Big thanks to mikefromMN for trying to get any info off my bad HD, unfortunately he wasn't successful after a valiant effort.
I have all of my HD's now and have one of these on the way:
It hooks up via USB 3.0 and will dock 2 HD's as well as clone from one to another without a computer. I will leave the main HD's in the computer and then copy them on occasion to the docked HD's. This way they are only powered up when the backup is taking place and they should last for ages.