Reparing a PC Engine CD-ROM: games never load, rubbing noise

I managed to rig the lens block up so it could run without the top half of the case getting in the way. The disk was able to freely spin and this time the system didn't keep on reading forever, it spin the disk for a bit, tried to read it then stopped and said "please set disk". You think the laser might be dead?

 

Yes I suspect a dead laser in this case Do you see the laser beam appearing through the disc?

I guess you tried to clean up that laser already? It's looks clean on your picture.

Some people says these white units are difficult to fix but I heard it's based on a standard sony design, so you should be able to find parts. PC Engine consoles are getting old, I have a duo waiting for a recap', my GT's been recapped already and my SuperCDrom2 had a fishy smell, last time I played with it... recap soon for it. All my other systems are fine, even my 28 years old MSX is fine.

 

I didn't see a laser, no. And yeah, it's been cleaned. I've got a second CDROM unit, will do a laser swap and see if that helps.

 

Do you heard the lens click when it's trying to read the CD? There's a clue for a weak/dead laser.

 

I can't really say I did, but I seem to recall it made some kinda odd noises while it was trying to read.

 

I used psone spindle motor and fixed my problem.

 

Were you having the same issues as me?

Okay, I've swapped the lasers over and... Same problem! The laser returns to center and the disk spins for a bit before stopping then the system saying "please set disk". As before, I didn't see any red lasers, is the laser on this one dead too? Or are there assembly problems that can cause this?

 

what about the caps on your cd unit i have not yet replaced but i have fixed one before with replacing caps.

 

I'm not sure, how can you tell if they've gone bad aside from having exploded?

 

Hmmm, I tried using a different board, but the same results as the other one.

Just to be sure, this problem can't be cause by improper assembly can it? I notice that the ribbon cable from the laser can be inserted quite deeply into the slot, it seems like it would be pretty easy to not insert it far enough.