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Is it possible to replace motor on an IDE drive

V

Victor43

Junior Member
Hello.
I have this really old Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 80GB ATA/133 HDD which stopped working not long ago. What I would like to find out is which part is not working. Also can someone tell me if it turns out to be the motor then is it possible to have this part replaced. Its easy to see that the PCB can be replaced but I am not sure if the motor can be replaced. It seems unlikely because its not easy to see how the motor can be removed as the casing seems to be sealed. Can someone tell me if the motor, if found to be non working, can be replaced ?

Thanking in advance

Victor
 
From the drives I have opened you "could" replace the motor but you would have to have all the right tools. But you would have to have a clean room to open the drives or you could ruin the platters.
 
Unless you want to spend $1,000+ on professional drive recovery services to get back something you can't replace, just toss it.
 
munkle said:
From the drives I have opened you "could" replace the motor but you would have to have all the right tools. But you would have to have a clean room to open the drives or you could ruin the platters.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. This question is really only for fun purposes and nothing else. My apologies for not making this clear in my original post. Can you tell me since you had the opportunity to open and see the motor what compoents make up the motor ? Are there any PCB or Integrated Circuits or Microcontrollers there ? Or are the components all mechanical in nature ? I just want to get an idea as to what components make up the motor.

Thanks

Victor
 
Maxtor has long installed its spindle motors from the inside, meaning replacement is extremely difficult and requires removing the platters in a clean room and with special equipment.

AFAIK the only IC inside the drive is the head amplifier.

Very likely your motor is good but something is wrong with the electronics, such as a shorted driver chip. Many are labelled 'Smooth', but older Maxtors use a trio of 8-pin dual MOSFET drivers (and another trio to drive the head voice coil mechanism). Another common electronic failure is caused by surges that make the IC protectors (zener diodes) short and blow the fuses, and replacement of those parts often restores normal operation. These electronic repairs are not easy but are also not beyond the skill level of someone who has good soldering skills, especially when armed with Chip Quik.
 
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