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Beware this molex splitter!

If it is wired correctly I doubt that is the cause of your problem. This would be easy to check though. Yellow is +12V and Red is +5V with ground being black. So the only way it could be wrong is if the Yellow and Red were reversed. Compare these to any other molex cable to make sure that is correct.
 
Seriously, a DC splitter is pretty difficult to mess up.
That being said, I never use splitters or adapters unless absolutely necessary but I've never had a problem.
 
The only likely thing I could maybe blame the splitter for is the housing being a crappy Molex knock-off, resulting in 2 or more pins sliding out...just enough for their metal crimps to touch. Maybe.

Or just bad luck and coincidental timing...what do you mean by "fried"? Can you smell magic smoke?
 
I wired it up. I had the case open on a bench. I hit the power button and heard a small snap. I quickly reached over the case to hit the power switch on the back and then heard several more snaps, saw sparks and smoke. I then removed the splitter, put all of the drives from the backplane that appeared to be suspect on to a different backplane and none of them show up. I'll go check the splitter in a moment so see if it's wired properly. BTW I saw the sparks go from the non molex side to the molex side.

EDIT. There is one more thing. I had just put a new drive in also. It appears to have been the first one to go. Maybe it took the others with it? Is there a 3rd party I can send these drives to for inspection like TonyOCZ recommended to computurd when he had his debacle with the Vertex's?
 
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perhapse some pictures would help as i am not fully understanding how exactly this cable destroyed 4 hard drives. one ATX standard MOLEX connector is the same as the other, they are very simple in design and unless wires are crossed or loose/exposed, i doubt that this is the cause of your problems. if you saw sparks and smoke, where did it come from exactly?

also please list all associated hardware like name and model of the power supply, hard drives, anything else related. from reading your description, i would think 'power supply' before bad adapter cable.
 
I'd bet on the new HDD, or faulty new HDD installation (5V/12V contact touching something somehow), not the cable.
 
You didn't install the molex plug upside down, did you? I know the connectors are keyed to install only rightside up but exceptions do happen with cheaper or no-name brands.

I've destroyed a USB drive adapter once by plugging the molex connector the wrong way. Didn't feel any extra resistance when hooking up the adapter, just a small *pop* and a burning electrical smell.
 
Molex connectors are pure evil, they have loose unmatching pins that prevent connecting together, and they don't detach easy if you somehow managed to attach them.
 
Chimel said:
Molex connectors are pure evil, they have loose unmatching pins that prevent connecting together, and they don't detach easy if you somehow managed to attach them.
Click to expand...

lol, that's why they've been in use since the 1980's. ;)
 
I have a question around this topic. Is it safe to power so many drives from a single Molex cable?

In the above Homer posted a link to a Norco splitter which gives 7 connectors from a single Molex. Is it safe to run 7 hard drives using that splitter? - How much power can a single Molex connector from the PSU deliver?
 
Vicey said:
I have a question around this topic. Is it safe to power so many drives from a single Molex cable?

In the above Homer posted a link to a Norco splitter which gives 7 connectors from a single Molex. Is it safe to run 7 hard drives using that splitter? - How much power can a single Molex rail actually deliver?
Click to expand...

For most PSUs, there's a single 12v rail, so all of the molex connectors go to the same place. The reason why we don't just plug everything into the same one is that it's generally thin 18 gauge wire, which has too high of a resistance to effectively power a whole computer. So you get several molex chains, each with its own set of wires.

Hard drives don't need a ton of power, though - my 7200rpm Samsung F3 1tb is only 10 watts - so that's why they make them. 70 watts off of a single molex doesn't seem too ridiculous, although I'm not sure if the drives require more when spinning up, or if there's an official limit to how much a molex connector can handle.
 
In terms of connectors, molex plugs are huge with big contact area ... I think it's limited by the gauge of wire used. The molex plug pins are larger than the HVAC system I just repaired which powers a very hot igniter element for about 20 seconds -- granted the wires are obviously thicker, as I was saying.
 
+1 on molex connectors being evil, but they're a necessary one. Few other connectors have the same features. Mainly being easy to manufacture, easy to assemble cables that fit and able to carry a decent amount of power. Power requirements for drives are a lot lower than in the past, thus new sata drives no longer need the molex connector.
 
GushpinBob said:
You didn't install the molex plug upside down, did you? I know the connectors are keyed to install only rightside up but exceptions do happen with cheaper or no-name brands.

I've destroyed a USB drive adapter once by plugging the molex connector the wrong way. Didn't feel any extra resistance when hooking up the adapter, just a small *pop* and a burning electrical smell.
Click to expand...

I did that once with a new workstation I had built at my old job. I plugged a power adapter into one of the USB to IDE/SATA adapters upside down, and it fried the entire south-bridge on the motherboard. No inputs of any kind worked after that. Oh and fried my boss' 40gb portable drive at the time. He wasn't too happy, but didn't fire me.
 
nalc said:
For most PSUs, there's a single 12v rail, so all of the molex connectors go to the same place. The reason why we don't just plug everything into the same one is that it's generally thin 18 gauge wire, which has too high of a resistance to effectively power a whole computer. So you get several molex chains, each with its own set of wires.

Hard drives don't need a ton of power, though - my 7200rpm Samsung F3 1tb is only 10 watts - so that's why they make them. 70 watts off of a single molex doesn't seem too ridiculous, although I'm not sure if the drives require more when spinning up, or if there's an official limit to how much a molex connector can handle.
Click to expand...
It's not 70w though.. its potentially 240w (10w x 4drives x 6 connectors) - thats nearly 20A through one set of wires after the splitter..
As far as my searching goes, 18AWG wire can handle only 6A :eek:
 
goofyhsk said:
It's not 70w though.. its potentially 240w (10w x 4drives x 6 connectors) - thats nearly 20A through one set of wires after the splitter..
As far as my searching goes, 18AWG wire can handle only 6A :eek:
Click to expand...

ah, well, if you're splitting power to four drives from each molex, then that's pushing it.

For 18ga wire, there's no absolute maximum current. If you specify a certain length wire and a certain gauge, there's a maximum current it can handle before having too much voltage drop (i.e. 12v becomes 11.75v) and/or overheating and possibly melting the insulation. I wouldn't be worried about 6 or 7 hard drives from one molex, but I would be worried about 24.
 
It's a bit inaccurate to say there's 'no maximum current' for something as thin as 18ga. AWG has recommendations on maximum current limits. For chassis wiring, iirc, it's 16A or under. More than enough for most drive situations considered here.

You also have to factor voltage drop. The longer the wire, the greater the potential for voltage to drop. This is also affected by load, the greater the current, the greater the voltage drop. The longer you run the wire, heavier gauge is necessary to avoid the voltage drop. Let it go too low and you risk the burning out the equipment you're trying to power. For average drive loads and distances within a typical chassis it's unlikely to be too much of a problem.

When in doubt, keep wires as short and use the appropriate gauge. Be informed, don't just guess.

Sizing the power supply to deal with the startup rush of current (both from cold start and waking from low power modes) is a whole other discussion...
 
I've had a 2-way "Molex splitter" fry two RAID Edition drives holding my OS in RAID 1. Luckily REs come with a 5 year warranty, so I was able to RMA them. I'll be steering clear of those things from now on. :p

By the way, are there such things as SATA splitters (for power)?
 
only time I fried something with molex splitters was back in mid 90's. I plugged them in and POW magic smoke.

the thing to look for is that they weren't assembled backwards, mine had the single side wired right, but the two ends had the red and yellow swapped. ( or maybe it was the other way around ) anyhow I want to say the only way you could fry something that quick with a splitter is if the wires where crossed! ( which btw I now check every dang time I need to use one for home or work, it only takes one time to burn it in your mind)

Bob
 
What the hell are you guys talking about? Pay attention to what you're doing and these things won't happen. You're lucky you didn't set the house on fire with your antics. And to blame a 50 cent molex splitter... what shame
 
Aside from the guy that had a molex with swapped wires, how is everyone else frying stuff with these molex splitters apparently? You should be able to take a picture of the problem, and show everyone else.
 
Aside from the guy that had a molex with swapped wires, how is everyone else frying stuff with these molex splitters apparently?
Click to expand...

<putting the electrical engineer hat back on> I can not think of any other possible way of a molex connector causing this. A bad power supply can also cause this but it would not be the connector then.. </putting the electrical engineer hat back on>

Edit: I am assuming here that the wire gauge is enough to carry the current and the user is not chaining molex connectors, etc..
 
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