@aargee - Yes I believe that the offending power brick was reverse from what it would normally want for the device. Yes I immediately trashed the sucker. The problem with WD's old external HDDs (5-10 years old) is that the power packs were not labeled Western Digital. Some generic company brand, not sure of the name. I have a few of them from over the years and they all look the same, they take a two input jack from mains, goes into a black box with a green light, and comes to a two wire cord with a power jack termination. This could have all been avoided if the power supply was just built into the monstrosity.
Anyway I am looking forward to doing the fix, and will report back with the results.