7200.11 Platter swap - tape method

[LarrySabo]

I'm practicing for a platter swap on this drive model (ST31500341AS) and am frustrated at trying to get the tape to adhere to the bottom platter at the back of the drive.

There is very little clearance between the bottom platter and the HDA beside it. Also, the top of the bottom platter is almost level with the HDA plateau beside it, so there is not enough exposed platter edge to get tape to stick without the tape being pushed into the crevice -- which is almost impossible to do given the very narrow gap. Any suggestions?

 

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

Well,
Mr Larry By Hook or Crook You have to adhere the tape ,Use a plastic card or something or more gummy take like aluminium etc etc .Like Schott Moulton used in his demo

 

[LarrySabo]

Amarbir, I used aluminum tape used for BGA work (it has very strong adhesive). It worked fine in a 3-platter 7200.10 drive but the design is different, so this problem was a surprise.

 

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

Amarbir, I used aluminum tape used for BGA work (it has very strong adhesive). It worked fine in a 3-platter 7200.10 drive but the design is different, so this problem was a surprise.

Well,
Larry sir its due to those dampeners inside platters otherwise you could put tape at the side of the heads and rotate platter

 

[LarrySabo]

Hi Amarbir. I can't rotate the platters because the bearings are seized tight as a drum. The 7200.10 I practiced on had more room between platters and HDA beside the filter. Also, I can't tape the front and rotate the platters because the dampers block the tape. I see from this video by HDD Recovery Service at 8:45 that he used 3M masking tape. Doesn't look like any masking tape I've ever seen but I will keep looking.

 

[LarrySabo]

Now that I'm using Scotch 3M Heavy Duty Shipping Tape, as in the video by ACS Data, I'm making progress!

Strips about 3/4" wide work best along the sides and at the back. Any wider and the tape tends to stick to platters on the way down while being inserted. Once it sticks, you might have 1 more chance before you need to discard that piece because the adhesive gets pulled/bunched/distorted and that makes the piece too thick to slide into the very narrow space. (Edit: ... or it's because adhesive residue is left on the platter edges.)

To keep the tape flat, I place a small piece of file card onto the exposed end with the tape lying flat on the desk, then use the card to maneuver the tape, aiming it at an angle pointing slightly into the HDA wall to minimize the chance of the tape contacting the platters on the way down.

To be sure the tape gets to the very bottom, I mark the platter depth onto the sticky side of the tape with a fine-tipped magic marker (measured at the front as 12mm in the case of this drive) and watch for the mark as I slide the tape into the crevice. If it isn't flush with the top of the top platter when fully inserted, it's not going to grip the bottom platter. Once the tape is fully inserted, I work a piece of file card between it and the HDA to encourage adhesion.

I've been able to fully insert pieces of tape repeatedly and lift the platters with no issues.

Now, I'm ready to start working on the patient drive, which was in an external enclosure that was dropped. The customer opened the drive and moved the heads across the platter, so it will be interesting to see if I manage to recover anything.

 

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

Now that I'm using Scotch 3M Heavy Duty Shipping Tape, as in the video by ACS Data, I'm making progress!

Strips about 3/4" wide work best along the sides and at the back. Any wider and the tape tends to stick to platters on the way down while being inserted. Once it sticks, you might have 1 more chance before you need to discard that piece because the adhesive gets pulled/bunched/distorted and that makes the piece too thick to slide into the very narrow space.

To keep the tape flat, I place a small piece of file card onto the exposed end with the tape lying flat on the desk, then use the card to maneuver the tape, aiming it at an angle pointing slightly into the HDA wall to minimize the chance of the tape contacting the platters on the way down.

To be sure the tape gets to the very bottom, I mark the platter depth onto the sticky side of the tape with a fine-tipped magic marker (measured at the front as 12mm in the case of this drive) and watch for the mark as I slide the tape into the crevice. If it isn't flush with the top of the top platter when fully inserted, it's not going to grip the bottom platter. Once the tape is fully inserted, I work a piece of file card between it and the HDA to encourage adhesion.

I've been able to fully insert pieces of tape repeatedly and lift the platters with no issues.

Now, I'm ready to start working on the patient drive, which was in an external enclosure that was dropped. The customer opened the drive and moved the heads across the platter, so it will be interesting to see if I manage to recover anything.

Larry sir ,
photographs were missing in this post ,Some stuff i understood some went off my head .Can i have a url of the tape you used to buy and try .

 

[LarrySabo]

Hi Amarbir, I'll have to make a video and post it later. BTW, the platter swap went without a hitch but the drive clicks. Swapped heads from a perfectly matched donor (19 days apart) but it too clicks. I forgot to transfer adaptives, which I'll do and try again. It could also be platter balance, since it seems to my eye that the securing disk that screws into the top of the spindle is not perfectly centred. The donor heads re-installed in the donor HDA work like a charm, so it's not the patient platter damaging the donor heads.

Here's the tape: https://www.staples.ca/en/Scotch-Super- ... ai-feo=off

 

[LarrySabo]

":g00qm06n][post]8279[/post] photographs were missing in this post

Amarbir, I've produced a video but it's 99MB. It's in my DropBox folder, here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9gw374ujiqais ... o.mp4?dl=0

BTW, ignore the dings in the top platter -- they are there because I threw out the platters but dug them out of the garbage and cleaned them a bit just to produce the video.

Edit: I replaced the video with a shorter, consolidated MP4 version. (I'm an AvideMux noob, so still learning.) Also, I forgot to mention the importance of using 3/4" wide strips of shipping tape, to reduce the chance of it sticking to the platters during insertion. The file card was too wide to fit between the HDA and platters, so I switched to the HDD pull tabs you find on Apple laptop drives, reversed and stuck together to make a longer shim. I forgot to mark the shim to indicate it's fully inserted, like I did the tape.

 

[LarrySabo]

Well, I still have lots to learn about doing platter swaps. I been practicing the tape method on several drives that all were all initially readable but after the swap all clicked and spun down. Time for more research. Any hints appreciated.