Hi folks, long-time lurker and first time poster. I've done much reading on this forum and have enjoyed learning about hard drives over the last few years. I have a question and a photo for which I could really use your esteemed advice! (I look forward to being able to give back to the forum by way of advice sometime down the track, when I've learned enough to be able to help someone else!)

Seagate 7200.10 500GB ST3500630AS (F/W: 3.AFM) has arrived today from a customer with a blown diode near the SATA power port. See pic below (click for hi-res):



Now, I haven't got another 7200.10 drive from which to source a replacement diode, but can always head up to an electronics specialist to pick one up if required. My question is, what would likely cause this? Could other parts be damaged inside (actuator, coil, etc) and am I correct in saying I should try just replacing the diode first, with PCB removed from drive, to test whether it is detected (to minimise the risk of hurting other drive internals)?

If/when I can get the drive running, it'll be put onto a DeepSpar imager in preparation for recovery, if required.
Thanks in advance for any help or insight you guys can provide. Very much appreciated!!

While waiting for this thread to be approved, I've since removed the TVS diode and tested the drive - it appears we're back on track! Disk is imaging as I write this, so it looks like I've solved my problem.

Maybe this will be helpful to someone else reading this thread down the track. Cheers

FYI, in Australia, a replacement 12V diode, p/n SMBJ12A, can be purchased from Farnell:

http://au.farnell.com/jsp/displayProduc ... CMP=e-b1ef

Ah, very good to know. Thanks fzabkar!

(Drive has been imaged successfully, by the way. For anyone who hasn't done this before - it would be safer for the drive if the TVS diode is replaced first (possibly with a component like what fzabkar quoted above) but it will still work if you just remove the diode and run the drive. Note, there is no final safety net with the TVS diode removed, so if there's any kind of power surge or spike, your drive may end up far worse off than it initially was!)

Happy ending to the story, anyway