Internal WD Hard Drive in flames?

[Accurian]

Hello there everyone!

I bought a WD Internal HDD a few days ago and I had to send it back because the second I powered on my rig after installation, the bottom of the hard drive decided to light up and expel a ton of smoke, causing my entire room to smell awful for the entire day.

Here are a few possible reasons why it decided to burn itself.

First off, I had a plastic-like sticker on the bottom of my case, which was the first thing I suspected that caused the burning of my hard drive since it was right below it. I placed the hard drive on the very bottom of my case since I couldn't fit in another one without having to disassemble my entire computer and reroute the wires in a more organized manner. I have a feeling that when I powered it on, it lighted the sticker on fire, causing it to burn the bottom since it shouldn't be in contact with any sort of plastic.

(Sorry but I peeled off the sticker and tossed it because it smelled awful so I don't have a picture for reference purposes.)

Second reason I suspect why the HDD decided to spark alive was because of an incorrect voltage input. I used a wire very similar to the one below (refer to picture) which I plugged into one of the empty ones left that's connected to my power supply. There is another one which doesn't fit exactly that I use to power a fan at the side, so I was using the one which fit the one for the wire I have. Since it's not directly plugged into the power supply but through a converter of some sort, I think that I might have provided a bit too much power, causing it to die in flames.

The third reason is pretty simple. I think the HDD I bought was defective, which is basically why I sent it back to get a replacement, but it did say it doesn't cover things that are caused by human errors such as incorrect voltage and destruction of the hard drive which might have been the case.

Anyway, until I receive a replacement, I was wondering what your thoughts are to avoid something similar to happen again.

[Kyuubixchidori]

mount a hard drive in a hard drive cage. they are called cages for a reason

 

 

edit: lol all sarcasm aside, Suprised that happened. Maybe a short?

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Did you have this on a plastic drive bay holder thing or did you just place it at the bottom of your case against metal?

Probably due to the voltage.

[TiCKLZ]

static-electricity can be valid as well...

[Prastupok]

static-electricity can be valid as well...

 

Not likely if everything was secured, it'd go through the PSU.

 

 

Did you have this on a plastic drive bay holder thing or did you just place it at the bottom of your case against metal?

Probably due to the voltage.

 

This is most likely the culprit if it was against metal.

 

Otherwise? RMA should help.

[Accurian]

mount a hard drive in a hard drive cage. they are called cages for a reason

 

 

edit: lol all sarcasm aside, Suprised that happened. Maybe a short?

I didn't put it in a cage because when I bought my desktop (which was a custom-built desktop by a nearby local computer store) the case was shit for wire organization, and the position of the PSU was located at the top of the case which means the batch of wires are dangling around on the top of the case, and since everything is mounted on the other side of my case which you can take off completely, there's no possible way to route the wires to the back.

I plan on building a new rig for myself with a case that actually allows you to reroute the wires to the back of the case.

[Accurian]

Not likely if everything was secured, it'd go through the PSU.

Everything is still working, and the only thing I had to take out was the HDD.

[Prastupok]

I didn't put it in a cage because when I bought my desktop (which was a custom-built desktop by a nearby local computer store) the case was shit for wire organization, and the position of the PSU was located at the top of the case which means the batch of wires are dangling around on the top of the case, and since everything is mounted on the other side of my case which you can take off completely, there's no possible way to route the wires to the back.

I plan on building a new rig for myself with a case that actually allows you to reroute the wires to the back of the case.

 

That is indeed user error then... sad to say. Any of the wires could have done it in, or some metal on the case shorted it out.

 

Sad to see it happen, but I'm glad it didn't put your house in flames!

[Accurian]

That is indeed user error then... sad to say. Any of the wires could have done it in, or some metal on the case shorted it out.

 

Sad to see it happen, but I'm glad it didn't put your house in flames!

Maybe they'll still replace it if I'm lucky.

At least it didn't burn my house down because that would suck.

Thanks for your input, Prastupok!

[ttam]

That is indeed user error then... sad to say. Any of the wires could have done it in, or some metal on the case shorted it out.

 

Sad to see it happen, but I'm glad it didn't put your house in flames!

It's very unlikely to be user error.

 

I've had some drives just up and do this. 

[Prastupok]

Maybe they'll still replace it if I'm lucky.

At least it didn't burn my house down because that would suck.

Thanks for your input, Prastupok!

 

Always here to help! ^.^

 

 

It's very unlikely to be user error.

 

I've had some drives just up and do this. 

 

If there was metal to short it, any company will deny because of "user error" regardless. Sad but true.

[Accurian]

If there was metal to short it, any company will deny because of "user error" regardless. Sad but true.

I have another hard drive that doesn't sit inside a cage, but on a piece of metal. I'm pretty sure the case is made out of the same metal so if it was a shortage caused by the metal of the case, that shouldn't be the case.

[Prastupok]

I have another hard drive that doesn't sit inside a cage, but on a piece of metal. I'm pretty sure the case is made out of the same metal so if it was a shortage caused by the metal of the case, that shouldn't be the case.

 

I mean if any metal crosses two connections, it can cause shorts. That's why they consider it user error, as it should be isolated outside of the mounting screws.

[Fred Castellum]

Hopefully you can get it replaced. Good luck OP. 

[Captain_WD]

Hello there everyone!

I bought a WD Internal HDD a few days ago and I had to send it back because the second I powered on my rig after installation, the bottom of the hard drive decided to light up and expel a ton of smoke, causing my entire room to smell awful for the entire day.

image.jpg

Here are a few possible reasons why it decided to burn itself.

First off, I had a plastic-like sticker on the bottom of my case, which was the first thing I suspected that caused the burning of my hard drive since it was right below it. I placed the hard drive on the very bottom of my case since I couldn't fit in another one without having to disassemble my entire computer and reroute the wires in a more organized manner. I have a feeling that when I powered it on, it lighted the sticker on fire, causing it to burn the bottom since it shouldn't be in contact with any sort of plastic.

(Sorry but I peeled off the sticker and tossed it because it smelled awful so I don't have a picture for reference purposes.)

Second reason I suspect why the HDD decided to spark alive was because of an incorrect voltage input. I used a wire very similar to the one below (refer to picture) which I plugged into one of the empty ones left that's connected to my power supply. There is another one which doesn't fit exactly that I use to power a fan at the side, so I was using the one which fit the one for the wire I have. Since it's not directly plugged into the power supply but through a converter of some sort, I think that I might have provided a bit too much power, causing it to die in flames.

image.jpg

The third reason is pretty simple. I think the HDD I bought was defective, which is basically why I sent it back to get a replacement, but it did say it doesn't cover things that are caused by human errors such as incorrect voltage and destruction of the hard drive which might have been the case.

Anyway, until I receive a replacement, I was wondering what your thoughts are to avoid something similar to happen again.

 

 

Hey Accurian and welcome to Linus Tech Tips forum

 

Sorry to hear about your problem. Probably the drive itself was defective. A simple RMA procedure should get it replaced. You can find more details here: http://support.wdc.com/warranty/index.asp?wdc_lang=en

 

Captain_WD.