urgent help requested, laser cant focus, gds are too close

[DukeofURL]

ran out of space...

anyway, i found of all things, a DC in my friends trash.
He gave it to me because he bought a new one after his old one died.

Anyway, I have isolated the problem. The disc center holder (The nub that goes through the center of the disc) has been pushed down about a millimeter, or less. The result makes it so that discs on it spin lower, and the laser actually nicks them when it trys to read it.

I have tried different methods of pushing the gd rom nub up a little, but none make it stay up. Does anyone else have any ideas?

Also, I could replace the DC nub with a taller Nub from my dead playstation, although, I can not get the nub off of my playstation nor my DC. (The axle which holds them on are in T shapes which prevent anyone from just prying them off)

BTW, the lense has not been scratched because the discs used to not spin at all because the top layer of the gd rom unit was on. Taking it off got the discs to spin (No longer any resistance) but now the laser nicks it when it spins. Thus the laser is too close to focus, and physically hits the disc making clicking noises.

[NiGHTSFTP]

Now, I've never done this, but have thought of it...

Why not open the drive assembly, then fix the nub by (basically) re-mounting it.

[MidnightObsidian]

This is a REALLY easy fix if you're careful. I'll be you ANYTHING that the tiny screws that mount the rotary motor to the bottom of the plastic roof of the GD-ROM assembly came loose. I can't tell you how many "broken" portable CD players I've gotten with the same exact problem. Speaking of which, it even happened with my Playstation last year!

So here's what you do. Get a nice pair of pliers, preferably ones that can have the opening so the sides can be parallel and fit around the top of the "nub" at the same time... they need to be able to look like this:

(I HAD ASCII art here, but it wasn't lining up correctly... must be a different font on the final page... anyway what it comes down to is that the pliers shouldn't be pulling the nub together and pushing up, they should just be pulling the nub together. The sides should be parallel when it has either grip on either side of the nub.)

Sorry about that crappy ASCII art... but I'm not sure how I would explain it any other way. Just kind of wiggle the wrench/pliers gently back and forth and pull the thing off. Under it, you should see two or four holes in the plastic. Rotate the rotary motor so that its screw holes line up with the holes in the plastic and screw the screws (which are probably still under the "nub") back in. >= )

Taa-daa!

[DukeofURL]

Thanks, Ill try it today.

--also, I got a bit of a temporary fix by cutting down a CD until only the center part remained. (about a cm radius) then I clickd that onto my DC and taped the disc over it.

Surprisingly enough, this works with about 5 out of 9 of the discs I tried it with. (Therefore the lense should not be damaged)

(And to think my friend was going to throw it way.)

[DukeofURL]

Well, I got the Nub off with no problem. Although underneath it, the rotary wheel has no holes! The rotary is solid plastic. Just to make sure that I was talking about the correct part, I took a look at the same part in my PSX. The same part does have the holes.

Unfortuanently, without the holes I cannot get at the screws, I cant get the rotary wheel off. Any other ideas, or a method of getting the rotary wheel off?

[MidnightObsidian]

Well I already destroyed my playstation today. Why not take the good one out of commission, too?

(I'll see what I can do, but I have a lot of homework to do tonight, so I'm not sure what I'll be able to do right away.)

[DukeofURL]

Nevermind, I am heading to a hardware store today to pick up a flat wide washer. I am going to stick this under the NUB in order so that the laser will focus and no longer scratch up the discs.

[MidnightObsidian]

Well that's cool... I'm just sorry that you couldn't fix it perfectly.