BBCmicro
24-06-2011, 01:10 PM
The power adapter for my dock died so I cut off the connector and soldered it to another adapter I had lying around, using the pin-out diagram on the dead adapter to guide me.
But it didn't work. I opened up the dock and measured the voltages on the circuit board. I got 0, -7, -12 on pins marked 0, +5, +12. This indicated I had Gnd and +12 reversed. I swapped them and it all worked.
So where had I gone wrong? Turns out the diagram was incorrect:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32411418/Nexstar_HardDriveDock.jpg
I mention this in case anyone tries to diagnose one of these adapters by touching a voltmeter to the pins
(To be clear: the adapters are wired the same, it's only the diagram that's wrong on the earlier one)
But it didn't work. I opened up the dock and measured the voltages on the circuit board. I got 0, -7, -12 on pins marked 0, +5, +12. This indicated I had Gnd and +12 reversed. I swapped them and it all worked.
So where had I gone wrong? Turns out the diagram was incorrect:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32411418/Nexstar_HardDriveDock.jpg
I mention this in case anyone tries to diagnose one of these adapters by touching a voltmeter to the pins
(To be clear: the adapters are wired the same, it's only the diagram that's wrong on the earlier one)