Reverse Polarity Into 8TB HDD, worth repairing or junk.

Forums › Desktop computing › Reverse Polarity Into 8TB HDD, worth repairing or junk.

MrCake

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#293401 18-Jan-2022 17:55

Title almost says it all, managed to feed reverse 12v into an 8tb HDD (external usb adaptor with 12v feed for 3.5" HDD)

Didn't kill it straight away, i had flipped the polarity a few times trying to work out which way was which and not killed anything. Left it connected the wrong way however and then it died after something got hot.

Is it likely to be repairable and at what cost? Drive is worth $240.

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
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#2853031 18-Jan-2022 18:06

If you can find the same model controller board somewhere, then you can try swapping that. If need data from drive, then a recovery service will be other option.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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MrCake

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2853041 18-Jan-2022 18:34

Drive is empty.

I didn't have any luck going that route initially, but i googled the right codes this time and found a PCB for sale.

Auction says you might need to bios swap the boards, that's out of my skill set. The price is right though.

PCB Board

Mehrts

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#2853049 18-Jan-2022 18:52

I want to know how you managed to reverse the polarity in the first place. Got a pic of the adapter you used?

MrCake

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2853053 18-Jan-2022 19:10

Hopefully this works, the adapters are bi directional. I would like to jaycar store but i'm not rated high enough.

SATTV

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#2853070 18-Jan-2022 20:09

I would have thought that there would have been a diode or bridge rectifier on the PCB to prevent exactly this.

A 5 cent diode could have saved a world of pain.

John

I know enough to be dangerous

gbwelly

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#2853071 18-Jan-2022 20:13

You sure you've killed the drive also and not just the USB adaptor?

richms

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#2853076 18-Jan-2022 20:23

There is usually a diode across the supply pins of the drive to clamp the voltage if polarity is applied incorrectly. You may find that has overheated and is now conducting in both directions and clamping the supply down. You may have also toasted that supply by powering into what is almost a short for an extended amount of time.

Richard rich.ms

Equinox IT

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SomeoneSomewhere

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#2853085 18-Jan-2022 21:27

Yeah, I'd expect a diode and fusible resistor on each supply rail. Pull the board and have a good look at the PCB layout in the power connector area.

MrCake

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2853093 18-Jan-2022 22:15

Thankfully adapter doesn't seem to care, spins up other 3.5" hdd's no issues.

I've had the board out and everything looked in good condition to me. Made me think i might have burnt the motor out.

I'll take another look around the power delivery pins.

Tried following a guide on hddzone about testing a board using multimeter, instructions are pretty vague though.

Having trouble identifying what components are the diodes. Board model is G4013A, best quality photo i could find.

1101

3122 posts

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#2853200 19-Jan-2022 09:44

MrCake:

Is it likely to be repairable and at what cost? Drive is worth $240

Its toast , bin it.

Board swaps are far from simple procedures on modern HD's .
Unless you have the tools to test & replace IC's on the board, you arnt going to fix it . Dont assume its just 1 component thats fried
How will you assess any INTERNAL damage ?

If you did get it repaired, would you honestly rely on that HD for anything

For the sake of a $240 drive .......... its just not worth it .