Advice Needed for OWC MiniStack v3 - Bad Thermal Sensor

[Val-kyrie]

The other evening my (1TB Hitachi server-grade) hard drive ejected on its own while I was working on my MB. Since the MiniStack was out of warranty, I popped off the lid to check the internals and discovered that the thermal sensor which NewerTech attaches to the top of the drive had burnt up and also left a black mark on my hard drive and the underside of the top of the case. I removed the thermal sensor and left the cover off--everything inside the case felt extremely hot. (I don't have any gauges to measure the temperature of the hard drive.)

To make a long story short, eventually I was able to remount the hard drive, repair the directory for each of the three partitions on the volume using Disk Utility, and access the hard drive contents again. I then ran Drive Genius to scan for errors and the hard drive came back fine.


So here is the question:

Would it be ok to just replace the thermal sensor and keep using the case?
(I called OWC and tech support is going to check on the cost for a replacement thermal sensor, if one is even available.)
If not, what case would you suggest?
If the case is still ok, would it still be safe to use the hard drive for backup?
Any idea if the burn mark will void the remainder of the (5 yr.) warranty?

PS--This case was a replacement case for a v2.5 MiniStack which died just short of its 3 year warranty.
PSS--Is there a way to put the pictures in the middle of the post instead of at the end? How so?

 

[opinio]

That burning looks like arching to me. If your HDD is ok then consider yourself lucky.

I don't think the arching will do your warranty any good. I would Imagine the HDD manufacturer is going to blame any and every fault in the HDD on the arch (if a fault arises).

I would try and run it in a cheap dock or enclosure for while with some non-critical data to see if it is running ok.

 

[Val-kyrie]

That burning looks like arching to me. If your HDD is ok then consider yourself lucky.

I don't think the arching will do your warranty any good. I would Imagine the HDD manufacturer is going to blame any and every fault in the HDD on the arch (if a fault arises).

I would try and run it in a cheap dock or enclosure for while with some non-critical data to see if it is running ok.

Thanks. Any idea what would cause the arching? the burnt out thermal sensor? the circuit board? something else?

[edit: So basically, I should not continue to use this enclosure? Thanks again.]

 

[opinio]

Thanks. Any idea what would cause the arching? the burnt out thermal sensor? the circuit board? something else?

[edit: So basically, I should not continue to use this enclosure? Thanks again.]

Sorry I meant to say arcing (to arc between two surfaces etc), not arching (to lean over).

Really hard to know why it has arced, but it looks like bare metal on bare metal at some point. Either between the two wires or the HDD housing or a combination of two or all three. It may have been the sensor burnt out, but also there may have been exposed metal after the sensor burnt out which then arced.

Anyway, I am not really helping. I am just throwing up possibilities.