I let the smoke out of my external hard drive

[BlueSideUp]

Uh oh. I connected a 30V power supply to my Seagate external HD. It's supposed to use a 12V supply and I didn't think of checking it. I can disassemble the thing and just hook up the hard drive using my SATA/IDE USB adapter but I'd like it to be wife proof again in the future.

What kind of internal damage are we talking here? Does it usually zap some internal fuse on the board?

[boba]

Letting the smoke out is very very bad.

I have been told by experts that it is almost impossible to get all the smoke back in and that special aroma is never the same once exposed to oxygenated ions.

This is worse than trying to put the toothpaste back into the tube.

[BlueSideUp]

Yeah I've worked on English cars before so I know it takes magic to get it back in. My wife gave me the WTF look when I told her I let the smoke out of the hard drive...She doesn't get my sense of humor sometimes.

Smoke didn't really come out but it smells burnt

[Gogar]

There's might be a fuse, but probably not. You might have just zapped the first thing after the power receptacle.

Just open it up and look for the black stuff!

[968rz]

I know you can buy a new external case for the hard drive IF it's not junk.
Here's just a few from a quick search on Google:
Newegg.com - External Enclosure, External Hard Drive Enclosure, USB External Enclosure, Multimedia External Enclosure

[Dana Norris]

30 Volts!!!! its toast. Dead hard drives do make great targets though, so don`t throw it away.
Send it to someone that likes to blow things up with their spoons, if you don`t.

[Gogar]

The actual drive is probably fine.

[RWebb]

yes, you likely toasted the electronics to run the platters & heads

buy a nice new HDD, install it and copy over your data from your most recent full backup*

and if you didn't do what you are supposed to do... then send the whole thing to a data recovery service...and pay them

[lane912]

Originally Posted by dana norris

30 volts!!!! Its toast. Dead hard drives do make great targets though, so don`t throw it away.
Send it to someone that likes to blow things up with their spoons, if you don`t.

+1

[BlueSideUp]

Crap I removed the hard drive from the case and hooked it up to my SATA/IDE adapter and smoke really did start coming out of the back of the hard drive.

[Gogar]

uh oh.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by BlueSideUp

Crap I removed the hard drive from the case and hooked it up to my SATA/IDE adapter and smoke really did start coming out of the back of the hard drive.

That was going to be my question, did it REALLY throw smoke?

Your best option now is to try and find the exact same make and model. Then hope the logic boards can be swapped without exposing the platters.

Good luck.

[onlycafe]

this may work.

[BlueSideUp]

Ooh logic boards and platters. I requested a data recovery quote from a place. What are we talking for 80gb of pics and docs? It's a pretty old tech drive.

[BlueSideUp]

It appears I can swap the logic boards without exposing the drive. Now I just need to find one that is the right model with the right firmware.

[jyl]

It is pretty irritating that some beancounter didn't include a 15 cent protection circuit - or a 3 cent fuse. Good luck!

[Stanley]

Originally Posted by onlycafe

this may work.

I always laugh when I see that picture. It honestly never gets old.

[slodave]

Originally Posted by BlueSideUp

It appears I can swap the logic boards without exposing the drive. Now I just need to find one that is the right model with the right firmware.

You need to make sure the donor drive is really close in production runs, preferably in the same serial range. Looks like you are on the right track though.

[legion]

You underpowered the drive. It needs more power.

[slodave]

^^ But you need to keep the platters spinning at a constant 8,800 RPM's!