Seagate Expansion 1.5 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive ST315005EXA101-RK

Drive makes loud clicking noise & eventually fails.

The symptom:
Drive works fine for the first few GB's, and once it gets somewhere around 50 to 300 GB, it starts making loud clicking noise. The more data added to the drive the more frequent the clicking noise become and eventually the drive fails.

Analysis:
As the first few sectors of the platter / platters, the traveling distance (from the edge of palter to the center) for the head arm is not that great. But as more data gets written to the disk, inner sectors of platters gets occupied with data. That's when the problem starts.

Without going into technical details, the issue here is not the drive. It is the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) that is installed in these external enclosures. This board regulates & provide power to the drive and in simple terms, there is not enough power for the disk to spin and for the head arm to extend far to reach inner sectors of the platter / platters .

I have tried many solutions recommended on the internet, including a youtube video posted by a person identified in this video as Bruce. None has worked. Some others suggested to change the usb cable, others suggested a firmware upgrade, some suggested to send the drive back to Seagate for replacement. Some people has done that but they got a new replacement drive that did the same clicking noise, and had to be sent back again. Do not waste your time on these suggestions, because I have tried them all before I started looking & analyzing the problem myself.

Seagate is well aware of this issue, but not only they are down playing the extent of this problem, they continue to sell these defective external boxes. In fact the first time this issue was reported on Seagate forum was 06-19-2009 06:50 AM. Up to the writing of this review, there are more than 31 pages from thousands of people reporting the issue with clicking noise & drive failure on Expansion boxes.

Solution & your options:
1 - If you just bought an Expansion, return it while you can get your money back.
2 - If it is under warranty, do not return it to Seagate. If you do, you end up with another defective drive that you have to send back again & each time cost $15.00 to $30.00 just for shipping (inside U.S.). Do one of the following:
A) Buy a new non-Seagate external enclosure (many good brand are in the market between $14.00 to $39.00). Take the drive out of Seagate Expansion enclosure and place it on the new one (this may void your warranty, but it is a permanent fix). Yes, You have break the tabs to open it. Seagate purposely made it non-serviceable.

B) If you can find a PCB that matches the Seagate Expansion box power & USB port openings, replace the PCB.
In my case, I replaced the case with a new enclosure.

C) Never buy a Seagate drive. They have been less than sincere & straight forward with their customers & continue to sell a defective product that they are well aware of it.

Last week, I purchased a Seagate Expansion 1.5TB drive. I had read the product reviews on Amazon, however it seemed respectable enough. Last Friday, the drive arrived. Upon initial set-up, I noticed that it seemed extremely loud. After copying some data to it as a test, it began to make a very loud clicking sound. I have worked with many hard drives, and the sound was out of the ordinary (and, dare I say, reminiscent of the old Iomega click of death).

Upon calling Seagate, the technician warned me that the drive was probably in its death throes and to make sure I had a backup of anything on it. I put the product back in its box, and sent it back to Amazon, who issued a replacement.

When the replacement arrived, all seemed well at first. It formatted just fine, and seemed quiet and elegant. Once I connected it to my primary machine and began to copy data, however, it began making a similar noise to the prior model. Though it showed no signs of failure, the drive was so loud that I became annoyed with it quickly and called Seagate again. A representative, who was very helpful, had me run the SeaTools diagnostic tool, which passed. After I held the phone to the drive, however, he understood why it was so bothersome to me but couldn't explain what the noise was. He did state that the 1.5TB drives are often louder than other drives due to the additional platters required in the drive, but not to the extent I experienced.

Needless to say, I called Amazon this past afternoon, and the representative I spoke with was very understanding. When I detailed the issue and he heard the drive, he was glad to create an RMA, citing on the ticket that the drive "sounds like a jet engine revving up."

Though I've been very negative about this product, it does have its merit. When operational, it was quick to copy data (~15-20MB/s). It also has a very elegant profile, which looked wonderful on my desk; the small green LED on the front was a wonderfully unobtrusive drive activity indicator. Finally, it was preformatted as NTFS and included no unnecessary software, which was a refreshing change from many other external hard drives.

In short, this drive (at least the 1.5TB model) is worth consideration if noise is not a factor, however I have doubts to its longevity.

Are you a fan of tap dancing? The depression-era musical genre of spoons? The sound of a bad V8 head about to spew a valve through the lifter?

My friends, i have the product for you - the seagate expansion in 1.5Tb girth.

Not only does it click like chattering teeth out of a joke catalog, it does it nearly incessantly - even when it's not actively being searched!

Yes, friends, seagate even told me that clicking was not normal and that i should return my product to best buy (where i'd purchased it) for a replacement. so i did - and thankfully, the replacement chatters just as much as the original! hooray!

Now, i'll never be far from the metronome of my nightmares - an ongoing, click-of-death sound to thrill and chill you each and every day.

Bottom line: seagate's a good company but this product is flawed. i would definitely avoid it.