Possible to fix a broken plastic interface on SSD drive?

I have an SSD where the plastic piece on the power interface broke off. Is it possible to fix it? I'm guessing using glue is not a smart option. I'm also guessing that unless I can find board for this interface, replacing it wouldn't be an option.

Drive is out of warranty. And yes, it needs a good cleaning.



I'm thinking that the best solution would be to get a cable like the below. I'm using something similar to turn it into an ad-hoc external just so I can access the data on the drive.

SATA Serial ATA Data and Power Combo Cable

Thanks.

You could carefully attach a standard cable and retrieve data. Then replacing the board is the only viable safe long term option.

If SSDs are like traditional HDDs, swapping the board is unlikely to leave the drive useable. I've tried swapping boards on identical Make, Model, and even Manufacture dates on drives before and the drive is still useless.

Your best bet would be to use that cable and rely on the integrity of the other plastic clip. If you still have the broken off piece of plastic super glue would be fine as well. I don't believe it's conductive but you might want to look that up before frying the whole drive.

Super glue won't last forever though so if you did glue it back I'd avoid moving the drive around.

The thing about SSDs is that everything is on a single board.

If you replace the board, you are replacing the SSD.

Superglue doesn't join that type of plastic too well last time I tried it.

Some type of epoxy might work though. Just make sure it is not electrically conductive.

The other option is to put the broken piece on there and use a short extension cable and then glue the whole assembly together. That cable you linked would be fine for this purpose.

How old is the drive? What is the size? How fast is it? Is it really even worth "fixing"?

SSDs normally are on a single board so swapping of the board does not make a lot of sense as that basically means replacing the SSD with a new one..

cyclone3d said:

How old is the drive? What is the size? How fast is it? Is it really even worth "fixing"?

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It is a Seagate 2TB Barracuda Green. Actually, I replaced this with a 3TB Toshiba a month ago, and that drive seems to be failing (despite being brand new - that will probably be another thread at a different time after more diagnostics). I don't know the age, but it's out of warranty, so probably in the 3-4 year range.

Based on the responses, I will probably go with the dual cable, so as long as the data side holds, the power side will be fine. I'm not confident in my glueing skills. Also, it's barely visible on my picture, but there are two holes right above where the plastic would go. I would probably end up getting that full of glue.

Thanks for the advice all.

Mine did the same thing but with the actual SATA connector side. As to what cyclone3d said, I had tried super glue & a SATA cable.. but that didn't work at all. Now it just sits in the cupboard I'm afraid. I can still use it on somethings like a HDD Dock but I have to make sure its wedged in a funny way but it isn't worth the time & the possible data corruption either.

You can try connecting the power cable to it, and then glue the cable connector permanently to the rest of the connector.

thatoneuser said:

You can try connecting the power cable to it, and then glue the cable connector permanently to the rest of the connector.

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This. I used an old 1st Gen WD Raptor like this for so many years.

Ghetto, I know, but those were the days before SSDs my friend...

If you have the piece that broke off, I'd probably attempt to epoxy it...