Patent ID: 8687307

Claim:
A disk drive comprising: a head disk assembly (HDA) filled with a gas, the HDA comprising: a disk; a head actuated over the disk; an electrical heating element; and control circuitry operable to: measure a pressure inside the HDA; heat the electrical heating element for a first heating time; measure a rate of temperature change of the electrical heating element; and detect the gas leaking from the HDA in response to the pressure and the rate of temperature change by: measuring a starting temperature (TEMPs) of the electrical heating element before heating the heating element; measuring an ending temperature (TEMPe) of the electrical heating element after the first heating time; determining a temperature threshold in response to TEMPs and TEMPe; measuring a cooling time required for the temperature of the electrical heating element to cool to the temperature threshold; and detecting the gas leaking from the HDA in response to the cooling time.