Thought I should 'report back' - problem solved (I think!). Due to frequent plugging and unplugging of my failing ***** Maxtor drives I reckon the female connectors on the power lead had slackened off. A quick poke with a small screwdriver to reclose them and I then plugged that connector onto my DVDRom which was not being replaced 'under repair warranty' every 5 minutes like the drives and all well so far.
PS I have given up with Maxtor (now I believe Seagate owned) now that the last warranty repair has been used.
