Hi

I'm looking for some assistance please with my external hard drive, I think it needs to go to a pro but I am a little apprehensive by all the articles I am reading on prices being ramped up for data recovery from hard drive issues once the drive is received by data recovery specialist, and therefore came to a place where I hope to find some guidance.

So the story, my water pipes running upstairs sprung a leak dropping some water into the room below which is my computer room. On the desk was my external hard drive (plus lots of other electronic stuff) running and powered on, some of the leaking water got into the external hard drive unit and has shorted out the pcb of the hard drive. The only item to get damaged (just my luck). Last backup was circa 2 years ago (I know, I know!) The PCB was removed and all evidence of water was removed and left to dry. I have then re-attached PCB and tried the 3.5" SATA drive in a pc and another external dock (known working) and the drive does not spin up at all. After many hours of reading I removed PCB again and have tested TVS diodes and also the zero ohm resistors, they all appear ok. This leads me to conclude that potentially there is some other issue / blown parts with the pcb stopping the drive motor from powering up. I've read up on this too and unfortunately for me the pcb is a newer (western digital, rebranded Magnetic Data Technologies) type without external ROM.

I've so far been quoted between £200 - £500 but most of these seem to be non committal prices without seeing the drive (which worries me a little).

Thanks for your input, I am UK based.

Kevin

If you could upload detailed photos of the PCB, I could help you measure the voltage test points. That might tell us something about the nature of the fault.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

In the UK, contact Sean at pcimage.co.uk

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Luke
Recovery Force Data Recovery

Please see image of label



This was a small amount of water and not flooded, if that helps.

Kevin

PCB image below.

Thanks

Kevin

looks like a Refub. drive to me.

and Agree with lcoughey here. contact Sean in UK
good luck

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Kuwait Data Recovery - UNIX GTC
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once. By: Albert Einstein

It's most probably a Dragfly.

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http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners

Could I see the other side of the PCB?

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

Yeah, my thoughts too and I bought it as a new external hard drive (CnM), very surprised when i open the external case to reveal what I also thoughts was a refurbed drive. Bit naughty if you ask me....

Kevin

Back side of PCB, also close up of the 12v rail damage and blackening of 0v rail

Kevin

Before you get too much further into this, try one thing. Use a piece of paper to block the preamp contacts (the series of 20 silver pads in two rows of 10) so that only the motor contacts are connected. Then see if the motor spins up when you power it on. Many WD's won't spin up if they detect that the read/write heads are shorted. Let's just be sure the issue is, in fact, the PCB before you get too far into it.

But as others have suggested, you might want to just go to a pro. http://PCimage.co.uk is a well-known professional in your country.

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Data Medics - Hard Drive, SSD, and RAID Data Recovery Service Company

We also see these in "new" Fujitsu desktop external drives, every single one has had a refurb inside.

Agree about being a bit naughty

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PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

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Kevin ,
Contact Sean at PCIMAGE .And If You Wanna Play Around and DIY We Have Two Great Personalities Here On The Forums "Spildit" And " Mr Frank " . They Will Make Sure You Get It Up even If You Have No Tools ,So They Can Suggest You To Buy Some Cheap Tool and Get The Work Done .If You Wanna Avoid Trouble Contact Sean and He Can Give you a Reasonable Quote,Your Choice .The More You Play The More You Get Chances Of a Preamp Short

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Regards
Amarbir S Dhillon , Chandigarh Data Recovery Labs [India]
Logical,Semi Physical And Physical Data Recovery
Website-> http://www.chandigarhdatarecovery.com

I would measure the voltages at V1, V2, V3.

V3 may come up briefly to -5V immediately after power-on and then disappear. This will be a sign that the MCU is looking for the preamp.

There is a "staggered spin-up" signal at pin #11. This should be grounded to spin up the drive. It looks like it may be open circuit.

Warning: Before spinning up the drive, please consider whether water may have entered it.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

I'd actually agree with Amarbir here (doesn't happen often). I've blown a preamp before while just doing some testing with a multimeter when I accidentally shorted the wrong contact points while it was powered on and connected to the HDA. Obviously, it was an older model where the circuitry was all on the back side of the PCB. But, still if you're messing around removing / bypassing components then putting it back onto the HDA to test there is a chance you'll kill the preamp.

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Data Medics - Hard Drive, SSD, and RAID Data Recovery Service Company

If it is wet it is possible that the bottom of the integrated circuits is sulphated and short circuited, boil water and pour it into a container that is large enough to put the PCB and then put pure bicarbonate of sodium (you can buy it in pharmacies ). Leave it for at least 24 hours and then rinse it with hot water to remove any remaining sodium bicarbonate (when the PCB is no longer slippery or viscous it is when you have cleaned the baking soda.
I implemented this method a couple of times and it worked.

Nonesense ,
Who says this works ,I agree with spildit here [ DOOOOOO NOOOOTTTTT DOOOOOO ITTTT ]

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Regards
Amarbir S Dhillon , Chandigarh Data Recovery Labs [India]
Logical,Semi Physical And Physical Data Recovery
Website-> http://www.chandigarhdatarecovery.com

To me it worked since the sodium bicarbonate is an alkaline and removes the sulfate, after aber made of the sodium bicarbonate it is necessary to clean it with an electronic cleaner (Recommended CRC QD). Also tested the sodium bicarbonate metod on wet smathphones, and have re-turned on.
But of course try this method if you have already tried everything and did not work, this is your last option.

Gents

I appreciate the advice given to date and if I was trying to learn I would carry on, I have decided to send the drive to Sean as suggested, but again sincere thanks for your time and guidance.

Kevin

Sir ,
We Are Into DR Not Chemistry ,Though Chemistry can help find some solutions to platter and head cleaning ,Cleaning a Board Can Be Done By Dipping in Petrol Also No Big Deal Here

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Regards
Amarbir S Dhillon , Chandigarh Data Recovery Labs [India]
Logical,Semi Physical And Physical Data Recovery
Website-> http://www.chandigarhdatarecovery.com