Burnt hard drive

[cobito]

A while ago, my hard drive blew up. It was a Seagate Barracuda 7200.12, 1Tb. It was inside a 3.5" box, 24/7. I noticed it was getting pretty hot, but I didn't think much of it until one day it stopped working and I put it in a drawer.

Today I felt like opening it up in case it was something simple like the heads being stuck and I found this:

As you can see, there are three areas of the disk that are matte in color: one just below the head and two others on the outside. So this has no possible solution.

I took a video so you can see the noise it makes in case you ever find something like this.

0_1478341541244_VID_20161105_111501203.mp4

It's the first time this has happened to me. Normally it was bad sectors, stuck heads, burnt electronics... but never this.

[Fassou]

Brembo?

If the outside is rust, the humidity must have been very high

[cobito]

I don't think it's rust. In fact, it was in a pretty dry environment. I would say that the whole part is scratched by the head.

Notice that the matte part closest to the center is right where the head is parked and is where there is always contact when starting.

[whoololon]

I agree that it looks like abrasion.
Maybe something got stuck under the cover there, or the plate itself has become misaligned, perhaps due to a blow or strong vibration, and has been rubbing against both the cover and the head.
If it were the head's fault, there would be much more noticeable spiral marks. Besides, let's note that the path does not coincide with the central mark.

Try with a cotton swab and alcohol, to see what happens.

[Fassou]

If it were 2.5" I would think that something was pressing the top cover, and I would end up touching the head in that position, but being 3.5"

[Sylver]

Is it possible to open the hermetic casing of a record without this operation killing it irreversibly? (I always understood that it couldn't be done, because of the dust and all that)

Best regards!

[whoololon]

@Sylver I guess we're looking at an autopsy.

[cobito]

@Sylver The record is not hermetically sealed. In fact, it has a small hole to balance the external and internal pressures. Dust is problematic and it is not recommended to operate it with the lid open, but once opened, when it closes and the record starts to spin, the dust particles are thrown away by centrifugal force.

There is always a risk that the dust will damage the surface, but in reality it is a reduced risk.

@whoololon I have tried the cotton with alcohol but the surface is scratched (it is not adhered material or anything like that). The thing is that the head does not scratch when it spins on the intact part of the record.

I wonder what happened there.