What kind of power adapter is this?

December 9, 2008 2:38 PM

Can anyone tell me what kind of power adapter this Seagate 3.5-Inch Pushbutton External Hard Drive uses?

Getting ready for a move, I came across this external hard drive that I haven't accessed in a long time. I can't locate the power adapter. I have called Seagate customer service and they weren't able to tell me how to get one. I tried RadioShack and they don't sell them. They recommended taking it apart to get the hard drive. I tried to do this, but the tiny (torx) screws seem stripped.

Anyway, I'm thinking that if I know what kind of connection that this power adapter uses, I might be able to find where I can purchase a new using google.

The Seagate support person told me it was a 12v 3amp cord.

posted by devilshgrin to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

The power connector on the back of the drive is a standard 4-pin mini-DIN connector. The problem is that the connector type determines nothing about which pins carry which power signals. It's going to be hard to find a power adapter that will work. You might actually find a power adapter with the same connector, but a totally different pinout which could possibly fry your drive electronics, so I'd be wary of going down that route...

It's really uncommon for Torx screws to be totally stripped unless somebody has been using a non-Torx screwdriver on the screw head. Are you sure you're using the right size Torx bit? If they're truly stripped, you might have luck trying to drill out the screws.
posted by strangecargo at 3:01 PM on December 9, 2008

FWIW, my LaCie external D2 drive uses the same power connector (don't know about power rating though).
posted by wongcorgi at 3:24 PM on December 9, 2008

strangecargo, is that true? I've always thought those power supplies were interchangeable. I've used them like that. Am I playing with fire?
posted by sully75 at 3:39 PM on December 9, 2008

sully75: If there are any standards for power from a 4-pin mini-DIN connector, they're informal. I've personally seen 4-pin connectors used for both single-voltage and dual-voltage supplies with varying (and incompatible) pinouts. The only reliable way I've found for determining pinouts on these sorts of power supplies is with a multimeter. You probably lucked out when interchanging your power supplies.
posted by strangecargo at 3:56 PM on December 9, 2008

You might find this useful.
posted by me & my monkey at 5:31 PM on December 9, 2008

strangecargo, thanks for that. I think most of my stuff is from the same brand. That's kinda nuts. I'm glad you told me.
posted by sully75 at 3:10 PM on December 12, 2008