Fat ps2 DVD drive

[johney]

Hey guys.. I recently bought a used fat ps2, from a guy who doesn't know anything about it. I noticed it had like a grinding or scratching sound when it reads discs, but that didn't bother me since it could read games (every so often it would fail) so I cleaned the laser and it got a little better, but the grinding sound never stopped.

So today I found this repair guide to solve the issue and I found out (among other things) that the spindle of the DVD drive has a silver ring that's supposed to move downwards when you apply a little pressure to it. And that's supposed to hold your discs in place. Only problem is, the thing is missing on my ps2.
My console is SCPH-39004 (v7?). Should that silver ring be there for my version? And if yes, where the hell can I find the replacement?

Also, I'm missing the white wheel for tweaking the laser height. Any ides where to find that?

I live in Europe in a country with no paypal.
[I've attached links to pictures so you can see the things I'm talking about]

Thanks a lot!

Picture of my spindle without ring

Picture of spindle from guide

Picture of missing white wheel

[SP193]

Hey guys.. I recently bought a used fat ps2, from a guy who doesn't know anything about it. I noticed it had like a grinding or scratching sound when it reads discs, but that didn't bother me since it could read games (every so often it would fail) so I cleaned the laser and it got a little better, but the grinding sound never stopped.

So today I found this repair guide to solve the issue and I found out (among other things) that the spindle of the DVD drive has a silver ring that's supposed to move downwards when you apply a little pressure to it. And that's supposed to hold your discs in place. Only problem is, the thing is missing on my ps2.
My console is SCPH-39004 (v7?). Should that silver ring be there for my version? And if yes, where the hell can I find the replacement?

Also, I'm missing the white wheel for tweaking the laser height. Any ides where to find that?

I live in Europe in a country with no paypal.
[I've attached links to pictures so you can see the things I'm talking about]

Thanks a lot!

Picture of my spindle without ring

Picture of spindle from guide

Picture of missing white wheel

Hold on - when you mention DVD discs, do you mean legit, Sony Playstation 2 DVD discs, or burned DVD discs?

The v7 SCPH-39001 I used to have had a horrible problem getting sufficient grip on my burned discs (It keeps making a scrapping sound, and fails to read them properly), and I had to put some tape near the hub of my discs to give the console more grip.

That console could read legit Sony Playstation 2 DVD discs properly though.

[johney]

Hold on - when you mention DVD discs, do you mean legit, Sony Playstation 2 DVD discs, or burned DVD discs?

The v7 SCPH-39001 I used to have had a horrible problem getting sufficient grip on my burned discs (It keeps making a scrapping sound, and fails to read them properly), and I had to put some tape near the hub of my discs to give the console more grip.

That console could read legit Sony Playstation 2 DVD discs properly though.

I was refering to backups, but it grinds even on some legit discs. Are you suggesting I should use tape on the discs to make them heavier? And by hub, do you mean the little hole in the middle of the disc? Isn't there a more permanent solution?

Today I tried to grease up the laser rails and it seems to improve the issue but I can still hear "skipping sounds" - I don't know how else to describe them. There's no real grinding action going on though. Maybe just a bit. Any ides?

BTW, any thoughts on the white wheel thingy? Did your console lack the white wheel aswell?

[SP193]

I was refering to backups, but it grinds even on some legit discs. Are you suggesting I should use tape on the discs to make them heavier? And by hub, do you mean the little hole in the middle of the disc? Isn't there a more permanent solution?

Today I tried to grease up the laser rails and it seems to improve the issue but I can still hear "skipping sounds" - I don't know how else to describe them. There's no real grinding action going on though. Maybe just a bit. Any ides?

BTW, any thoughts on the white wheel thingy? Did your console lack the white wheel aswell?

Yes, the hub is that transparent part of the CD/DVD disc.

The tape is not to make the disc heavier, but to make the disc's hub thicker to give the console better grip on the disc.

The white gear was present on that SCPH-39001 console when I last had it.

Does the scrapping sound sound more like a clicking sound instead?

[johney]

Yes, the hub is that transparent part of the CD/DVD disc.

The tape is not to make the disc heavier, but to make the disc's hub thicker to give the console better grip on the disc.

The white gear was present on that SCPH-39001 console when I last had it.

Does the scrapping sound sound more like a clicking sound instead?

Now that I think about it, yes it does sound something like a clicking sound. What does that mean?

[SP193]

Now that I think about it, yes it does sound something like a clicking sound. What does that mean?

Your laser is struggling to read the disc (Probably going to fail).
The clicking sound is the laser eye moving up and down as the laser tries to get a sharp focus on the disc.

By the way, I don't think you have to worry about the missing ring.
I think that your console just has a different CD/DVD drive that the one in the guide (Since the one in the guide seems like the CD/DVD drive in my SCPH-39006 which has a Sanyo HD7 laser).

I remember that the drive rotor and laser was different from my SCPH-39006 (v8) in the SCPH-39001.

EDIT: Your drive layout in the photograph looks similar to the one my SCPH-39006 has - it doesn't have that metal ring.

The white gear is actually under the drive tray, so I can't tell whether you're missing it or not (Since I can't tell whether your tray is ejected or not).
If that photograph you uploaded actually shows your console without the drive tray, then the white gear is missing/broken off.

[johney]

That photo is of the ejected tray, since when it's not ejected you can't see the whole "working area" of the laser. I actually found a white gear but it's under all that black plastic under that white part. BTW I know you can't see in the photo, but the white part looks like the head of an inbus screw. I hope you understood what I said in this whole paragraph?

What can I do to extend the life of my laser? It's a khs-400c so I would really love to keep it as much as possible..
Thanks for all the info and patience you're giving me, really appreciate it

[shagster]

Switch the console off,with the game that clicks inside it already (Dont move the console around with it switched on) then turn the console upside down as you wont be able to insert a game into it when its upside down.Switch it back on and listen if the clicking stops or get better,if it does i'd guess it was your white plastic laser arm.

When they start to wear out,they cant get enough grip on the worm gear,hence the clicking.You can get them new on ebay or other places online,as its a common problem.

Or what i done before was slightly heat up the plastic laser arm (i used a cig lighter) until it goes soft(a couple of seconds)then slightly bend the plastic to apply a little more pressure on the worm gear,dont bend it to much.Let it cool down and put it back on the laser.

[johney]

Switch the console off,with the game that clicks inside it already (Dont move the console around with it switched on) then turn the console upside down as you wont be able to insert a game into it when its upside down.Switch it back on and listen if the clicking stops or get better,if it does i'd guess it was your white plastic laser arm.

When they start to wear out,they cant get enough grip on the worm gear,hence the clicking.You can get them new on ebay or other places online,as its a common problem.

Or what i done before was slightly heat up the plastic laser arm (i used a cig lighter) until it goes soft(a couple of seconds)then slightly bend the plastic to apply a little more pressure on the worm gear,dont bend it to much.Let it cool down and put it back on the laser.

I've just tried to put it upside down and honestly, I don't notice a change. I've studied the sounds coming out of the console and they're usually some low pitched thumps followed by high pitched squeaky sounds. Like two-three thumps then some squeaks then it repeats.

[SP193]

I've just tried to put it upside down and honestly, I don't notice a change. I've studied the sounds coming out of the console and they're usually some low pitched thumps followed by high pitched squeaky sounds. Like two-three thumps then some squeaks then it repeats.

It's your laser trying to read. A fully operational HD7 and KHS-400x (where x is a letter) laser would make squeaking sounds when they seek (But poor performance, and clicking and thumping sounds isn't normal).

Use high quality DVD-R discs, like Verbatim Data Life Plus DVD-R with AZO (manufacturered by Taiyo Yuden or Mitsubushi Chemical Corporation).

Using cheap discs with a KHS-400C will make the laser wear out super fast (The SCPH-39001 I had a weak KHS-400C laser... and I worsened it's condition by making it read the cheap HP DVD-R discs I had for my SCPH-77006).
Since your console has a KHS-400C laser, you should take good care of it (Not only does it seem better than a KHS-400R, it's one of those lasers that can't be used to read cheap recordable discs).

But if the problems persists even after using high-quality discs and adjusting the laser potentiometers, your laser is gone and you need to replace it.

That photo is of the ejected tray, since when it's not ejected you can't see the whole "working area" of the laser. I actually found a white gear but it's under all that black plastic under that white part. BTW I know you can't see in the photo, but the white part looks like the head of an inbus screw. I hope you understood what I said in this whole paragraph?

I understand.
If it's like that, then I'm afraid that I can't give you advice on the white gear here since I'm not too experienced with console models like yours (The only console I had opened was that SCPH-39001 and SCPH-39006, but I had come across consoles with KHS-400A(?), KHS-400C, HD7 and KHS-430A lasers).

I don't remember where exactly the white gear is since all the photographs I had of my SCPH-39006 were of the consoles with the drive tray not ejected - but I only know that that white gear lies under the drive tray.