Hi all
i have a Toshiba MK8025GAS where the platters are not completely jammed, the drive attemps a very slight spin whixh does not work as the platters are nearly frozen.
my question is can the 8026GAX be used as the spare drive where by i will transplant the platters from the 8025GAS to the 8026GAX along with heads and controller board so in effect only using the 8026GAX housing for the motor.

If the above is suitable has anyone used the platter swap tool from Salvation? and can it be used successfully?

I understand the need for alignment in platter transplant so i am assuming that with care and this tool all should be well, has anyone used other methods to try and loosen bearings or spin them with an external source?

thx for any help provided

first qeastion is do you want to do it yourself and risk lossing the data forever

you have to match the drive up with the right model for doing a donor work
so other meaning the right model number of the drive that all.

common problem with toshiba drives spindle locking up.

we used salvation tool and it works fine not had any problems with it
but like i say if your not sure about it

send it to a pro like us

These drives use fluid bearings which 'dry' up. You can use a hot air gun to heat the motor at the rear of the HDD being careful to protect the PCB, alternatively use the 8026 chassis. You will need to transfer the original platters, heads and PCB. But be careful, one mistake and your data could be gone forever.

Definately consider using a professional if data is of any value.

Thx for the replies guys
Does heating the motor bearings from the bottom possibly cause the platters to heat, as for the 8026 chasis I think this is the way to go but am going to purchase salvation platter tools and go from there. Data is important we do however offer data recovery services we have the clean room facilities and all other tools and have done a fair few head swapps which all worked. We wanted confirmation about tools from salvation and donor matching thx for help guys

Spinning the platters could result in further damage because of the seizure (microscopic torsion) ... a full transplant maybe it's the solution, anyway it's critical. I succeeded, but a very steady hand, attention and precision is mandatory.

BTW, for experimental purpose, I am searching for 2,5" and 3,5" seized motors. Usually I return all the source material to the original customer so I don't have. Anyone has, PM me.

Just so you know, it's 2 platters and 4 heads, so yes you'll require Salvation's HPE tool. It works well. Would be impossible otherwise.

You don't necessarily need to match the model just to swap motors. Note that the motor has a number on it's bottom. Certainly if you match this, you'll be OK.

Toshibas are the easiest drives to fix this way.

I have never had much luck heating bearings on this model, but doing so has contaminated the inner chamber with lubrication, I discovered once after a "post mortem." I recommend the swap. And yes, you will need a tool to keep the platters aligned and to prevent damage during transfer.

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Did you tell the "tinkers" that ? 1 out of few heated drives restart from seizure. What about the thermal dilatation and the consequences at different material interface, plastic and winding insulation ? Google and youtube and other freelancers are doing a great work for pro DRs keep on going this way !
Accurate intervention to the motor, instead, can fix about 60% (in my stats). For the rest, PE !

We're actually running > 95% recovery on Toshiba motor swaps. Other problems (such as data corruption) are more of a problem.

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http://www.datasaversllc.com

I have used a hand power drill to spin the platters.
Just run the thing full speed for 5 minutes.
The bearings get nice and warm.
Turn the drive power on and remove the drill.
Hopefully it will keep going.
Copy the data off quickly.
20% of the time it works.

i was almost going to ask how you attached the power drill to the spindle, but it is probably a joke? right?

I have heard of that as well to get tight bearings to start up long enough to suck the data off of it. The point is to get the thing going by hook or crook long enough to get the data. When I put that sever drive in the freezer to loosen tight bearings, I saved all the data without sending it out for thousands of dollars and down time.

There are lots of tricks in the DR bag, and each one can be very appropriate depending on the problem at hand. Not every blue screen is a job for a DR company. Scare mongering is not the answer. Information shareing and understanding is.

I have a 100% success rate in repairing the motors of Toshiba drives.

There is no need for platter swaps.

Hi odigerous is this knowledge you could share with us or pm me
Thx

You can just use any compatible model such as MKX0XXGAS.
I had done similar transplant for more than 50 similar disk models and all work 100%.

You do not need special transplant equipment from Salvationdata as such drive is very forgiving and robust.
You only need a pair of clean tweezers and care.

Before you start the work, you can try to force the motor anticlockwise turn. If the seizure is mild, it may get loose and you do not have to do the platter transplant. 10% of motor seizure can be solved this way.

You can pm me if you need any help. The job is easier than you think.

You know, I just looked on Ebay and everything is for sale. Including dead harddrives for pretty cheap. I may bid on a group of these and dissect them for open posting for everybodys education. I know all about motors, but I have never actually seen the inside of a drive motor and exactly how they fail. I can only imagine a winding breaking loose and jambing, or a stator pole doing the same thing. Or maybe a glued sensor breaks loose and jambs. So anything could be going on and pictures can really help in visualizing the possiblities. I know others have the same idea, but if the results are kept private, it really doesnt do a lot of good. If I run into one cheap with FDBs, I will certainly jump on it.

Stts,

It's a smart thing to do. I broke/fixed over 20 drives before doing any work with live data. Search for "lot of" identical drives. Small capacities are OK. $3/drive or so . They sometimes come with a RAID card or enclosure as a bonus.

You often seem to have lots of information you rarely share. I also have very good success rate with toshiba platter swaps, as with platter swaps from almost every other HDD with just a few causing difficulties. I am here to try to help people who need advice, and possibly learn more myself. I understand if you have methods and procedures you would like to keep to yourself, but if this is the case I dont see the need to even mention it. There are potentially many many more skilled DR engineers here than myself, just as I am potentially more skilled than others, yet I do not find myself making posts simply to let other people know Im good but not prepared to share any information!!

I see that your also developing a platter swap tool for help with drives that use spacers. Believe me, there is a much more simple, cheap and effective way of doing this successfully. Maybe instead of not helping others, you should try to get some advice yourself on the things you have difficulty with.

Besides, in this case we are talking about toshibas!! Any reputable DR company will have relatively close to 100% with these, even without specialist tools from salvation data!

I am sure others will agree that the purpose of this forum is to offer help and advide, even if it is limited help due to the nature of the indistry, and in turn get help and advice in return.

The use of PE tools is for safety plus speed. Other homegrown solutions could work as well, but are intrinsecally unsafe, especially for the data.

Keep in mind that no advice here or everywhere should put a single bit of information at risk or even lead to injury or damage or further damage. I give strictly technical advice - and not to everyone - only to people that I'm sure they know what they are doing and aware of the consequencies.

The market persistence is another thing. Period.