Thursday, February 10, 2011

Hitachi External HDD XL Desk Series - Disassembly


So this has nothing to do with programming, except for the fact that this HDD enclosure is what's going to be holding backups of all my source code :) I couldn't find any disassembly instructions using Google, and it's quite easy once you know how to do it!

DISCLAIMER: THIS WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY



Step 1:
Say goodbye to your warranty!

Step 2:
Take a small paring knife (or something equally as thin and strong, like a flat bobby-pin) and pop off the front panel. The front panel is the one that has the Hitachi LED that lights up.

Step 3:
Remove the 2 screws hidden behind that panel, and slide the top of the enclosure back!

Step 4:
You should now see 6 screws exposed. You'll need to remove all 6! Pull the Hitachi LED gently upward to remove it.
**Note: up to this point all the screws are the same, and it shouldn't matter which one gets put back where.

Step 5:
The internal HDD rack should now be able to be removed from the enclosure itself. It has 6 screws on the side (mine were black) that have slightly bigger heads than the previous 10 screws you removed. Remove all 6 of these.

Step 6:
The HDD itself should now pull up and out of the little metal rack, and all that's left to do is gently pull the circuit board from the HDD connectors.

** USE CAUTION, AS THIS CIRCUIT BOARD IS WHAT ALLOWS FOR THE HDD TO BE CONNECTED VIA USB. YOU BREAK IT, YOU HAVE TO GET A NEW ENCLOSURE **