Hard Drive problem - Broken power pin

  • Thread starter Thread starter HM
  • Start date Start date
H

HM

Can anyone give me some advice about a problem that has occurred on my
brother's PC.
The other day he had to swap power connecters on a number of peripherals in
his PC. When he disconnected the power connecter from his primary disk
drive, one of the 4 power pins on the drive came away (probably broke) and
remained inside the plastic connecter.

Do you know of any way in which this could be repaired without costing a
fortune. He just wants to be able to power up the drive in order to be able
to retrieve a number of documents and files - then the drive will be thrown
away and replaced.

Although he does back up his key files fairly regularly, he reckons there is
a month's worth he would lose if he cannot access the drive.

Has anyone had a similar problem and successfully made a temporary fix?

Thanks.

Harry
 
This is a circumstance where some jerryrigging will have to come into play
if you intend to do it yourself. Try going to the original power connector
and pulling out the failed pin with needle nose pliers. It's hard for me to
imagine what exactly the hdd side of this looks like without a picture. If
there's a hole for the pin to be placed back in then that's decent. Stick
the pin back in the hole of the hdd and then connect the power connector as
far as it will seat. Power up. It probably will start.
If the pin broke across its shaft that's a more difficult situation. In
that case I would take some aluminum foil and roll it into a rod that is
thick enough and long enough (probably no more than 7/8") to make contact
with the hdd side of the pin. Stick the aluminum rod into the power
connector hole, (after removing the broken pin) and make a very tight
contact to the hdd. Try powering up.
This is a rather interesting story. It kind of reminds me of a fellow
who was changing spark plugs on his motorcycle and when he went to loosen
the spark plug on the bike the plug broke right off at the porcelain. He was
able to get it fixed by getting it drilled out and having new threads tapped
into the block using a Helicoil. Hmm, maybe they've already got something
like that for a hdd with a broken pin.
 
Can anyone give me some advice about a problem that has occurred on my
brother's PC.
The other day he had to swap power connecters on a number of peripherals in
his PC. When he disconnected the power connecter from his primary disk
drive, one of the 4 power pins on the drive came away (probably broke) and
remained inside the plastic connecter.

Do you know of any way in which this could be repaired without costing a
fortune. He just wants to be able to power up the drive in order to be able
to retrieve a number of documents and files - then the drive will be thrown
away and replaced.

Although he does back up his key files fairly regularly, he reckons there is
a month's worth he would lose if he cannot access the drive.

Has anyone had a similar problem and successfully made a temporary fix?

Thanks.

Harry
Click to expand...

Solder a wire on the ther side of the pin on the HDD side, run it
around and jam it into the back of the plug. Use a 1.5 sq MM stranded
wire.
 
HM said:
Can anyone give me some advice about a problem that has occurred on my
brother's PC.
The other day he had to swap power connecters on a number of peripherals in
his PC. When he disconnected the power connecter from his primary disk
drive, one of the 4 power pins on the drive came away (probably broke) and
remained inside the plastic connecter.

Do you know of any way in which this could be repaired without costing a
fortune. He just wants to be able to power up the drive in order to be able
to retrieve a number of documents and files - then the drive will be thrown
away and replaced.

Although he does back up his key files fairly regularly, he reckons there is
a month's worth he would lose if he cannot access the drive.

Has anyone had a similar problem and successfully made a temporary fix?

Thanks.

Harry
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice.

We rigged up a temporary solution using wire and solder and managed to boot
up the PC for long enough to back up all of my brother's essential files. A
new HDD has been ordered and now that the essential files have been
recovered the old drive will be thrown away. It is just too risky to assume
it will work reliably in the future.

Thanks again,

Harry
 
Back
Top