HDD or power cable caused problem?

[papercut2008uk]

i was given an 'all in one' PC, which i've totally taken apart, probably no hope of putting it back together.

anyway, the problem was, when turning it on all you would get is 'click, click, click, click, click' from the speakers and then it would loose power and die. no display, no nothing. you would see the power LED slowly dim rather than shut off. you could also smell burning.

so i figured it's dead. took it apart and came across a bit of black residue on metal parts, this is where the HDD would sit, found the cable i tossed aside, it has a bulge on the connector and has melted. the HDD has burn marks on the power pins. 

so, i'm not sure if the HDD is salvageable or worth risking powering up? it's hard to see the burn marks on the HDD pins, but they are there.

i doubt there is anything else wrong with it, just the cable. 

 

[Anibal P]

Power it on without a drive and see if it will POST, if it does, like was the HDD, otherwise it's power related and likely dead 

[papercut2008uk]

i completely taken it apart, it's an all in one PC jigsaw now!

[papercut2008uk]

i just put it all back together, powers on and posts, did not connect the defective cable, so still unable to test if the HDD works on it, not risking my own system!

if the HDD had a power fault, wouldn't it blow something on the PCB? and not the cable as in the picture??

[Tidosho]

i just put it all back together, powers on and posts, did not connect the defective cable, so still unable to test if the HDD works on it, not risking my own system!

if the HDD had a power fault, wouldn't it blow something on the PCB? and not the cable as in the picture??

 

If the HDD shorted/overvolted, then the HDD's TVS diode (overvoltage) would open, resulting in the drive appearing dead. Also the power supply's short circuit protection relay would trip, and not reset until you unplugged the machine then back in again, once you found the shorting component that is.

Replace the cable AND the HDD, I wouldn't risk using the HDD again, it could die, that is if it isn't already dead! The HDD could have caused it.

[papercut2008uk]

anyone know where i could get a replacement cable? the only one i found was in US for $75!

all it has written on it is:

VBA00_HDD_CABLE
DC02001MU10
VSO 13/02/30 J

is there any way i could use a USB cable to power the HDD? or some other method, just plug in a normal Sata cable and power the HDD some other way?

[papercut2008uk]

i've been having some issues trying to track down a cable that would work to power the drive from the connectors on the motherboard (as there is no other way to power the HDD as it's an all in one PC), and came across a 'picoPSU-150-XT peripheral extension cable' (if you google it you can see it) it has a 4 pin connector that could possibly go into the motherboard but i'm not sure if it would work? 

does anyone know if i could just simply cut the existing cable and wire it onto a Sata power connector, the cables seem to be the same colours and theoretically should power the HDD, or am i wrong??

any input would be very helpful.