Is it worth replacing a hdd read/write head?

[Makaveliii]

Hi guys, recently, my 750gb WD elements suffered a head crash. I tried fixing by opening the drive and pushing the head from the platter. Now the platters can spin freely but the head makes a loud noise when attempting to read of them, so in a quick sentence, it doesn't work, as expected. My first guess is that the head was damaged from the impact. Is it worth it to replace it and can it be done? I am only pondering as I have had this drive for less than 3 months and the 1 year limited warranty oddly ran out a couple of weeks ago so I cannot RMA it. Amazon for ya, huh?

 

[USAFRet]

I tried fixing by opening the drive and pushing the head from the platter.

That drive is now toast.
1 year warranty that ran out in 3 months? Something is not right there.

 

[Makaveliii]

As I suspected. Well, atleast I can justify splashing out on a samsung tera. And yes, the warranty situation does seem fishy. WD said they would RMA me under special circumstances, but I didn't know they could do that after limited warranty ran out, which is why I removed warranty stickers to get inside HDD. Looks like I need to put this fiasco behind me and move on.

 

[nukemaster]

Amazon does not do the warranty after 3 months. in general they will give you 30 days and the drive maker(WDC) will deal with the rest. All you would have had to do was contact them and show proof of purchase.

Now since the drive has been opened, you have no warranty and most likely the drive will not work again(would take lots of luck and the ability to line up the heads again.).

 

[Makaveliii]

I checked on WD website using the serial number of the drive that the limited warranty ran out on 20 December 2014. I think the drive was in storage for 9 months. Anyhow, I have learnt my lesson and will not touch warranty stickers with a ten foot pole next time.

 

[nukemaster]

For future reference, just give WDC a call and they will fix it up.

I have done this with both Seagate and WDC without issues.

They all have a warranty checker based on the time the drive was made(normally x number of months after the drive was made before starting the countdown).

 

[Makaveliii]

Thanks, never knew they were that lenient, companies like Apple have led me to believe everyone is the same

 

[nukemaster]

As long as you have proof of purchase it is never an issue and I think law in most places as well.