. I can't be entirely sure what happened but basically I got the acrid electronic fumes come out and it would not spin up when I tried it today. What I think may have happened is that something on the PCB may have shorted out against a raised, meshy part of my pc (where the fan is) that I had it sat on.

Everything looks fine other than this one 'thing'. I'd appreciate it if any of you could have a look of the photos and advise me of my next step. There is that thing which appears to be scorched. The TVS diodes both appear intact - high value one way and lowish value the other.

I actually happen to have another 501LJ; I tried swapping the boards over but all the drive did was spin up - it wasn't recognised however. Any help would be appreciated please! Can i replace the thing on the board? My other drive was identical in all numbers other than the serial and the P/N was a bit different..if I need a PCB swap what do I need to look for?

Thanks in advance for any help.

You can try to replace the burnt component (you will need smd repair tools),and
If your VCM controller has survived, the drive should probably work .
After properly replacing it , and without connecting to the drive ,connect the power and check and compare the voltages at the three leads.(compare the voltages with the working board).
DIY has risks , be careful