Sega saturn swap trick, can we save the motor?

I just got the robwebb chip shipped UK -> US for $26. Installed in minutes.. works a treat! I did the swap trick a couple times, but what a pain and I didn't want to destroy my system to save a few bucks.

As mentioned above, contact seller directly to arrange shipment. ppal is weird about mchips and such

The cool thing is the Saturn laser is really good quality and should last a long time if you take care of it.

 

I use a backup of System Disc KD01 and a timer for the door switch to save both time and the drive. I only have to make one swap while the disc is spinning (backup of KD01 -> any original game), and the timer gives me just enough time to make the swap before "opening" the door. Then I can switch to any games (patched correctly of course) I like, use the reset button, change regions etc. just like with a modchip as long as I don't power off the machine. One thing I've noticed is that three of my machines (two PAL VA5 and one JPN VA3) will stop spinning the backup when it doesn't find a security ring before trying again, so if you use a 80 mm CDR for the KD01 backup you can see the disc stop spinning and make the swap then, saving the drive even more. On my VA0 and VA1 machines the disc will just continue to spin.
If a timer sounds expensive/complicated you can always control the door sensor using a normal switch.