[OFB Cafe] Voltage for a PATA DVD Burner

[Donald R Spoon]

Timothy Butler wrote:
>> For power, it should be the same as any other optical drive - +12V  
>> and +5V.
>>
>> I think you're asking about current though - it's probably a bit  
>> higher
>> than then 1.2A at 5V/1.5A at 12V I see listed on a 56x CDROM I have handy.
>>
>> Most devices should have this info on a label on the top.
>>     
>
> 	OK. Yes, I may be asking about current. Electricity is definitely not  
> my forte. The big question I am trying to look into is why a  
> particular computer keeps killing optical drives. I was wondering if  
> it could be supplying them with too much power... Thoughts?
>
> 	Thanks!
>
> 	-Tim
>   
Voltage is what you want to monitor.  A one time look-see is OK, but you 
might be getting voltage spikes so a longer term look that gives you a 
historical record might be better.   If it isn't blowing immediately, it 
probably is a more subtle problem.  The hardware sensors on  one of my 
machines allows me to monitor the +12V, +5V, and +3.3V voltages on the 
Mother Board over time.  Check to see if yours will do the same...  
Beats buying a setup to monitor it over time!!

It is doubtful that only the DVD drive would be affected.  Your HD and 
other things powered by those little plugs coming out of the Power 
Supply would also be seeing the same things and should probably be going 
out too.

The question is, what if you have either an over-voltage or spikes on 
that line?  You probably would want to replace the Power Supply.  Why 
don't you do that anyway?  It probably would cost less than a setup that 
would record the voltage over time to confirm that you have a bad P.S.  
Sometimes we use a "diagnostic trial" in medicine to make a diagnosis... 
i.e. we try a given course of treatment to see if things get better.

Another tip:  See if you can re-arrange the location of the DVD in the 
case.  Heat build-up can  cause failures too.  If you can improve the 
ventilation around the device it should be able to run cooler.  Consider 
installing a second case fan.

Cheers,
-Don Spoon-