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January 24th, 2023 05:00

Dell Precision T3610 - Is it safe to split the SATA power cables?

My system currently has a SATA SSD and SAS 15000RPM HDD in it, the HDD goes through a PCIe RAID card and a cable that adapts the SATA power to a SAS connector. I want to replace that HDD with a 7200 RPM SATA (removing both the adapter cable and the RAID card entirely) and add an additional SSD to it.

Issue is I only have two SATA power ports to work with, and the manual says that the system supports two SATA storage drives and two optical drives, but the motherboard has ports for up to six SATA drives. I know I can use the SATA power from the optical drive for the third SSD, but I am going to need that in the future for an actual 5.25 optical drive.

So I wanted to know if anyone is aware if it's safe to split one of the SATA ports into two.

I noticed that technically it has a third SATA/SAS connector if I wanted to route the SSD through the RAID card: 

 

But I think that's more just a byproduct of making it possible to connect two SAS drives to the system and not intended to power three drives at once since the manual only states two. But since the system also is supposed to be able to handle up to two 15000 RPM drives, would a 7200 RPM HDD and two SATA SSDs consume much less power enough so I can safely split one of the SATA power cables into two for the SSDs without risking a fire or overloading anything?

5 Practitioner

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4.6K Posts

January 24th, 2023 15:00

You should be able to use the splitter cable.  Power rail has enough power and most splitter cables can handle up to 54w combined of all ports. 

1 Rookie

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January 25th, 2023 11:00

Thank You. Are you aware of any approved splitters for this? I can only find sketchy looking ones on Amazon and such.

5 Practitioner

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4.6K Posts

January 25th, 2023 13:00

If you are shopping on Amazon, something like this should work for your application.

You can get OEM splitter as well but you will find more choices from the bay. 

sata splitter.jpg

1 Rookie

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47 Posts

January 25th, 2023 13:00

Hmm, the problem is those look like they are molded. I am specifically trying to avoid the cheap molded connectors as they can be problematic and have caused fires for some people in the past.

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January 25th, 2023 15:00

Is there a model number or something for me to try to find the OEM cables? Because otherwise it's going to be an avalanche of random cheap cables if I don't have something specific to search for. Already hard enough trying to find a 8-pin PCIe cable for the PSU on this thing to replace the dual-6-pin cable it came with.

5 Practitioner

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4.6K Posts

January 25th, 2023 15:00

Good research and planning beforehand.  I know what you are saying, overdrawn current could cause overheating at terminals and arcing from bad injection molding are hazardous.  It was part of the reason I added the suggestion for OEM and better options at the bay.  

Edit to add:  Foxconn, Amphenol provide OEM cabling.  Dell uses molded connectors, check your SAS cables.

5 Practitioner

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4.6K Posts

January 25th, 2023 15:00

I suggest the Dell splitter 0N701D.  

 

sata splitter.jpg

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