Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware (
More info?)
do_not_spam_me@my-deja.com (do_not_spam_me) wrote in message news:<101710fa.0404241517.4e9b6920@posting.google.com>...
> truerelaxation@yahoo.com (Paul) wrote in message news:<7fabd546.0404230851.6884dd8f@posting.google.com>...
>
> > I have a Western Digitial WD800JB. It's a 7200RPM 80GB IDE
> > drive. It does not spin up. With the disk out of the computer
> > I hold it vertically and turn the case. I can hear the platters
> > inside turning. I would like to determine if I am having a
> > voltage problem.
>
> Measure the voltages at the drive circuit board with a digital meter
> -- cheap, simple, and almost obvious. You can also measure the AC
> voltages at the motor contacts, and while I don't know what they're
> supposed to be, you can compare them to those of a working WD drive in
> the same series, as your WD400JB may be. Be careful not to short any
> contacts together or to any metal.
>
> When you tested the drive with another power supply, did you plug it
> into the 40-pin cable? If so, try it with the cable disconnected
> because some drives will spin only without the cable, indicating a
> problem not related to the motor.
>
> > It's still under warranty. Most of my data has been backed up.
> > There are some pictures and a few documents I'd like to recover.
>
> > I'm guessing that I have to uncover the platters in order to get at
> > the motor and that will pretty much ruin everything since I don't
> > have clean room. What are your thoughts on my chances of replacing
> > the motor? Any recommendations on how to proceed?
>
> With drives about 100M-1G and larger, the moment you remove the cover
> you virtually ruin the drive and at least double the cost of data
> recovery.
> Also WD motors seem to be installed from the inside, meaning any
> replacement requires removing the platters and therefore ruining the
> alignment of all but the first platter (it has the servo marks written
> on it).
>
> Since you can hear the platters turn, the motor bearings have
> obviously not seized, so about the only thing lefts in the motor
> itself are the windings, one of which may have shorted. But just
> because a motor doesn't run doesn't mean it's bad because the real
> problem could be in the chip that drives the motor, and in some
> installations that chip can exceed 80C, especially if the drive is
> horizontal, has less than .5" of space around it, no air blowing over
> the circuit board, and the chip faces the drive body.
>
> The only practical repair you can do yourself is a circuit board swap
> from another identical WD800JB drive, but don't assume that all
> WD800JBs are identical; look at the suffix to the part number to make
> sure they are. I have, for example, a WD1200JB-00DUA3 and a
> WD1200JB-75CRA0, and they differ in the number of platters and their
> circuit board layouts (I have no idea if the boards are
> interchangeable).
>
> If you open the drive, you'll lose your drive and your data and make
> data recovery cost much more. If you leave the drive closed you'll at
> least get a replacement drive
I have measured the voltage where the power connector attaches to the
circuit board. The voltages are as marked on the board, +5V and +12V.
I didn't measure the AC voltage. I thought about comparing it to the
40GB drive but didn't do it yet. I did try to spin it up with the IDE
cable disconnected. I am restoring my system onto a second 40GB drive
while I wait for the advance replacement to arrive. When I get it
back up and running I'll try the suggestions posted.
I will measure the AC voltage to see how it compares to the 40GB
drive, try the freezer method and the quick 1/8th of a turn procedure.
If I don't have any luck with any of these I might try to find a
drive with the exact part number on ebay so I can replace the circuit
board. From the sounds of it there is a very slim chance that the
replacement drive will have a circuit board that will work with this
drive. I thought I might give it a try anyway just to see what
happens. The part number of the bad drive is WD800JB-00ETA0,
manufactured on September 16, 2003.
Thanks for all of the great suggestions so far.
Paul