Powering a hard drive with batteries

[ctaktak]

Ok. Wireld experiment. I want to be abel to power a IDE hard drive using batteries. I Only care about spinning the platters. I knw the motor takes 12v but am not sure about amps etc. Not too knowledgable with the electrical side of it all. I tried connecting 8 AA batteries together and cut the molex connector off an old power supply but I cant get them to move. Any suggestions?

I need to spin the platter without having to use an outlet.

Thanks for you guy's help!

-Cihan

 

[corkyg]

12 volts at 2 amps is a good start point. To get the latter, you need a lot of batteries.

 

[ctaktak]

Any suggestion on how to power it the? I have a 6v battery (one of the big brick looking ones) and when I connect it I get smoke....

 

[mpilchfamily]

You'll need soming with allot of amperage like a car battery. Best option would be a battery going to an inverter then using a small PC PSU to power it from there. It won't be very efficient but it will be your best option for good clean power.

 

[nineball9]

You could try a 12v motorcycle/scooter battery. A quick google found one for ~ $27 (USD).

12V lead-acid batteries, the type used in automobiles, motorcycles, scooters etc have a nominal rating of 12 volts; fully charged, the actual voltage is around 12.6 volts. Moreover, as the battery discharges its voltage (and current sourcing ability) will drop. I suspect a motorcycle/automobile battery would work but you might want to try experimenting with an old hard drive and a car battery first.

 

[greenbean]

Ok...if you really want to it should be fine. HOWEVER, remember to connect the DC ground of whatever device your signal cable is attached to with the Negative terminal of your battery source or things are going to get weird as far as the communication goes. If you're just trying to start up the motor and you don't care about the communication then you just need a battery large enough to supply the current, though the drive still may not start up if it has some kind of digital startup control; getting the motor to startup in this situation might require a specific drive jumper, or cannibalizing the drive itself to get at the motor.