Power Surge what is the situation.?

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tellboy

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I have two external Western Digital HDD. Since new the mains to 12 volt transformers have run very hot. I was asked by Western Digital to record the surface temperature of the units(forget what it was now ) and they said it was acceptable, nevertheless, I have always half expected them to fail.

Yesterday watching Sky Plus everything froze up and menus locked then a message that the stored programs were re-setting so I went to the computer. Lo and behold both the external HDD drives were not functioning and there was no 12 volt supply from them. I suspected a power surge and rang the Electricity Supplier who said that there were no power surges reported in my postcode.
It has set me thinking.
1 Would they actually tell you anyway ?
2 I am now down two transformers (within guarantee)

The odds of two going at the same time without some fault in the power supply are very remote surely ?
 
Can I just clear one thing up ...

You attached two HDs to a "transformer" ... NOT a PC Power Suply Unit ... is that correct?

:confused:
 
If it was an external HDD, I guess the transformer was the powerpack.

Did you have 2 external PSUs (these got too hot?) going to a separate hard drive each? I'm trying to understand the layout :)
 
Power Surge

Always use a surge protector to help to stop these types of problems before they arise:thumb:
 
Have I got the name wrong. ? Each External Hard Disk came with a mains power pack 240 ac to 12V DC. I thought they were called transformers. Anyway each one failed at the same time in different mains sockets.
 
Power Surge

Probably just the power adaptors that have gone, get a new power adaptor (correct voltage) and try the hard drives out to see if they still work. 12 volt transformers are completely different. It's worth buying a surge protector, they cost as cheap as £10 from argos, this will help you from surges or spikes through the plug sockets.
 
Last edited:
tellboy said:
Have I got the name wrong. ? Each External Hard Disk came with a mains power pack 240 ac to 12V DC. I thought they were called transformers. Anyway each one failed at the same time in different mains sockets.
Click to expand...
Ah right ... my interpretation of an old word transformer conjures up big power box weighing a tonne ... the new word is power pack . :o

A little strange both should go at the same time ... seen stranger things happen. ;)
 
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