HDD Plastic Connector Broke...

PowerPie5000 · 20 Feb 2015 at 13:22

I've never snapped a SATA HDD connector in my life as I've always been very careful (as we all know what a fragile design they are)... But that changed last night when rebuilding my daughters PC in to another case. I pulled the power connector from the drive and the angled piece of plastic snapped off! Luckily it was just the corner part, so the PSU SATA power connector still fits and the drive works fine.

My question is, can you buy a replacement plastic part around the connectors and how easy/difficult is it to replace? The plastic seems quite brittle and the drive (500GB WD Caviar Blue) is only a couple of months old!

bledd · 20 Feb 2015 at 13:39

You can replace the controller board, but you've pretty much got to buy a donor hard drive to do it..

Really wish they'd gone with a design like the WD Secure Connect cables (with added power)

Raggy · 20 Feb 2015 at 14:43

bledd. said:
You can replace the controller board, but you've pretty much got to buy a donor hard drive to do it..

Really wish they'd gone with a design like the WD Secure Connect cables (with added power)

Yes, look like you need to source a donor drive :-(

darael · 20 Feb 2015 at 18:25

Ever since snapping the SATA connector on my harddrive a few years ago by pure accident, I've always been very cautious about how I handle the cables. If I remember right in my case, I put too much tension on a cable causing it to snap.

They should really make the SATA connectors more sturdier rather than trying to make them as thin as possible.

PowerPie5000 · 20 Feb 2015 at 19:16

bledd. said:
You can replace the controller board, but you've pretty much got to buy a donor hard drive to do it..

Really wish they'd gone with a design like the WD Secure Connect cables (with added power)

I thought maybe I could pull of the plastic shroud around the actual metal connectors/pins. The metal pins themselves are fine. It looks like this WD drive has the slots for the secure connect cable, so it might be worth me investing in one

.

The damage is not major, it's just a small chunk of plastic missing from the corner of the power connector on the drive (the angled bit). The connector still seems to connect firmly and the drive still works, but I just think the plastic is too brittle and it could break even more if I have to remove at any time

.

EDIT: looks like the "SureConnect" cable would be the better option as the "SecureConnect" cable looks like it blocks the SATA power connector... Probably used for early SATA drives that still had the extra power port for 4-pin molex connectors.

Sasahara · 20 Feb 2015 at 20:43

The corner bit is just to stop you putting it in the wrong way, if it is just that you'll be fine using it, just be extra careful.

I had a new drive with that missing on the data line and I couldn't be bothered to RMA it.

PowerPie5000 · 20 Feb 2015 at 22:58

Sasahara said:
The corner bit is just to stop you putting it in the wrong way, if it is just that you'll be fine using it, just be extra careful.

I had a new drive with that missing on the data line and I couldn't be bothered to RMA it.

Would WD even consider an RMA if the connector/port is physically damaged? The plastic does feel quite weak and even the little chunk that came off broke in two (I was going to glue it back on until that happened!).

I'll certainly be extra extra careful from now on! It actually makes me want to check all 3 PC's in the house again to make sure there's no tug on any of the SATA cables :eek:

.

Sasahara · 21 Feb 2015 at 21:05

Well mine was damage on arrival, I didn't break it. So not quite the same problem.

Though who knows if I'd have a fight on my hands convincing the retailer I hadn't broken it.

Though if I can see through the packaging of a new HDD I check if the connector is ok before I break the seal.