SSD smoking, strong burning smell

[Jakewatk]

I've had some really bad luck with components lately and now another has caused me problems. I have been using this SSD (Seagate 120gb) for over a year with absolutely no issues, but recently I have taken apart my build for general maintenance , so I just installed my old board again and hooked up only the Motherboard and SSD to test. Next thing I know, seconds after powering on the system the SSD makes some crackling noises and before I can react begins to smoke and smell. I removed all power immediately and began to inspect both the SSD and power leads, yet all I can find is that there is a very hot patch below the sata connector area. No wires on the PSU sata power are melted and no marks were left on any cables or connectors.
I am absolutely stumped as to how this has happened, I plugged everything back in (excluding the SSD) and my system is fine. I plugged in a HDD also and that seemed to be fine, no smoke or burning noises.
I won't be able to take it into the shop I bought it from for a few days but I may contact seagate directly.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CompuTronix]

... recently I have taken apart my build for general maintenance , so I just installed my old board again and hooked up only the Motherboard and SSD to test. ...

I think the SSD was re-fastened with a screw that was slightly too long, which shorted + 5 volts to ground. It happens.

CT

 

[ronintexas]

It may be coincidence or it could have been a problem with the seating of the cable(s) on the drive. Almost impossible to verify unless the connector on the SSD has burned contacts where it shorted (if it shorted), and even then, it still isn't absolute proof. A bad PSU would more than likely have fried other components - the SSD shouldn't be that much more sensitive as compared to other devices.

Anyway - if the SSD is under warranty - you will need to contact Seagate and have the drive RMA'd.

 

[Jakewatk]

I think the SSD was re-fastened with a screw that was slightly too long, which shorted + 5 volts to ground. It happens.

Highly unlikely considering the SSD is installed via velcro

 

[Jakewatk]

It may be coincidence or it could have been a problem with the seating of the cable(s) on the drive. Almost impossible to verify unless the connector on the SSD has burned contacts where it shorted (if it shorted), and even then, it still isn't absolute proof. A bad PSU would more than likely have fried other components - the SSD shouldn't be that much more sensitive as compared to other devices.

Anyway - if the SSD is under warranty - you will need to contact Seagate and have the drive RMA'd.

Just sent off an RMA request. The seated cable thing is always a possibility, but I looked for that and usually it should show some sort of mark or atleast a melted cable if a short occurred which it didn't. Could some sort of bump or knock to the SSD cause internal components to short, there is always a possibility that the SSD was knocked when I had it stored but I thought SSD's were meant to be able to withstand minor forces.

 

[ronintexas]

SSDs have no moving parts - therefore, a "jarring" action can't damage it. Dropping it can damage the case (possibly causing a short), or possibly crack the circuit board. Hard drives have a head that moves, as well as the platters that spin. A jarring action can damage a hard drive if the heads are not parked.

 

[Jakewatk]

SSDs have no moving parts - therefore, a "jarring" action can't damage it. Dropping it can damage the case (possibly causing a short), or possibly crack the circuit board. Hard drives have a head that moves, as well as the platters that spin. A jarring action can damage a hard drive if the heads are not parked.

I did know that I knocked one of my HDD's which I just tested and is dead. Do you know much about getting data recovered from a dead drive? there were many files I hadn't yet backed up and really need to recover most of the drive.

 

[ronintexas]

If there is physical damage to the platters and/or heads - the only way to get the data is to go to a data recovery shop that has a clean room to disassemble the drive and recover the data. If the circuit board is damaged, sometimes you can get an exact model drive's circuit board and switch them (SOMETIMES this works).

If it is just a problem with software written to the drives (i.e. corrupted MBR, etc), it can be recovered with software.