RE: [OT] Can a dodgy power socket burn out HDD's?

["Paul Gale" <groups2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks Steve - looks like the screw positions are ok - clear of
components and the screws are short.

Paul.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of Steve Morgan
> Sent: 19 July 2007 20:29
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: RE: [ukha_d] [OT] Can a dodgy power socket burn out HDD's?
>
> I managed to smoke a HDD some years ago by using a mounting screw that
> was
> 2mm too long. The screw cut into the PCB and earthed one of the
tracks.
>
> Fortunately, I had an identical drive that had suffered a mechanical
> failure
> and I was able to swap the controller boards. Ever since, I've been
> very
> careful to check the length of the screws before assembly!
>
> Could it be something similar?
>
> Steve Morgan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of
> Paul Gale
> Sent: 19 July 2007 07:58
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: [ukha_d] [OT] Can a dodgy power socket burn out HDD's?
>
> I need some advice in finding an expensive problem:
>
> I'm building a new monster workstation based on dual quad core Xeons
> and a
> RAID 0 array of WD Raptor HDD's. After fully assembling it yesterday
on
> a
> couple of reboots I got a strong smell of burning capacitor/IC. Turns
> out
> that I've burnt out 2 of the Raptors and one older SATA HDD :-(
>
> The power supply is an expensive Thermaltake 1000W EPS12V PSU and the
> drives
> are in Icy Dock SATA RAID caddies.
>
> Wasn't really sure what was causing the problem - except the drives
> burnt
> out in both caddies, so unless there's a batch/common/short in both,
> I'm
> guessing it's unlikely to be them at fault???
>
> Later on, I turned on a PC amp connected to another PC and all my
> monitors
> flicked off - odd I thought. Investigating further traced the problem
> to a
> faulty Belkin surge protector power strip which was arcing in the main
> power
> switch.
>
> So the big question is - Is it possible for a dodgy mains connection
to
> adversely affect a PSU and cause it to maybe spike on the +5v/+12V
> rails and
> burn out components like this?
>
> I'm RMAing the drives and have set up an RMA for the PSU too - but
> hesitant
> whether to power up remaining drives, thinking the problem (may) be
> solved?
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Paul.
>
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