New floppy drive sparked and smoked

Hi,

This is what my computer has:

- Biostar TFORCE 6100-939 mobo which supports dual channel ddr
- SATA
- AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz / 512KB Cache / 1000MHz FSB / Venice / Hyper-Transport / OEM / Socket 939 / Processor
- 2 twin sticks of 1G RAM
- Corsair 620W PSU
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 SATA 3.0Gb/s 320GB Hard Drive
- Windows XP Pro X64


I installed a new floppy drive using a new IDE cable. I connected the cable to the motherboard and floppy drive using all available configurations. The last time I changed the connections, I booted up my computer and either the floppy drive, wiring inside the computer or the cable attached to the floppy drive starting sparking and electrical smoke was coming out of it. I pulled the cable and power connector off the floppy drive and pulled the plugs out of the wall as fast as I could. When I touched the power cord that went to the floppy drive, it was very hot. There are only two 4-pin power cables plugs coming from the PSU and they're identical.

I've thrown away the floppy drive and cable.

I'm concerned that this incident might have damaged the floppy disk connector. How can I tell if it did?

Is it possible that either the floppy drive, cable or PSU cabel/connector was damaged to begin with? How can I find out?

Denise

 

Have a look at the PSU cable connector ( Floppy Drive End) and see if there are any tell tale signs like Black marks as sometimes if these are not 100% sitting tightly they can cause an arc. As for wether you have damaged connection to mobo try another new Floppy using a PSU cable connector you know is OK. To me it sounds like it was a loose connection as stated earlier.

 

Or when you installed the floppy drive you did not connect the floppy drive connector properly into the pins which I did once and this resulted in the same type of sparking and smoke that you described.

As to whether the floppy drive connector on the mobo is damaged, as has already been stated you will have to try it with a new one and see. When I had my problem, I replaced the floppy and all was well with the floppy and the mobo.

Good Luck

 

The power supply cords and connectors are all black. When I looked at the 4-pin connector, it's hard to tell if there are black marks on it.

I don't have an IDE cable that I know works. If I buy a new floppy drive and cable and I use the other 4-pin PSU connector and it goes up in smoke (literally), what will I use for another floppy drive PSU connector? i.e., are there adapters to go from 6-pin to 4-pin?

Thanks for your suggestions

Denise

 

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=197

 

It is very easy to plug in the floppy POWER connector/cable back to front. this will cause the damage you are reporting.

Hopefully the rest of your pc is still working.

If the floppy connectors (they are not IDE by the way) are all in one row on the back of the drive then the RED wire goes to the outside. If the connectors are stacked then they can be either way, check first.

 

I connected the cable in all the possible configurations. I know that when the green led light on the drive is lit without a floppy disk in it, it's not connected the right way. When I connected it the last time, the led wasn't lit. Each time I turned the cable around, I checked to see if the light was lit.

It fits in only one way. The "bottom" of the connector has raised sides (as if you're looking at one of those old snow sleds that kids play with and it was turned upside down). It wouldn't fit in the other way around. When I inserted the connector, it slid right in. The only time that I had to use some force was when I plugged the cable into the floppy drive. (It's called an IDE connector in the motherboard manual so I call it an IDE cable. Let me know what it's really called.)

Because I plugged and unplugged the IDE cable so many times, I had to use considerable force, as if one of the pins got bent. I don't know for sure . . . it didn't look it though. It checked it with a magnifying glass and a flashlight, but I have no other explanation as to the reason I had to push so hard to get the connector in the last time.

The connectors are all in a row on the back of the floppy drive. There's a separation and the next set of pins is for the 4-pin power connector. There's also a third set of pins (I think 3 pins) but I didn't connect anything to them. I don't know what they're for.

I'm going to be ordering another floppy drive and cable today.

Thanks again for your help )

Denise