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OT: Firmtek 2 bay power supply cable source
For anyone who owns a Firmtek two bay drive enclosure like the Seritek/2EN2, here’s a 5 pin mini DIN extension cable that just might save the day if you have a problem with the stupid choice of a power connector Firmtek uses on these models:
https://www.stockcable.com/minidin.shtml#md5
At under $9 a pop these cables are cheap insurance against a broken pin on the DIN connector. I bought two to pack with my unit, which is used extensively in the field for direct to disk recording. One extension cable is connected to the power supply using a splint and shrink tubing to make a solid connection. The spare is ready to replace it if the need arises.
Regards,
David -
6 Replies
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You get 5 cows for that one.
Thanks a ton.
Jeremy
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I contacted Firmtek about this major problem and there solution was to take a pair of plier and squish the end of the barrel a little bit.
Scott Davis
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Well, it sure seemed like a good idea at the time. Seems that among Firmtek’s problems in the power supply area is a “known issue” that the 60 watt supply they sell for these boxes is not powerful enough for current generation large capacity (750GB+) drives. Have they superseded the supply with a larger capacity one? No they have not. “We can’t find a source for anything larger” is the line I just got from a (the?) Firmtek customer service rep.
Anyway, while I have gotten two 750GB drives to power up and read/write between them, I can do so only without the extension cable attached. I suppose the longer cable length drops some voltage, increasing the current draw to more than the power supply can handle.
The rep. also warned me against using the larger drives at all as it would “degrade the power supply”. Their solution? RMA the supply back IF it is under warranty, or buy another one.
I will be looking for another solution. A larger capacity supply with 4 pin XLR connector and a matching XLR wired to the Firmtek box. This is not a company that understands professional production requirements.
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David,
I tried the larger power supply from Firmtek and my two bay unit still would not handle 750gb hard drives. They do work fine however in my 4-bay Firmtek unit. Part of the problem may be in the 2-bay unit itself, part in the power supply, and part in small 2-connector version of their controller card.
BTW, I do think your criticism of Firmtek is “slightly” unwarranted. In all fairness, when their 2-bay units were designed, the largest SATA drives of the day were only 320Gbs, and since the Firmtek products have always worked very well for anything up to 500Gb, what they were designed to do, its a bit unfair to critize them now. While it would be nice if everything we bought always stayed up to date, that’s just not possible when technology advances as quickly as it does.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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Also, which 2 drive bay do you have? They make a couple one much older than the other.
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[Jeremy Garchow] “which 2 drive bay do you have?”
I have the Seritek 2EN2, the newer one, but I believe they use the same power supply for both models:
https://firmtek.stores.yahoo.net/sata1en2ps.html
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