Question The power supply/ data transfer slot of my old WD Elements external HDD broke off the circuit board. Is there a workaround?

[TheCatWithAHat]

Hi guys,

I have an old WD Elements Portable, External Hard Drive (1.5TB - USB 3.0 - WDBU6Y0015BBK-WESN) from 2019, but the outer circuit board slot is broken. I wasn't able to find the same model used.
Now I have two questions:

1. Could it work if I find a circuit board that fits my external HDD even if it hasn't the exact model number?
2. Is there a workaround for the slot on the hdd (marked on the pictures)?


Thanks alot

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

You're advised to keep your thread title concise while you add the meat and potatoes to the issue in the thread's body. What is the mode for your WD Elements? You could open up the enclosure and gain access to the HDD.

Might want to pass on pictures to show the extent of the damage.

 

[TheCatWithAHat]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

You're advised to keep your thread title concise while you add the meat and potatoes to the issue in the thread's body. What is the mode for your WD Elements? You could open up the enclosure and gain access to the HDD.

Might want to pass on pictures to show the extent of the damage.

Thank you!

The circuit board looks like this, there is a crack at the usb slot unit

 

[TheCatWithAHat]

I was thinking of purchasing a similar circuit board, but then the HDD might won't be recognized?

 

[Lutfij]

You could reach out to these people;
https://www.hddzone.com/western-digital-pcb-c-2.html
but I wouldn't try any repairs on my own if you're not competent. Instead look for a HDD recovery specialist around your area and see what they can do for you, if the data on the drive is valuable.