Cannibalizing A Hard drive

[seekermeister]

Is there somewhere that a person can purchase dead hardware? I need to buy a harddrive like one that I have, that has spent months in the closet, because I broke the guide vane off the SATA data cable connector. Seagate won't sell parts, and even a used drive in working condition on eBay is expensive. I checked Craigs List and found nothing. I hate letting it collect dust, because it was nearly new when I broke it.

 

[seekermeister]

I'm the kind of person that likes tearing things apart to see how they tick, and sometimes actually put them back together working. Thus, I dug out the box of dead harddrives from the closet and chose a WDC drive to experiment on. From what I could see, with testing equipment or the knowledge to use them, the only thing that I found was that some of the contact points and circuits appear discolored, either by corrosion, heat or simply a difference in the thickness of the material used.

On this particular drive, I have a hunch that replacing the board might fix the drive, but I haven't had much luck locating other drives for sale as parts. Since Seagate won't sell parts, I'm assuming the other drive manufacturers won't either. Thus, I'm wondering if their suppliers might? Or better yet, if there are any places that distribute such parts?

I wasn't really aware that harddrives had firmware involved, until learning about the issues with some Seagate drives, but this has caused me to wonder if installing a new firmware...or just reinstalling the old firmware might solve some drive's problems...kind of like flashing the BIOS of a motherboard?

These drives will probably end up in the dumpster, but for now they present a challenge and a way to kill time...plus I've always been something of a packrat, keeping useless things around longer than a person should.

 

[mvnsnd]

If you are proficient with a soldering iron, you can look about for a replacement SATA connector.

DigiKey Corp. | Electronic Components Distributor | United States Home Page
Allied Electronics ? Electronic Parts and Components Distributor
Mouser Electronics - Electronic Component Distributor

Also check manufacturer sites like Welcome to Molex or www.tycoelectronics.com

 

[kodi]

There is a combined power and data cable that fits over both connectors, if one is OK it may support the weight for both.
I have used one of them on a Raptor that I broke the guide on and it worked with the help of good old duct tape.
Replacing circuit boards is VERY hit or miss and i would not recommend buying parts that MAY work.

http://www.cooldrives.com/18inseatadac.html

 

[seekermeister]

There is a combined power and data cable that fits over both connectors, if one is OK it may support the weight for both.
I have used one of them on a Raptor that I broke the guide on and it worked with the help of good old duct tape.
Replacing circuit boards is VERY hit or miss and i would not recommend buying parts that MAY work.

20 inch Serial ATA Data Cable with Power Adapter

I didn't know that such a cable was available. If nothing else, it might provide a stopgap, until I found a better solution. Thanks.

 

[seekermeister]

If you are proficient with a soldering iron, you can look about for a replacement SATA connector.

DigiKey Corp. | Electronic Components Distributor | United States Home Page
Allied Electronics ? Electronic Parts and Components Distributor
Mouser Electronics - Electronic Component Distributor

Also check manufacturer sites like Welcome to Molex or www.tycoelectronics.com

Thanks, I'm going to check these out, but it looks as though it will take some digging. At least it is a place to start.

 

[Pieloi]

I make wind chimes and mirrors out of the disks in my old hard drives...
But you need various torx screw drivers to disassemble them.

 

[seekermeister]

kodi,

Apparently, the website that you linked is under construction, and it won't let me order a cable. I checked on eBay and found a number of similar cables, but either they were the long cable or they didn't specify the length. I would tolerate a cable that is too long, but two other thoughts came to mind...if I were to install this harddrive in my primary rig, the space between the drive and the side panel is very tight, and I would like to have a cable with a right angle connector, but this doesn't appear to be available. Thus I'm wondering how the length of the connector portion of the cable compares to a regular cable?

If it is too tight for the primary, I could install it on the secondary, but it would be nice to have a choice.

 

[seekermeister]

I make wind chimes and mirrors out of the disks in my old hard drives...
But you need various torx screw drivers to disassemble them.

I have a torx set that fits.

 

[kodi]

There is a lot of different ones available I just linked to the first one I came across.It could be to your advantage if the space is tight as it would help hold the cable in. I used THIS ONE

 

[seekermeister]

I just received a reply to a question about one cable that I found, which kind of threw me"

This is the only cable I carry. It is for a 5V and not 3.3V so make
sure your drive is 5V so it will work.

I wasn't aware that there was a difference in voltage of some SATA drives. When I have discussed this in the past, I was told that there was no difference between SATA 1 and SATA 11 cables, so was this wrong, or is there something else involved?

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there

Don't laugh at this suggestion but I went down to a TIP or "Re-cycling Center" as they are called now and picked up about 3 COMPLETE old computers FOR NOTHING -- they all worked fine WITH HDD drives.

Cleaned them up and they are all OK.

I'm using one as a Music Server -- I paid a few USD for an extra HDD SATA CARD as well to add more HDD drives to the old computer -- runs W7 just FINE.

Don't forget this excellent FREE resource for "canaballizing" parts.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[seekermeister]

I found a website that might be of some use, but haven't examined it too closely yet"

Match hard drive parts to repair your hard drive

 

[seekermeister]

Hi there

Don't laugh at this suggestion but I went down to a TIP or "Re-cycling Center" as they are called now and picked up about 3 COMPLETE old computers FOR NOTHING -- they all worked fine WITH HDD drives.

Cleaned them up and they are all OK.

I'm using one as a Music Server -- I paid a few USD for an extra HDD SATA CARD as well to add more HDD drives to the old computer -- runs W7 just FINE.

Don't forget this excellent FREE resource for "canaballizing" parts.

Cheers
jimbo

I would be all for that, except for two problems...I'm not aware of any kind of recycling program dedicated to computers where I live. Usually discarded computers end up in the dump, or are donated to some charity.

The other reason that I would be reluctant to attempt this, is because I'm somewhat disabled, and even if I could get into a dumpster, I would be tripping over the contents.

 

[seekermeister]

Rummaging around, I came across this:

Repair4HardDisk: How to Clean, Upgrade, Repair, Mod, Disassemble a Hard Disk Drive

It is a hodgepodge of possibilities.