Three years ago I put this external HDD on the shelf, where it sat unused. I recently fixed the iMac to which it was attached, and then plugged it in. No good. The Mac cannot see the disk.

Here's the innards of the enclosure.


I pulled the HD and used a portable connector to connect the HD. It mounted and did just fine. I then put a new HD in the enclosure and it still doesn't work. Clearly the problem is a bad enclosure. The enclosure was working fine three years ago.

I believe the problem is a failed capacitor. I haven't done any testing, but just from a visual inspection, it looks like the tall cap is bulging. IMO, if a piece of electronics was working, and then died without being used, it always seems to be a bad capacitor.

Look at the chubby looking cap, especially on the top. It seems to be a 470 micro Farad 16v capacitor.


I have never personally done a repair like this. I've seen it done, and it doesn't look that difficult.

What type of iron and solder do I need for this job? I have a cordless Milwaukee iron, but I would buy a different type if necessary. I haven't pulled the board yet, but I'm assuming there will be some solder points on the back that I will need to heat to release the old cap. Can I just get on them with an iron, or do I need to somehow protect other parts of the board from the heat?

Where is the best place to source a replacement capacitor? In the past I would have run down to Radio Shack. Who sells them now?

Thanks.

ETA. Looks like I just answered my second question. I can get a whole assortment of caps from Amazon for $15.

That cap doesn't look so bad to me, the ones I have seen that have failed usually have the casing split with electrolyte oozing out.

Research and price a new enclosure, then compare that price against an hour of your time (work+frustration factor), and the distinct possibility that the quick and simple repair won't do the job.

You will want to use a low-power soldering iron, 25W or so with a narrow tip if you decide to go ahead with a repair attempt. Regular rosin core solder for this job. You might want to practice a little on an old circuit board. A little woven copper solder wick tape would come in handy too (or a solder sucker).

If you want to create a Time Machine or some usable HDD, a new enclosure would be ideal.

If you just need to get the HDD contents on the new Mac, I wouldn’t bother with an enclosure, given your successful connection outside the enclosure.

It’s to be my local Time Machine backup, so I’m trying to revive it. It is for an older iMac, so prefer to use the FW800 ports. Otherwise, my only choice is USB 2.0. This enclosure is rather expensive at $70 because of the FireWire capability. I actually ordered a USB3.1 enclosure that looks identical to this one, in case I’m unsuccessful with the repair, it being over thirty years old now.

I’d also like to just give it a go to see if I can manage to do it. If I can learn how to do these types of repairs, perhaps I can start fixing other things. I have a SE/30 that needs its analog board fixed. It basically needs all of the capacitors replaced.

This enclosure is going to be my first try at this kind of thing. If I screw it up, no big loss. If I screw up the SE/30, then getting parts is more problematic.

Side thought. I have an IBM PC that was manufactured in 1981. It still fires up like the day it was new. It sounds like a jet turbine starting when that 10mb full height hard drive spins up. I don’t know how IBM made it, but I know they don’t make stuff like that anymore.

Is it sad I have 8088, 286, 386, and 486 chips/processors (pressed properly into some ESD foam) sitting in my garage?

Been tempted to get them framed.

Have at it. It doesn't work so what's the worst you can do?

I'd post a WTB 470 micro Farad 16v capacitor in the For Sale Section and someone might have one laying around.

I might and will check tomorrow if you don't mind waiting.

Good Luck. It's always fun to try and fix things.

That capacitor is definitely toast. Easily replaced with some solder wick. I get all my components from https://taydaelectronics.com or https://mouser.com

I can send you a couple if you'd like.

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
Have at it. It doesn't work so what's the worst you can do?

I'd post a WTB 470 micro Farad 16v capacitor in the For Sale Section and someone might have one laying around.

I'd just go to Mouser or Digikey, myself.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
That capacitor is definitely toast. Easily replaced with some solder wick.

Nit-pick: Solder wick is used to wick solder away from a solder joint, not too solder. Solder is used to solder

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
Have at it. It doesn't work so what's the worst you can do?

I'd post a WTB 470 micro Farad 16v capacitor in the For Sale Section and someone might have one laying around.

I'd just go to Mouser or Digikey, myself.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
That capacitor is definitely toast. Easily replaced with some solder wick.

Nit-pick: Solder wick is used to wick solder away from a solder joint, not too solder. Solder is used to solder

yeah. That’s how you get it out without damaging the solder pads. If you don’t use solder wick you’ll pull up the pads on those mass-produced PCBs.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
If you don’t use solder wick you’ll pull up the pads on those mass-produced PCBs.

<waggles hand>...

Personally, I much prefer a solder-sucker. IME: Often the reason pads detach is too much heat was applied, poorly-fabricated PCBs, or both.

Instead of screwing with solder and trying to replace a capacitor, I’d just pull the drive and buy a new enclosure for it from Newegg. They’re not a whole lot of $$$ these days.

Probably not, but this is a trivially simple repair. Almost the electronics equivalent of changing an oil filter

Thanks for all the help everybody. I’ll work on this next week.

Simplest answer: if it is replaceable it is not worth your time.

0-0

quote:

I believe the problem is a failed capacitor. I haven't done any testing, but just from a visual inspection

I am going out on a limb here but have you thought about actually testing the capacitor first?

quote:

Originally posted by 0-0:
Simplest answer: if it is replaceable it is not worth your time.

0-0

I’m not that interested in purchasing a new 1394 enclosure, being that FireWire is quite obsolete. Also, I’m getting tired of filling our landfill with crap simply because China can make more crap at a lower price. Therefore, I have decided to learn how to do some basic repairs so that I can keep otherwise serviceable equipment in use. This little project is my first lesson.

I watch TV everyday. I’ll sacrifice thirty minutes of it to learn a new skill. Every minute of my time is not billable to someone else. Besides, it might actually be satisfying to fix something like this myself.

As for testing it first, it’s swollen, and it costs less than a dollar. I’ll put the meter to it, but I’ll still probably replace it.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
If you don’t use solder wick you’ll pull up the pads on those mass-produced PCBs.

<waggles hand>...

Personally, I much prefer a solder-sucker. IME: Often the reason pads detach is too much heat was applied, poorly-fabricated PCBs, or both.

Just an opinion from a guy that was miniature and micro-miniature PCB repair certified in the Navy:

I think it's more common for pads to be damaged by too LITTLE heat applied for too long a time. Folks use undersized irons for fear of damaging the board or components and wind up pressing too hard and spending too much time trying to get the solder to flow.

We were taught to go in hot and get out quickly.

Another factor is CLEAN! Clean tip on the iron, clean solder and clean the pad before trying to desolder. Oxidized solder is a pretty decent insulator.

JMHO, YMMV.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Besides, it might actually be satisfying to fix something like this myself.

In the great words of my advisor in college, "This is how we learn!"

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
I’d also like to just give it a go to see if I can manage to do it.

If I screw it up, no big loss.

There are eleventy-five-billion things (rough estimate) that might prevent an HDD external enclosure from working, simplest would be a bad cable (assuming you've already swapped to check that) but it could also be something fixable like that capacitor. Could be the power supply going bad (voltmeter time).

Nothing to lose, great learning opportunity.

$15 for capacitors is a bit high, unless you plan on using the rest of the assortment.
Ebay is good for small quantities of cheap components. Recently, I had an EGO battery start discharging due to a bad transistor. Youtube for someone that had the same issue, $5 for 3 transistors & 15 minutes of teardown/solder time (and 10 of it was ripping off all the waterproof potting on the board).

As others have said, this is a trivial fix - through-hole components are easy to unsolder and replace.
You need heat, but don't overheat, you can pull the pads up and/or kill other components in the area.
Watch few videos & practice first.
Flux is your friend
solder-wick is also your friend
a better friend is a >20$ solder sucker

All that said, if you are planning for this to be a backup, I'd stress test it before trusting.