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SEAGATE Barracuda 160GB HDD repaired

By on July 20, 2015
hdd repair

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This HDD brand SEAGATE, Barracuda 7200.9 was brought to me and the complaint was the BIOS did not recognize it and the owner wanted to install Windows Operating System.

hdd repair

First thing done was to take the PCB off, an easy job: only some screws had to be removed.

hdd repair2

Some electronic components were checked on with the Digital Multimeter and they were fine.

 

But look what I saw:

hdd repair3

As you can see in the photos above the copper contacts of the PCB were really dirty. I had to use a brush and a pencil eraser for the job.

hdd repair4

These contacts were cleaned with the pencil eraser and look at the result.

hard disk drive repair

The HDD was fully armed and connected into the PC, and then look at the result.

hdd repair6

As you could see, it was recognized by the BIOS, at this moment Windows OS had to be installed, and here’s the result.

Windows Just Installed

hdd repair7

This time a HDD was saved from the dump.

Note: take into consideration that this is not a 100% solution to save all the HDDs, but many or some of them could be saved with this procedure.

humbertophoto

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This article was prepared for you by Humberto Rodriguez, one of our ‘Master Authors’ from Cuba

Please give a support by clicking  on the social buttons below. Your feedback on the post is welcome. Please leave it in the comments.

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Note: You may check his previous repair article in the below link:

https://www.jestineyong.com/imicro-smps-repaired/

 

Likes(190)Dislikes(3)

34 Comments

  1. Mohamed Sittiq M

    July 20, 2015 at 12:46 pm

    Excellent work, well done

    Likes(3)Dislikes(0)
    • Humberto

      July 20, 2015 at 7:56 pm

      Thanks Mohamed

      Likes(5)Dislikes(0)
  2. Shiharan

    July 20, 2015 at 1:03 pm

    Great job. Try using alcohol or acetone. Rub the surface with a ear bud soaked in alchol

    Likes(2)Dislikes(0)
    • Humberto

      July 20, 2015 at 8:02 pm

      Ok Shiharan, I'll take your advise.

      Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
  3. Gopal Sharma

    July 20, 2015 at 1:31 pm

    Thanks for sharing, I also have a new hard disk which is not detecting. But it make sound like tik tik tik.....Is it possible to solve this way. It is a new 160GB Maxtor pata hard disk. There is no fault of motherboard and smps. I have to try this technique once.

    Likes(2)Dislikes(1)
    • Humberto

      July 20, 2015 at 8:08 pm

      Hi Gopal, if the HDD is making the sound described for you, in my opinnion there's no solution for this case. It's a pity.

      Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
      • SDS

        March 21, 2016 at 6:47 pm

        Actually I just finished repairing a Seagate 1TB HDD that had the "click of death" that was caused by this corrosion on the PCB header contacts so it is "possible". Pull the PCB if you still have it and check for dark grey almost black were the HDD headers contact the PCB.

        Likes(0)Dislikes(0)
  4. Robert Calk

    July 20, 2015 at 2:26 pm

    Good job, Humberto. The eraser shines those contacts up good.

    Likes(2)Dislikes(0)
    • Humberto

      July 20, 2015 at 8:12 pm

      You are right Robert. And eraser never damage the contacts.

      Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
      • Robert Calk

        July 21, 2015 at 6:15 am

        Yeah. I use erasers on them also. They do a good job.

        Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
  5. Albert

    July 20, 2015 at 2:59 pm

    Hi Humberto, I didn't know you could clean those contacts like that with just using a Pencil Erasing Gum. Gold layer contacts on Copper are very thin and this cleaning method probably is the best way to save them. And the tin/lead soldered paths can just be resoldered again to prevent oxidation or bad contacts I guess.
    (But it probably won't do any good with Gopal's ticking noises Harddisk problem as I read in the previous Posts?).

    Likes(2)Dislikes(0)
    • Humberto

      July 21, 2015 at 12:03 am

      Yes Albert, the Pencil Eraser does not damage the copper contacts. Regarding Gopal's case I replied to him that the HDD has no solution in my opinion. Thanks.

      Likes(2)Dislikes(0)
  6. Abu Safiyanu

    July 20, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    That's great information shared. Can't stop reading these articles. Keep it up.

    Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
    • Humberto

      July 20, 2015 at 9:43 pm

      Thanks Abu.

      Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
  7. Yogesh Panchal

    July 20, 2015 at 3:05 pm

    Humberto,
    Congratulations! for this fix i think we have to find some other way to clean this type of contacts , because when you are rubbing with eraser this process is damaging original glating of contacts and this thing can keep on happening after over period of time that i have faced in MEMORY MODULE used in computer. any one is having any idea????

    Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
    • Henrique Jorge Guimarães Ulbrich - Brazil

      July 20, 2015 at 9:47 pm

      Dear Yogesh, dont't worry about. As far I am concerned, the use of pencil eraser for this job does not bring about any problem. The pencil eraser is like a very soft sandpaper, producing a negligible abrasion, not enough to erode the tracks. Unless you overdo it.

      Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
      • Humberto

        July 21, 2015 at 12:10 am

        That's 100% right Henrique Jorge Guimarães Ulbrich.

        Yogesh, this method is very used in my country, and I haven't heard it has damaged any circuit or track. Feel free to use it.

        Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
  8. victor U

    July 20, 2015 at 5:39 pm

    Excellent. But can HDD with bad sectors be repaired?

    Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
    • Humberto

      July 21, 2015 at 12:12 am

      Sorry victor U but bad sectors can not be repaired.

      Likes(2)Dislikes(0)
  9. RobertyBob

    July 20, 2015 at 6:22 pm

    Thank you very much for this tip. I will certainly try the cleaning.

    Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
    • Humberto

      July 21, 2015 at 12:13 am

      Ok, and keep me informed.

      Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
      • Y RAMANJANEYULU

        August 9, 2015 at 2:28 am

        sir,iiam facing problem with DC DC converter alll voltages are combining butt moniter is switching off automatically but when we connect other DC to DC converter its working fine .what is the solution for that PLEASE help me.

        Likes(0)Dislikes(0)
  10. Bulent Nur

    July 20, 2015 at 11:24 pm

    Good job!

    Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
    • Humberto

      July 21, 2015 at 12:14 am

      Thanks Bulent, you are welcome

      Likes(2)Dislikes(0)
  11. Merlin Marquardt

    July 20, 2015 at 11:28 pm

    Great fix. The Windows scandisk program may be able to fix/remove bad sectors from a hard drive.

    Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
    • Humberto

      July 21, 2015 at 12:17 am

      Merlin, bad sectors will remain forever, Scandisk only markes them as not accesible area of the HDD.

      Likes(2)Dislikes(0)
  12. arturo herrera

    July 21, 2015 at 12:46 pm

    Dear Mr. Jestine, I read all articles you set to me. This article by Humberto is very interesting. I¨ll try to practice. thank you.

    Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
  13. hansen

    July 21, 2015 at 12:53 pm

    thanks Humberto you are good man

    Likes(1)Dislikes(0)
  14. Albert Hoekman

    July 21, 2015 at 11:34 pm

    Mr. Humberto, good job to clean the contacts. They are mostly the main problem on a faulty HDD, especialy when the HDD comes from an external case. Most of the time I use a ballpointink eraser with grinded glass in it.

    Likes(0)Dislikes(0)
  15. Abubakar Bakari

    July 22, 2015 at 9:50 pm

    Good day Sir, thank you for the piece of article.

    Likes(0)Dislikes(1)
  16. Zed Pato

    July 24, 2015 at 6:46 pm

    nice informayion sir humberto. good job.

    Likes(0)Dislikes(0)
  17. Sami Shomali

    August 29, 2015 at 2:59 pm

    Thanks for sharing ,, I appreciate that

    Likes(0)Dislikes(0)
  18. Anwar Shiekh

    December 26, 2015 at 12:38 pm

    Just spent all day tracking down the problem to the internal contacts on a hard drive that I treated with silicone oil after cleaning them. Why do they neglect to gold plate these internal contacts?

    Likes(0)Dislikes(0)
  19. John Wolf

    July 31, 2017 at 12:41 am

    I know this is an old thread but FWIW I had this problem with 6 HDD over a period of a few years. The problem was an intermittent, severe, loss of speed and sometimes the HDD would just stop. Turn it off for a while and it would work fine until the next time. Dirty contacts every one. I had contact problems with the digital selector keyboards on Seeburg jukeboxes years ago. I would clean the contacts and contact pads with an eraser, apply some silicone spray and wipe well with a clean cloth. The gold plate had been long gone and the silicone kept the copper from oxidizing.

    Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

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