I was referred here from the SomethingAwful forums where I made this post on my issue.

To summarize, I killed my Samsung SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB drive by plugging its external enclosure into the wrong DC adapter and from the damage it looks like it just needs a PCB swap. I have two replacement drives on the way that are the same model, but the dead drive was bought in Dec. '06 so I don't know if a PCB on a more recently manufactured drive will do the trick.

Thoughts and tips? I'm very computer savvy but I have no experience servicing damaged drives.

Here's a picture of the toasted PCB, the red circle is the only visible damage on the whole drive.



Thanks!

you cannot just change PCB because it is high possibility what the drive has another ROM version and it's not so easy to change it

the burned thing named "supressor"
take this thing out, or replace it with good one - drive should work after

PS: if you wanna replace it, remember, supressor has polarity

Thanks for the response.

Would it be worth it to still attempt a PCB swap when I get the new drives tomorrow? Is there any risk from this? If possible I'd rather not do something remotely volatile such as soldering, especially considering I have zero experience with that.

Also, is the suppressor a standard part? How would I go about getting the right one to put back on the original PCB? Besides of course taking the good one off a new drive. I'd like to end up with at least two good drives and I don't plan on using this damaged one in a system.

U need to check if this burn not damage another , IC , unsolder ROM at my case´s when get a HDD Samsung with burned IC´s after check and some times if i get a Donnor PCB, same model, matching all, the hard disk start up, but doesnt recalibrate, so im need to unsolder ROM, its hard otherwise if its ATMEL AT49F1024 but its the only way or try to check the damaged components and replacing.

Best Regards

Yep, try it. I had a Seagate 320Gb that the client had plugged the wrong adaptor into the USB caddy. I simply change this component and it worked fine.

Replaced the PCB with one from a new drive of the same model. The drive powered/spun up just fine (good sign?) but the drive isn't detected, as expected.

Is putting a new suppressor on there the only way? Would it be better to reflash the PCB's firmware? I'd rather not have to sacrifice a perfectly good new drive I have here to salvage this junker, unless I can get a compatible suppressor from another source.

Well, I just used a supressor from an old scrap Seagate PCB.

Worked 100%

Does it matter what suppressor I use or all they all the same? I'd hate to have to track down a specific one.

I don't think so, but don't quote me on it, electronics is not my bag.

I just found one that looked the same

Well, suppressors have specs; one of them is the voltage when current will start to leak. The higher the voltage comes, the bigger the leakcurrent (i believe this goes exponentionally).

In this case, the only important thing is the suppressor should only start working a (few) volt above the working voltage. E.G. when the supply is 5V, I would choose one that starts working at 6V. We dont want the ripplevoltage to trigger it, dont we?
For 12V i would take a 14V device. I think these are safe limits.
Take in account however that they are really shortcircuited only several volts above their rating. (see the specs)

Regards,

Dobre

Thanks Dobre.

How about something on where to find? Electronics shops maybe?

Hi Mate ,
You Could Use a Through Hole Type One Also .Just in Case you Cannot Get SMD Version

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

This drive does not have ROM-chip at all - the whole code inside CPU, as I said - it is not so easy to change ROM firmware

Although I don't know for sure, I strongly suspect this is just a Zener diode. The way a Zener diode works is that it doesn't start conducting until a specific voltage. If this protects the 5V line, they might use a 6.3, or lower, diode. When it conducts, it takes all the current going into the drive, and will naturally burn up. If you're lucky, it will then short, further protecting the rest of the drive. The diode would be wired in parallel with the power supply, so if you just removed it completely, the drive should work (unless if something else got damaged, obviously), you just wouldn't have any more overvoltage or reverse voltage protection (The Zener will conduct around .6 volts in the reverse, protecting it somewhat from reverse voltage.

For Data Recovery, I wouldn't bother replacing it (Just be careful!), but if you want to return it to service, you can either use a through hole part (Radio Shack), or get a surface mount part from Digi-Key.com (In the US, there may be better options in other countries). Just be sure to get a 1 Watt or higher part.

This is not a zener for sure. It is a Transient Voltage Suppressor.
Zeners have a much more defined voltage level at which they conduct and are not so good at withstanding high currents.
Although i must admit a zener would also be usable, but i would not recommend it as a long-term solution.

Regards,

Dobre

It could be a TVS too. A TVS actually is little more than a Zener anyway (or 2 Zeners if it's a bidirectional TVS). A TVS also would go across the power supply, so removing it would not keep the drive from working.

However, if the computer will turn on with the drive attached, it means the device didn't short, and whatever overvoltage or reverse voltage that destroyed it probably had the chance to destroy something else..

Ok I barely know what any of this electronics lingo means.

I have a soldering iron and after reading some tutorials I think I can attempt to replace the bad component with the good, if not I'll go through SA and get discounted data recovery

Tip For Soldering If You Wanna Do That ?

Take a soldering Iron With Any Tip ,This Should Be 30 Watts or Less .Put As Much Solder as you want on one side of this component ,do the same for the other side ,keep repeating fast Right To Left And Left To Right .The Component Will Be Out In No Time .Clean the Mess With Desoldering Wick .Put New Component And Resolder with Little Solder ,Thats It .

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

I wasn't able to get it off, it wouldn't budge on either side. It's really small and it's like my iron isn't affecting the solder.

I think I'm just gonna send it in and see if I can get it recovered, I'm too afraid to make it worse heh.

Hi Sir,
Hold The Middle Of This Component With a Tweezer .Apply Soldering Iron Tip And Solder To Both Side Like a Blob .Do Heating of the soldering iron to the component from left to right and right to left in fast speed the component will be out .Try It ?

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