Surge Protection for Hard Drive?

First, let me explain what happened. I have a system that was using a 550 Watt power supply. I have a UPS with surge protection on this system (yes, everything was plugged into the proper jacks for battery or surge). Now, I tend to leave the system on so the kids can access it with their Xbox through the network, so it runs pretty well 24/7. I know this is not the best thing to do, but I have replaced power supplies in the past and expect one to go down now and then. However, I did not foresee what was about to happen.

The power supply cooked itself one afternoon. It was so bad that the odor of burnt electrical filled the house. In the process it cooked two of the three hard drives I have in the PC and the PCI video card. I was able to replace the control boards on the hard drives and recover the data, however the video card is toast. In reviewing the UPS monitoring software log I did not find any external power issues. I spoke to a tech at the power supply company about damage caused to other PC components and he said that, "Nothing lasts forever". Yeah, especially customer loyalty when I get that kind of answer. (I would love to mention the name of the power supply company, but I have been advised not to at the moment)

Anyway, here is my question: Is there a power supply, other hardware or method that offers a way to put inline surge protection on the 12 volt power lines that feed the hard drives and DVD/CD drives inside the PC?

I would appreciate any ideas.

Reply 1 : Surge Protection for Hard Drive?

While it may seem that we would or could add this, your good power supply such as those at PC Power and Cooling (see google) have such protection inside the PSU. The cheap supplies don't have this because they are made for the lowest price possible.

But there is another thought today. Given 1TB drives can be had for under 99 bucks including some USB enclosure, why wouldn't we have a backup of our stuff?

In fact, is this not a test of your backups and you discovered that your backup plan failed?

So that's my thoughts here.

1. Get a great PSU.
2. Backup.

Bob

Reply 2 : Surge Protection for Hard Drive?

dies but to take out other peripherals really compounds the consequence.

Re some line device... I'm sure there are some but I haven't ever heard of any.

Like you ....my system is on 24/7, it's built with quality components and it's protected by a good UPS. Sad if that's not enough. Share the PSU brand when you can...I don't have any problem with a component failure but not one that takes out everything else with it.

Keep us posted.

VAPCMD

Reply 3 : Surge Protection for Hard Drive?

What it a surge or was it a fault of the PS? Truly, there is a difference. I do not believe you bought cheap knowing you needed 24/7 duty. Did the replacement PSU state rated overload protection. You may have issues and recourse with the maker of that PSU. And yes, I also want to know the maker of that PSU.

Have you read your warranty? (Have never used UPS protection.) Like you my system is 24/7, but for a scheduled video recording regiment. What I have is a Tripp-Lite surge protector. The $20,000 Ultimate LifeTime Warranty of repair or replacement of any device connected is sufficient. Shame you did not have a "whole house" surge protector, as then the Power guys would be paying.

BTW: I do believe the 12v line is for the drive motor, the 5v line is for the circuit board. The thought of installing fast-acting fuses into each line would be tedious, and I believe counter-productive.

Reply 4 : Surge Protection for Hard Drive?

I have the coverage offered with the UPS or I could run it through the home policy, but in the end the power supply, 2 hard drives and video card only amount to about $350.00. My wife's 10,000 pictures on the other hand.....they are worth a marriage, if you know what I mean (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Maybe I should get her to call the insurance company.

Anyway, I brought the UPS out to our IT guy at work and he checked it out and said it is fine. His guess is that it was all related to the Power supply failure. Not a surge from the house power. I showed him the control boards from the hard drives that were damaged and he told me the chips that were damaged on them were the motor control chips. Looks like they had mini explosions on their surface. I won't be buying any Antec power supplies in the future.

Regardless of all of this, my intention here was to find a solution to help prevent it from happening again. Maybe someone out there, with an aptitude in electrical engineering, will read this and see an opportunity. All I want is a in-line fuse or fusible link for SATA or PATA that just plugs in between the drive and the power source.

Reply 5 : Surge Protection for Hard Drive?

You, some common tools and inline fuses and we're done.

But I see you may want to get a quality power supply and there I can give the nod to PC POWER AND COOLING. These are heavy, costly units because they don't leave out the over voltage protection and the "other parts."

Bob

Reply 6 : Surge Protection for Hard Drive?

I advise to walk away from that system and/or componets, but get whatever data you can. Quite frankly, do you really want to trust this PC again? It boils down, learn from this and get better system out of it. No, there is no direct UPS for HD, unless you're protecting some rain system in yet another case. Whatever PSU you had, simply didn't measure up. While, I've seen various degrees of self-destruct there's nothing for the common user to get that helps protect, unless you pay the $$$. Seriously, check your electrical outlets and verify they're truly grounded and even add surge protection at the ckt. bkr.. Then make that AC circuit dedicated to your PC. Buy a very good UPS to incluce a separate line conditioner. Now, buy a good PSU of brand you can count on. After all you want to save marriage then spend the bucks now. Once, everything is new and in place, await the next downtime for whatever reason as the tech said, nothing lasts forever, but that keeps me in business. Yes, i replace PCs after insurance reports, yada, yada and recommend upon finding. But, usually cheap is cheap and you get what you pay for. As always make back-ups to store elsewhere.

tada -----Willy

Reply 7 : Surge Protection for Hard Drive?

I don't trust the system anymore. I believe if I am going to spend the money on a quality system I should just end up getting a server type unit for the home network. Ultimately that was all I was using this PC for anyway.

I really like your idea of a dedicated power source right from the breaker panel with a GFI breaker. That and the PC Power & Cooling PSU will be part of my next system.

Any opinion on a solid HD?

Reply 8 : Surge Protection for Hard Drive?

IMHO, there are only a few HD makers and each is equal to the other. So, in these cases picking one with a good warranty or what may define your needs should be considered. I tend to lean on Seagate and Hitachi, but I'm sure others may suggest otherwise. Of course, if some vendor offers some good price that alone maybe all that's needed considering the above. As far as I know, there are no HD model# to stay away from at least for now in my POV.

tada -----Willy

Reply 9 : Surge Protection for Hard Drive?

Satisfied to see that you were able to replace the control boards on the hard drives and recover the data. You can find an electrical protection for hard drives call Safer Evolution. Safer Evolution is a small case to be placed between power supply and hard drives. Safer Evolution protects lines 5V and 12V, in order to prevent electrical damage on hard drive.

http: // www.freemindtronic.com/

Olivier