PowerBook 180 hard drive died today

[Quadraflex45]

The IBM 2.5" SCSI hard drive inside my beloved PowerBook 180 has died today, and it won't spin up anymore. When it did run, it was rather loud and sounded worn out. I know these drives are hard to find, but i'm really hoping someone here has one that works. I prefer the Conner drives but also like the Quantums used in these (am aware of the rubber issue). I don't know how loud the IBM drives spindles are but the Conners seem the quietest to me, but i'm not too sure. I'm 17 so at the moment it's kind of hard for me to source a replacement drive so that's why i'm hoping someone here will have one. 

Also, I know about the SCSI2SD options but for now i'd rather have an original running drive in my machine as it's the only PowerBook I have at the moment (Getting a 5300 and a G4 soon).

Thanks for reading everyone and have a wonderful day!

 

[Johnnya101]

I have a couple of dead Connors and a working Quantum Go Drive, but I'd like to sell them with at least one of my parts powerbooks.

An SCSI2SD is a much better choice. I have one in my 140. Fast. I made a 3d printed bracket too.

 

[Franklinstein]

So there are specific problems with each manufacturer:

The IBM models are usually fastest but are a little loud and like to develop stiction if they sit too long. 

The Quantum drives have rubber bumpers that become sticky and prevent the head armature from moving. There's no fixing it without disassembling the drive and replacing the rubber. 

The Conner drives also have problems with a sticky bumper that requires repair. They're easier to fix than the Quantum drives but it still requires opening the drive and replace the bumper. 

Aggressive power saving such as spinning the hard drive down every 60 seconds or so will rapidly wear out any drive. With as old as these things are I recommend disabling separate drive spin down timing to keep them from burning out. 

A guaranteed good SCSI hard drive of that vintage is likely going to be in the $100 range, even for the 40-80MB ones. Try posting a Wanted ad in the Trading Post here and you may get lucky though.