IBM 75GXP.....

[TheCorm]

I cannot believe it, My IBM 75GXP worked solidly fine for 2 years....but before you think it.....no it didn't fail!....I did!

I push the connector in at a funny angle and one of the pins pushed in and caused the contact to come loose from the solder!....GRRR!!!! Thankfully I pressed it back onto the contact and got all my files off....am planning a drop of solder to try and re-connect it properly....has anyone out there done something like this before?....anything that should be considered?

Corm

 

[techfuzz]

I remember reading someplace (can't recall where) that you should use a low temp soldering iron. Secondly, just as a friendly caution, make sure that the solder doesn't make contact with any other contacts/pins except the one you are working on. Good luck!

techfuzz

 

[TheCorm]

Yeah....the thought about the solder touching other pins had crossed my mind too...gonna be tricky....

 

[piasabird]

I thought the IBM hard drives had a 3 year or longer warranty. Better check it out.

 

[Prodigy^]

really?

wow IBM owes me money back for four harddrives with corrupt sectors.....

/flip IBM

 

[TheCorm]

They would replace the drive under those circumstances?

Is there warranty strictly retailer though, if so....that won't work because retailer went bust 6 months back.

 

[techfuzz]

9 times out of 10 they aren't going to warranty a drive where obvious physically damage has occurred. It's always worth a shot if you don't mind paying for the s/h and they end up returning it for that reason. IMO you're better off trying to fix it yourself or buy a new drive than try to get IBM to warranty a physically damaged drive.

techfuzz

 

[BCYL]

Maybe it's a sign that you should get a new HD now, and avoid the bad sectors that will develop later...

I had a 60GXP before, and I thought I was safe... until it finally failed on me one day...

 

[Nailbunny]

Originally posted by: techfuzz
9 times out of 10 they aren't going to warranty a drive where obvious physically damage has occurred.

That's not completely true. I just recently RMA'd a 75GXP because the entire IDE channel connector area worked loose from the hard drive (not my fault...bought it used off the For Sale Forum a few months back). 3 weeks later I got the drive back repaired. Kinda hoped they'd send a new one, but alas, they just fixed the old one. So yea..if you take a hammer to it, I doubt they'd warranty it...but something like what TheCorm has they probably would IMO.

 

[dszd0g]

Usually they will not warranty a drive with physical damage, but it is worth a try. Just be honest with them on the phone. If you say the drive died and cross ship it with credit card, I have heard of people getting their credit card charged because of the physical damage. Then you paid money for a refurbished drive. So I personally wouldn't cross-ship on this one.

I have resoldered the power connector on a hard drive that came loose. It had a very poorly designed power connector where it was just the pins that were holding the connector in place. On that drive the power pins were rather large and it was quite easy to do. But I'm pretty decent at soldering and know what I'm doing.

 

[hagbard]

Yes, I had two of my 75GXP connectors come apart from the circuit board, and it wasn't due to any undue force on my part. Given that they used next to no solder, I'm not surprised.

Anyway, I did resolder the connections, but they didn't take very well. Had to do it twice but I think I'm getting the hang of it, and the third time will do it ;-) Its currently working as good as new (over a month).

I called IBM early on and said the drive wasn't even being detected, at that time not knowing the solders had given way. Got an RMA but decided it wasn't worth the time, expense and effort getting another crappy 75GXP drive back. If it reaches the point it no longer works, into the trash it goes (on a secondary computer anyway, so nothing to lose).