USB External IDE HDD

Hey

I have a odd problem.

I attempted to boot an IDE drive (Seagate ST3250823A, Barracuda 7200.8, 250GB HDD, +5V 0.46A, +12V 0.56A) within an external USB Enclosure (Shintaro 3.5" External PATA, 240V AC Powered with internal PSU, No voltage noted on unit) and the following occurred:
- loud sporadic ping like sounds and the drive not booting up
- powered cycled and problem persisted (not sure how many times)
- powered cycled and the drive not powering up
- I successfully tested the external USB enclosure with another IDE HDD (Seagate ST3250820A, Barracuda 7200.10, 250GB HDD, +5V 0.72A, +12V 0.52A).

I then decided to test the HDD in an another external USB Enclosure (Shintaro Hard Drive Docker, DC 12V 300mA by external PSU) and the hard drive booted up and ran all night without any problems.

I tested the same drive again in the previous external PATA and no power. And yes the data is backed up.

Has anyone else heard of this problem?

Cheers