external hard drive power adapter

[randomjohn45]

I have a spare western digital caviar black 3.5 hdd and i want to use it as a external hdd.
I know i have to buy the casing, but i am wondering can i use my western digital elements desktop power adapter to power it,or do i need to buy another power adapter?

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome to the community, randomjohn45!

I believe you should use the power adapter that comes with the enclosure for the WD Black that you'd be buying. Basically the 3.5" HDD external enclosures usually are supposed to come with an AC adapter, otherwise it wouldn't be possible for the drive inside to power up.
You should make sure that the adapter is compatible with the casing itself. Here are a couple of articles from our KB that you should check out before converting the WD Black into an external:
Installing a WD SATA drive in an enclosure: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=4wsRMU
Power adapters for WD products: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=DRgmTP
WD Black Data Specs Sheet: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=4JdxgS

Hope this helps you! Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD