Date   : Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:18:09 -0500
From   : jules.richardson99@... (Jules Richardson)
Subject: Disc drive power

Ian Wolstenholme wrote:
> Just thinking out loud...
> 
> Could a 3.5" disc drive be powered off a 9V battery?  Or a 5.25" drive?
> 
> In view of my history of blowing things up, I'm not going to do anything
> until The List has spoken.....

Generally the logic on them is +5V, but the head stepper and spindle motor are 
+12V. There are exceptions, though (and I suspect that laptop drives might be 
+5V only).

I think most 5.25" drives will put the power requirements on the drive - the 
same might not be true of 3.5" ones. I bet the motors on old 5.25" drives draw 
quite a bit.

Not sure how much mileage you'd get out of two +9V batteries in series along 
with some suitable regulation.

You could devise something to get +12V out of a suitably-meaty +5V line, I 
suppose. Probably not very efficient, but it could work...

cheers

Jules