PS2 Repair Recommendations

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

I've been trying to repair a couple of PS2s that:

1) Don't read DVDs, at all.

2) Rarely read PS1 Black or PS2 Blue games.

I've tried:

1) Cleaning the lens.

2) Calibrating the lens height.

This guides have been very helpful:

http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/ps2.ars/1
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Guides/ps2diy/

The questions:

1) If my two solutions, above, have been properly applied and still
bring no joy, is the next reasonable step to replace the drive laser?

2) Are there other online (freebie) repair guides that I should be
looking at?

Thanks for any time or consideration you lend to my situation.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

Grinder got up from the bar and shouted: :
> I've been trying to repair a couple of PS2s that:
>
> 1) Don't read DVDs, at all.
>
> 2) Rarely read PS1 Black or PS2 Blue games.
>
> I've tried:
>
> 1) Cleaning the lens.
>
> 2) Calibrating the lens height.
>
> This guides have been very helpful:
>
> http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/ps2.ars/1
> http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Guides/ps2diy/
>
> The questions:
>
> 1) If my two solutions, above, have been properly applied and still
> bring no joy, is the next reasonable step to replace the drive laser?
>
> 2) Are there other online (freebie) repair guides that I should be
> looking at?
>
> Thanks for any time or consideration you lend to my situation.


I wouldn't bother, just get a new PS2, a laser will set you back £40
ish, and may not fix the issue, and it's a real bastard to install
correctly (many people can blag the install), a Oscilloscope is required
to install correctly...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

"Grinder" <grinder@no.spam.maam.com> wrote in message
news:ce4te.83689$xm3.72927@attbi_s21...
> I've been trying to repair a couple of PS2s that:
>
> 1) Don't read DVDs, at all.
>
> 2) Rarely read PS1 Black or PS2 Blue games.
>
> I've tried:
>
> 1) Cleaning the lens.
>
> 2) Calibrating the lens height.
>
> The questions:
>
> 1) If my two solutions, above, have been properly applied and still
> bring no joy, is the next reasonable step to replace the drive laser?


It is my understanding that the laser is damaged, even if it reads audio cds
and ps1 cds. it also my understanding the laser gets damaged because of the
voltage regulator/power supply for the laser. whatever you wanna call the
thing, it surges and kills the laser.

I think the best bet would be to run the entire ps2 unit from an UPS unit
from day 1 so there is little to no voltage irregularity, and just hope for
the best.

oh, and no. if the laser dies they arent worth being fixed. laser units cost
ALOT and you can buy a whole system from a pawn shop, eb games, game stop,
etc for $100 or less.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

Grinder <grinder@no.spam.maam.com> wrote in news:ce4te.83689$xm3.72927
@attbi_s21:

> I've been trying to repair a couple of PS2s that:
>
> 1) Don't read DVDs, at all.
>
> 2) Rarely read PS1 Black or PS2 Blue games.
>
> I've tried:
>
> 1) Cleaning the lens.
>
> 2) Calibrating the lens height.
>
> This guides have been very helpful:
>
> http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/ps2.ars/1
> http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Guides/ps2diy/
>
> The questions:
>
> 1) If my two solutions, above, have been properly applied and still
> bring no joy, is the next reasonable step to replace the drive laser?
>
> 2) Are there other online (freebie) repair guides that I should be
> looking at?
>
> Thanks for any time or consideration you lend to my situation.


If it makes a clicking/grinding noise when it tries to read the disc it
could be the laser arm or the worm drive shaft that the laser arm
contacts. You could try cleaning and relubing the metal worm drive
shaft. This worked with my 3 year old PS2 and it hasn't missed a beat
since.

Cordova

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

Cordova wrote:
> Grinder <grinder@no.spam.maam.com> wrote in news:ce4te.83689$xm3.72927
> @attbi_s21:
>
>
>>I've been trying to repair a couple of PS2s that:
>>
>>1) Don't read DVDs, at all.
>>
>>2) Rarely read PS1 Black or PS2 Blue games.
>>
>>I've tried:
>>
>>1) Cleaning the lens.
>>
>>2) Calibrating the lens height.
>>
>>This guides have been very helpful:
>>
>>http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/ps2.ars/1
>>http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Guides/ps2diy/
>>
>>The questions:
>>
>>1) If my two solutions, above, have been properly applied and still
>>bring no joy, is the next reasonable step to replace the drive laser?
>>
>>2) Are there other online (freebie) repair guides that I should be
>>looking at?
>>
>>Thanks for any time or consideration you lend to my situation.
>
>
>
> If it makes a clicking/grinding noise when it tries to read the disc it
> could be the laser arm or the worm drive shaft that the laser arm
> contacts. You could try cleaning and relubing the metal worm drive
> shaft. This worked with my 3 year old PS2 and it hasn't missed a beat
> since.

Thanks for the suggestion. The lens assembly moves (relatively) quietly
and smoothly.

 

[Nexus]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

"Grinder" <grinder@no.spam.maam.com> wrote in message
news:ce4te.83689$xm3.72927@attbi_s21...
> I've been trying to repair a couple of PS2s that:
>
<snip>

Simple answer: Look for a good retailer for a new Optical Pickup Unit,
(think I remember seeing one around on the net for about £15.)

HTH

 

[Nexus]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

"Black Shuck" <mark.gillespie@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:42b57755$0$2425$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net...
> Grinder got up from the bar and shouted: :
>> I've been trying to repair a couple of PS2s that:
>>
>> 1) Don't read DVDs, at all.
>>
>> 2) Rarely read PS1 Black or PS2 Blue games.
>>
>> I've tried:
>>
>> 1) Cleaning the lens.
>>
>> 2) Calibrating the lens height.
>>
>> This guides have been very helpful:
>>
>> http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/ps2.ars/1
>> http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Guides/ps2diy/
>>
>> The questions:
>>
>> 1) If my two solutions, above, have been properly applied and still bring
>> no joy, is the next reasonable step to replace the drive laser?
>>
>> 2) Are there other online (freebie) repair guides that I should be
>> looking at?
>>
>> Thanks for any time or consideration you lend to my situation.
>
>
> I wouldn't bother, just get a new PS2, a laser will set you back £40 ish,
> and may not fix the issue, and it's a real bastard to install correctly
> (many people can blag the install), a Oscilloscope is required to install
> correctly...

Nuts, if the original hardware settings haven't been changed there will be
no need to go ott to install it. I've mucked around with so many OPU's in
my time that I know exactly what is expected of them.

I can't say I've ever tried to change an OPU in a PS2, but I bet it's
nothing like fiddly compact hifi units.

Imho, i'd pay £15 on a new OPU and fit it myself.

 

[Nexus]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

"wd" <wd@none.com> wrote in message news:gvgte.66822$x96.24039@attbi_s72...
>
> "Grinder" <grinder@no.spam.maam.com> wrote in message
> news:ce4te.83689$xm3.72927@attbi_s21...
>> I've been trying to repair a couple of PS2s that:
>>
>> 1) Don't read DVDs, at all.
>>
>> 2) Rarely read PS1 Black or PS2 Blue games.
>>
>> I've tried:
>>
>> 1) Cleaning the lens.
>>
>> 2) Calibrating the lens height.
>>
>> The questions:
>>
>> 1) If my two solutions, above, have been properly applied and still
>> bring no joy, is the next reasonable step to replace the drive laser?
>
>
> It is my understanding that the laser is damaged, even if it reads audio
> cds
> and ps1 cds. it also my understanding the laser gets damaged because of
> the
> voltage regulator/power supply for the laser. whatever you wanna call the
> thing, it surges and kills the laser.
>
> I think the best bet would be to run the entire ps2 unit from an UPS unit
> from day 1 so there is little to no voltage irregularity, and just hope
> for
> the best.
>
> oh, and no. if the laser dies they arent worth being fixed. laser units
> cost
> ALOT and you can buy a whole system from a pawn shop, eb games, game stop,
> etc for $100 or less.
>
>
Why bother with second hand? You'll only end up with more problems,
(considering how cheap they are now, what's the point of flogging an old
one.)

My advice, check exact model number of OPU and do a google for it. (I
remember looking for an OPU unit for a stereo ages ago and found it was too
pricy, looked again a year or so later and dropped dramatically.)

As long as you KNOW what you are doing, you can replace it pretty cheap. If
you don't, give up, you'll do more harm than good.

 

[Nexus]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

"Grinder" <grinder@no.spam.maam.com> wrote in message
news:ZWhte.86608$nG6.27687@attbi_s22...
> Cordova wrote:
>> Grinder <grinder@no.spam.maam.com> wrote in news:ce4te.83689$xm3.72927
>> @attbi_s21:
>>
>>
>>>I've been trying to repair a couple of PS2s that:
>>>
>>>1) Don't read DVDs, at all.
>>>
>>>2) Rarely read PS1 Black or PS2 Blue games.
>>>
>>>I've tried:
>>>
>>>1) Cleaning the lens.
>>>
>>>2) Calibrating the lens height.
>>>
>>>This guides have been very helpful:
>>>
>>>http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/ps2.ars/1
>>>http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Guides/ps2diy/
>>>
>>>The questions:
>>>
>>>1) If my two solutions, above, have been properly applied and still bring
>>>no joy, is the next reasonable step to replace the drive laser?
>>>
>>>2) Are there other online (freebie) repair guides that I should be
>>>looking at?
>>>
>>>Thanks for any time or consideration you lend to my situation.
>>
>>
>>
>> If it makes a clicking/grinding noise when it tries to read the disc it
>> could be the laser arm or the worm drive shaft that the laser arm
>> contacts. You could try cleaning and relubing the metal worm drive
>> shaft. This worked with my 3 year old PS2 and it hasn't missed a beat
>> since.
>
> Thanks for the suggestion. The lens assembly moves (relatively) quietly
> and smoothly.

Lasers don't last forever, and depending on the manafacturing process, it
can pretty much determine how long the unit will last for.

If you've had the unit open already, could you post the exact model number
of the laser?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

NeXuS wrote:
> "Grinder" <grinder@no.spam.maam.com> wrote in message
> news:ZWhte.86608$nG6.27687@attbi_s22...
>
>>Cordova wrote:
>>
>>>Grinder <grinder@no.spam.maam.com> wrote in news:ce4te.83689$xm3.72927
>>>@attbi_s21:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>I've been trying to repair a couple of PS2s that:
>>>>
>>>>1) Don't read DVDs, at all.
>>>>
>>>>2) Rarely read PS1 Black or PS2 Blue games.
>>>>
>>>>I've tried:
>>>>
>>>>1) Cleaning the lens.
>>>>
>>>>2) Calibrating the lens height.
>>>>
>>>>This guides have been very helpful:
>>>>
>>>>http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/ps2.ars/1
>>>>http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Guides/ps2diy/
>>>>
>>>>The questions:
>>>>
>>>>1) If my two solutions, above, have been properly applied and still bring
>>>>no joy, is the next reasonable step to replace the drive laser?
>>>>
>>>>2) Are there other online (freebie) repair guides that I should be
>>>>looking at?
>>>>
>>>>Thanks for any time or consideration you lend to my situation.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>If it makes a clicking/grinding noise when it tries to read the disc it
>>>could be the laser arm or the worm drive shaft that the laser arm
>>>contacts. You could try cleaning and relubing the metal worm drive
>>>shaft. This worked with my 3 year old PS2 and it hasn't missed a beat
>>>since.
>>
>>Thanks for the suggestion. The lens assembly moves (relatively) quietly
>>and smoothly.
>
>
> Lasers don't last forever, and depending on the manafacturing process, it
> can pretty much determine how long the unit will last for.
>
> If you've had the unit open already, could you post the exact model number
> of the laser?

I'm sorry, I didn't write that down and have since returned the unit to
the proper owner. The model of the Playstation 2, if that's of any use,
is SCPH-35001 -- making it a version 4 unit. (I don't know if it's gap
or no gap, though.)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

NeXuS got up from the bar and shouted: :
> "Black Shuck" <mark.gillespie@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:42b57755$0$2425$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net...
>
>>Grinder got up from the bar and shouted: :
>>
>>>I've been trying to repair a couple of PS2s that:
>>>
>>>1) Don't read DVDs, at all.
>>>
>>>2) Rarely read PS1 Black or PS2 Blue games.
>>>
>>>I've tried:
>>>
>>>1) Cleaning the lens.
>>>
>>>2) Calibrating the lens height.
>>>
>>>This guides have been very helpful:
>>>
>>>http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/ps2.ars/1
>>>http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Guides/ps2diy/
>>>
>>>The questions:
>>>
>>>1) If my two solutions, above, have been properly applied and still bring
>>>no joy, is the next reasonable step to replace the drive laser?
>>>
>>>2) Are there other online (freebie) repair guides that I should be
>>>looking at?
>>>
>>>Thanks for any time or consideration you lend to my situation.
>>
>>
>>I wouldn't bother, just get a new PS2, a laser will set you back £40 ish,
>>and may not fix the issue, and it's a real bastard to install correctly
>>(many people can blag the install), a Oscilloscope is required to install
>>correctly...
>
>
> Nuts, if the original hardware settings haven't been changed there will be
> no need to go ott to install it. I've mucked around with so many OPU's in
> my time that I know exactly what is expected of them.
>
> I can't say I've ever tried to change an OPU in a PS2, but I bet it's
> nothing like fiddly compact hifi units.
>
> Imho, i'd pay £15 on a new OPU and fit it myself.
>
>

Each laser is different, and requires adjustment of the 2 pots to get
the perfect "eye" pattern. Just ploking it in, will almost always work,
but it's working at maybe 70% efficiency, and certainly not as well as
the original laser. I used to work in a repair centre, back when it
used to be economic to replace laser pickups, we would put them in, then
adjustment, very few were correct and needed no adjustment of the gain
and focus, or azimuth.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

I have a PS2 that stopped reading disks. I called Sony, explained the
problem with the well-out-of-warranty system, and was told they'd fix
it for free. I just had to pay the shipping to get it to them.

It took about five days to get it back, and they replace the drive
assembly and the laser mount, and didn't charge me a dime (sorry if I
misremember exactly what was replaced, I don't have the repair log on
hand). It's been working flawlessly for the past six months.

You'll probably hear a lot of horror stories about Sony's customer
service in this newsgroup, but not from me.

Nick

--
# sigmask (lambda deprecation version) 20041028 || feed this to a python
print ''.join([chr(ord(x)-1) for x in 'Ojdl!Wbshjti!=ojdlAwbshjti/psh?'])

 

[Nexus]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

"Black Shuck" <mark.gillespie@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:42b6086a$0$41928$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader03.plus.net...
> NeXuS got up from the bar and shouted: :
>> "Black Shuck" <mark.gillespie@gmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:42b57755$0$2425$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net...
>>
>>>Grinder got up from the bar and shouted: :
>>>
>>>>I've been trying to repair a couple of PS2s that:
>>>>
>>>>1) Don't read DVDs, at all.
>>>>
>>>>2) Rarely read PS1 Black or PS2 Blue games.
>>>>
>>>>I've tried:
>>>>
>>>>1) Cleaning the lens.
>>>>
>>>>2) Calibrating the lens height.
>>>>
>>>>This guides have been very helpful:
>>>>
>>>>http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/ps2.ars/1
>>>>http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Guides/ps2diy/
>>>>
>>>>The questions:
>>>>
>>>>1) If my two solutions, above, have been properly applied and still
>>>>bring no joy, is the next reasonable step to replace the drive laser?
>>>>
>>>>2) Are there other online (freebie) repair guides that I should be
>>>>looking at?
>>>>
>>>>Thanks for any time or consideration you lend to my situation.
>>>
>>>
>>>I wouldn't bother, just get a new PS2, a laser will set you back £40 ish,
>>>and may not fix the issue, and it's a real bastard to install correctly
>>>(many people can blag the install), a Oscilloscope is required to install
>>>correctly...
>>
>>
>> Nuts, if the original hardware settings haven't been changed there will
>> be no need to go ott to install it. I've mucked around with so many
>> OPU's in my time that I know exactly what is expected of them.
>>
>> I can't say I've ever tried to change an OPU in a PS2, but I bet it's
>> nothing like fiddly compact hifi units.
>>
>> Imho, i'd pay £15 on a new OPU and fit it myself.
>
> Each laser is different, and requires adjustment of the 2 pots to get the
> perfect "eye" pattern. Just ploking it in, will almost always work, but
> it's working at maybe 70% efficiency, and certainly not as well as the
> original laser. I used to work in a repair centre, back when it used to
> be economic to replace laser pickups, we would put them in, then
> adjustment, very few were correct and needed no adjustment of the gain
> and focus, or azimuth.

Tbh, it just depends on how competent you are/feel to do the job.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

NeXuS got up from the bar and shouted: :

> Tbh, it just depends on how competent you are/feel to do the job.
>
>

?? competency has nothing to do with it. If you don't have a scope,
it's almost certainly not going to set to it's optimum settings, and may
even be far enough out to not even work.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)

[Snippers]

Thanks everyone, for your considerations.