Fried Hard Drive?

[aiden2211]

So, i just installed a brand new SSD. After installing and moving a few cables about, i boot up and see a flashing light, and smell a horrid burnt electrics kind of smell. Assuming it was the HDD I instinctively removed the power from it and see what happens.

SSD boots to windows and everything appears to be good. Removed the HDD, and the smell is definitely coming from the pcb it seems.

Question is, what happened and could this have affected any other component?

 

[Rogue Leader]

If everything seems to work ok you're likely fine (burn electronics tend to rear their head immediately), as for why it burnt could be any number of things, but most likely its possible in moving cables about you shorted out the power cable to the drive. Check it out. If you did, you might have done damage to your PSU, but you are probably OK, I just wouldn't use that line anymore.

 

[aiden2211]

If everything seems to work ok you're likely fine (burn electronics tend to rear their head immediately), as for why it burnt could be any number of things, but most likely its possible in moving cables about you shorted out the power cable to the drive. Check it out. If you did, you might have done damage to your PSU, but you are probably OK, I just wouldn't use that line anymore.

Cheers for the reply. A chip has a small bump on the HDD PCB. Would you recommend that i replace the PSU to be safe then or keep it?

 

[Rogue Leader]

If everything seems to work ok you're likely fine (burn electronics tend to rear their head immediately), as for why it burnt could be any number of things, but most likely its possible in moving cables about you shorted out the power cable to the drive. Check it out. If you did, you might have done damage to your PSU, but you are probably OK, I just wouldn't use that line anymore.

Cheers for the reply. A chip has a small bump on the HDD PCB. Would you recommend that i replace the PSU to be safe then or keep it?

I think you're OK, PSU's have protection for surges like that. Just inspect the power wire closely that you were using for the drive, and tape off the spot that it shorted out, then don't use that line. The PSU if it craps out won't cause any damage (unless its a cheap no name junk one, those are generally fire hazards). So no reason to spend the money unless you really need to spend it.

 

[fzabkar]

I would replace the PSU. The "bump" on the HDD's PCB is probably a shorted TVS diode. If so, then this would be the result of an overvoltage on either the 5V or 12V rail.

The HDD can usually be repaired by removing the shorted diode.

See http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/TVS_diode_FAQ.html

... and http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/ (photo clips)

 

[aiden2211]

I'm obviously no expert on this but would I be right in saying that if it's not a tvs diode then my psu is in the clear or is it unclear either way?

 

[fzabkar]

TVS diodes are designed to clamp the supply when it exceeds the diode's breakdown voltage. A typical 5V TVS diode will break down when the supply rises to 6V or so, whereas a 12V TVS diode will break down at around 13V - 14V. If either diode is shorted, then your supply or cabling will be at fault.

Please be aware that transferring modular cables from an old supply to a new one may cause serious problems if the cable's pinout is not the same. There appears to be no standardisation in the pinout, so it is possible to end up with a scenario where 12V appears on the 5V pins.

If you upload a photo of your PCB to a file sharing service, I will be able to help you identify the cause of the problem.

 

[westom]

I'm obviously no expert on this but would I be right in saying that if it's not a tvs diode then my psu is in the clear or is it unclear either way?

Anyone who knows power supplies also knows shorting all outputs together still will not damage a properly designed supply. Intel's ATX specs even said how thick that shorting wire must be to short together a maximum possible current.

Most failures are manufacturing defects. Moving things or swapping cables can simply aggrevate an existing defect. Nobody can say what that part is based upon what you have posted. TVS diode should be well above what any power supply can output even when failed. It could be a capacitor. It could be an inrush current limiter. It could be an inductor. Nobody can say what it is or why it failed. We only know that part failed. And that useful information is ony possible by, for example, citing what other parts its leads connect to.

Nothing on its load can damage that PSU if it contains many functions required of power supplies even long before PC existed. Concern is only for what that burned disk drive part was. Since that may result in additional drive failures and lost data later.

The burning also demonstrates why work is best made with minimal changes. Since the most unreliable part inside a computer is that human hand.