You can take out the laser itself by removing that white rectangular gear on the bottom of the laser unit. For the PSOne lasers its a bit easier to remove the circular gear first (pinch the little tabs on the other side then pull it out), then remove the rectangular one. Also, oiling the spindle motor can sometimes help fix FMV and red book audio skipping :)
FYI, if you know you have a good Laser, replace the capacitor located lower left to the right of the laser ribbon connector. It will be labeled 220 4G in between CL704 and CL708. Guaranteed if you have a good laser that Capacitor is bad. If you have bad video replace the other 220 4G capacitors that are located at the top of the board. I'm not sure what the deal is but the 220uf seems to go bad over time. I used Digikey pn: 493-2236-1-ND 220uf 6.3v. I think the original is a 4.6v or something, but higher voltage is always better as long as it fits the location. :)
This video is old, so I'm guessing you won't see this, but I've dealt with a very similar issue in the past and been able to get the laser unit working again. Unfortunately, you didn't show the behavior of the working laser without the disc inserted. It would have clearly shown that the laser moved upwards/downwards in an attempt to read the disc, which the faulty unit did not do. I've been able to resolve this issue in the past simply by grabbing the area around the laser diode with a pair of tweezers and moving it back and forth, up and down. I'm guessing this freed up whatever was causing the restriction, and the unit worked without issue after that. Hopefully someone finds this info useful.
That moving up and down is the lens adjusting the focus of the laser. A CD does not have a perfect flat surface and some CDs can have a very big warp causing them to wobble up and down. The lens will try to follow the curvature of the CD as it attempts to read it.
Hi sir actually i have same issue here, my cd drive stop spinning after i clean the laser with cotton bud. It spin before i do it, but the laser is still move up and down the red light still shining focus. But it's ended stop spinning. Maybe is the contact cleaner make it stop spinning? Just curious which diode did you move? I'm sorry not much experience i have in repairing playstation cd drive.
Just an fyi, but sometimes on the original Playstation, PSONE and PS2, the issue isn't a burnt out laser, but the mechanism that makes the laser unit move up and down which has gone weak. I believe that the up and down motion is used for fine focus of the laser when reading a disc. You can test if it's this that is the issue by turning the whole console upside down. This allows gravity to help the laser unit move up, (or down while unverted). Sometimes the console will start to read discs again while it's upside down, if this is the cause.
Whoa. I just tried this on my PSOne, and it worked. I still have a replacement laser en route, but it's nice to know what was causing the issue. All I wanted to play was some Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, but for some reason, it was the only disc that console refused to read. 😒 Thanks for the tip!
PlayStation 1 consoles are always having laser and disc drive problems. Aside from that they are usually very reliable consoles which outlast many new consoles and the value of them is increasing due to them becoming retro consoles - boxed ones in particular are becoming quite expensive.
The back light goes on the official ones, it's a stupid tube!! Thet are really good screens, but they go for quick a pretty penny fully working, might make a nice MMV video though, hmmm....
I noticed this too. It doesnt move vertically. Normally if you put your finger on the button you should see the motor spin, and the lazer rise about 2mm up then back down. Thats not happening
@Ellis The DJ Na, it should move up and down again regardless of if the lazer is burnt out. It only moves up to start reading from the lazer once its moved.
Remember I had two Ps1's that wouldn't load games unless I turned them upside down, think was due to the lens losing it's stickiness and dropping a bit further into the housing.
Its not the Lens. Its actually the plastic not making it be able to move or hell it cannot reach the CD hence why i put mine side ways, upside down does not work for it for some reason.
Good job on the troubleshooting Vince! I enjoy watching your videos to learn more about the mult-imeter you use and checking different components. You should learn how to replace the lasers in the PS1 systems. Those are the first lasers i learned how to replace long ago. Once you do that you can even do the PS2 ones. It isn't too bad to do really. I found it to be quite fun! Do make sure to have some thermal grease to put on the rails afterwards!
If anyone's replaced the laser on one of these and problems still persist, try surveying the circuit board, we found two capacitors that had leaked and had fluid residue dried around them, they were labelled C600 and C705 on the board (10uf and 0.47uf respectively) it could be these or any others on your circuit board but I replaced the two in question and it works completely fine now!
Golden comment, this worked for me! The capacitor labelled C705 (0.47uf) was faulty, I replaced it and it's working running perfectly now! You saved my old console, thank you very much sir 🙌
Laser diodes and diodes in general are reasonably reliable in my opinion, in the absence of an over-power or static event. I feel with these laser pickups, the problem is often the pickup or the optical sensor in the pickup gets bumped via a drop and moves out of position. I'm not sure its possible to mechanically rearrange it back into a working state. CD lasers are hard to see as well since they are mostly infrared. If you had a Wii or right Switch remote in debug mode you could use the IR camera on the remote to see if the laser diode is actually flashing on.
Definitely a faulty laser. During it's disc-detection routine, the laser is supposed to actually mover upwards inside it's sled to zoom into the disc. Since the faulty one did not move in any way, it's definitely the laser. You can verify the laser lens will move upwards with a known-good one.
My psone has the same issue 5 years ago. I tried to replace the laser unit. But the problem wasn't solved. Still not reading. After that I put my psone in a box and forgot. Today I saw your video and tried to set the potentiometer. Believe or not, it's working now. I don't know if I fix old or new unit. I can't remember which one is old. Important thing is that my old psone is working again. Sometimes it takes two power ons to start the game. Laser should be set better maybe. But it's working. That's important. Thank you so much! 🙂👍
Hey, I have a problem. I replaced the whole assembly just like you did. With a new part. Same problem. I tried adjusting the resistance on the laser (literally step by stem from 600 to 1300 ohms) and it does not work. Spins disk twice and goes to menu. Please help.
With laser lenses, they can be made of plastic or glass so only use clean water to carefully clean the top gently. using any cleaner can fog/burn/melt the lens and then its ruined. Many techs have made that mistake. You are only removing dust usually, those disk cleaners with brushes arguably work or could do harm, i have used them and got some good results but i not recommending them or not.Safer to clean it gently yourself then dry it and use a magnifying glass close up to inspect lens. Also i do this upside down to stop water falling down into the cradle and delicate parts/ electronics- just to be sure. Once clean they last a while so if you suddenly have it playing up fully, its not likely the lens being dirty but i clean and inspect as matter of service and repair just to be certain.
There is an easy way to tell if the laser is faulty, remember the warnings about laser, well if it works like it should it so bright that indeed, can (maybe) blind you. You can even see red glow through the CD itself, if not - the laser is dead and so can't blind you at all and should be replaced.
@@gmaninthusa The laser on PS1 is observable with naked eye, I've replaced it and saw by myself, also you without a doubt should be able to see it through the camera, and in this video you can't.
I once recovered a faulty original PS1, I think the disc moved somewhat but it couldnt read it. Turns out the "disk pad" that holds the disk was "sunken" (therefore the disk I think was too close from the laser or maybe there was some friction between the disc Pad and the base). Just needed to "pull-up" the disk pad a bit from the DC motor at the base and that resolved the issue and it worked. I wanted to sell it but I guessed the next user would "push" CDs down (as most of us do) and it would displace it again making it useless again. But I got a free original PS1 :) - Always in touch with my Diogenes side ;)
I am liking this new style of video that you are doing...and you still get to take stuff apart! Just a quick question, how long do lasers last on the ps's? Stay safe mate.
Hello Vince. The Problem with the PS1 Lasers is not only the Power of the Laser that you can adjust on the little Potentiometer, it could also been Adjusted by the BIAS and GAIN. But unfortunately not on the PS One (slim) that you have. But even if you adjust BIAS and GAIN on an first Model of the PS1 it could be that it wont work either and you have to replace the Laser. Anyhow good work and keep on going. Regards from Germany
Nice fix :) "No parts required" repairs are the best kind but sometimes making it work again requires replacing some parts, and good thing there's still these parts available for PS1. Nearly year ago had to replace the CD spindle to my original model PS1 (SCPH-9002 c). Old one had broken plastic parts, one piece even fell inside the console, so had to take it apart anyway to get it out of there.
Hi VINCE, maybe it is worthy to try exchange parts between working laser and faulty and check if it is working? I had situation when I was sure that the laser is burned, but by changing parts with working one I found out that the bigger motor is faulty. It would be also worthy to measure signal level of the laser. There is testing point (RV701 on PS1, PSone may have different name). On YT you can find a few videos that showing how to measure signal level by using oscilloscope (amplitude of signal should be around 0.96v), but I found also that you can do it by simple multimeter. You need to measure voltage between GND and the testing point on idle state (PS is powered on but without CD), and then with CD when laser tries to read disc. The difference of voltages should be equal to ~0.96. If it's not, you should use POT on the laser to adjust the voltage. For instance if idle voltage is 0.4, reading voltage should be 1.36 (0.4 + 0.96). I tested it on 4 PS1 pieces and it works perfectly for me, but I not tested it on PSOne so I'm not 100% sure it will work for you. BTW. It is great to watching your videos :)
These are nice too. Ill watch all your videos, just because of the variety. Ill watch all the new videos because I want to have an open mind. Your straightforward thinking is great.
Louis Rossmann once said it doesn't matter if you have to take a crap on it to get it working, a fix is a fix regardless of what you do to it. I run by a similar philosophy, if it takes me 5 minutes and all I do is blow on it to get it working I'm still charging the same price as the standard repair would cost
Can't imagine your customers are too happy with that. I understand you should be paid for your time, but doesn't seem fair to charge someone the same price as a 2hr job(diagnosing and repairing/replacing a part) as a 5min job(blowing out dust). And I don't believe Rossman treats his customers like that either.
@@jaredl2239 well that's obviously an analogy but the customer is paying for expertise. If a customer brings an xbox one that won't turn on the price is exactly the same to replace one component on the power regulation area as it is to replace 10, because they are paying specifically to get that console to turn back on, not for a specific component. Louis does actually operate the same, he would charge $220 for replacing a resistor, and he would charge exactly the same to replace a CD3215. Sometimes we get the better end of the deal, sometimes the customer does, but it's still the same service either way. If I took my car in for replacement brakes and the mechanic spent half hour removing one bolt that's not my problem, I'm not going to pay an extra £50 labour because of it :) it's a win some lose some world
@@TheCod3r Louis has shown in recent videos that he quotes different prices depending on what might need replaced to remedy a certain issue. It's why he had to make that flow chart for the call center service that turned him down. And a mechanic charges a flat rate for changing brakes because they actually change the brakes. They don't look at them, see they just need a bolt tightened, and charge you for a full brake replacement.
@@jaredl2239 yes but Louis does have flat rates for component level board repair, obviously if a cpu is dead he isn't charging the same as he would for a CD3215 but if it has no power he would charge the same for one resistor as he would for 10 resistors. Of course if a customer comes to me with a dead console and it turns out to be just a power supply id just replace that part and charge parts plus a small labour fee, but at the same time if I have a console with no power and it needs one mosfet I'd charge the same as I would for 5 mosfets. Most of the cost of repair is the diagnostics fee which I along with many other technicians charge a flat rate for. I've spent 3 hours on one console (a ps4 with a faulty apu along with various other faults) and I still charged the same as what I would on any other blue light of death machine taking 40 minutes. The point is it doesn't matter how long it takes, the fee stays the same to keep things consistent. With my knowledge 2 years ago it would have taken a few hours to diagnose and repair an xbox one that doesn't turn on, but I wouldn't charge any less now just because I know exactly where to look and the signs to look for on the multimeter. I'll give you an exact price example. I charge £50 for not charging issues on a Nintendo switch. The m92t36 pmic costs about twice as much as the bq24193 battery ic, but regardless of which chip is to blame for the issue I would still charge the same £50 repair fee. If I personally charged based on time took, I'd be charging £10 for most repairs, but I shouldn't lose out because I have more experience than I did 2 years ago. At the same time, the customer shouldn't pay more because I don't know the problem. I also work no fix no fee, so if I can't fix it and spent 3 hours trying I lose 3 hours of time. It's just the way this business is
You're free to run your business how you want. My point is, I as a customer would not be happy if you told me I just paid to have dust blown off(which is not the same as telling me you soldered 1 component on instead of 5). And I don't think you should be speaking on behalf of how Rossman operates his business since it may not coincide with his ideals or values.
The whole lense\laser module replacement will rectify problems with faulty PS1 or PSOne in pretty much all cases. Lenses & mechanical parts will almost always be at fault before any other components blow.
Hi, vince. Yesterday i blew up my modem/router by accidently putting in the wrong power supply for a different router into it 😔 It made a pop and gave off some smoke. Do you think it'd be repairable? Or is it buggered?
What is a difference between power adapter? Voltage, polarity or even type (ac/dc)? Pop and smoke are probably just from input cap, what else is damaged it's hard to say without look inside but it can be easy fix or total disaster, that really depend of circuitry and components inside. I'll wouldn’t expect much from device without even basic input protection.
Thanks so much, thanks to you I was able to figure out that the plastic part from when you close the lid wasn't going far down enough to press on the button and get it to close the disc, a bit of hot glue did the trick and fixed it 😅
Hi I have a Fat ps1 that not reading the disc until I push the small black on the corner of the unit and when I stopped pushing , the game will be stopped. Is it about replacing the laser or what was happening????
How do you prevent parts of a spindle coming off and why do the parts come off the spindle? What does it mean if the parts come off? Will the console still work?
Got mine out of the loft after 20 years ..same with me ..not reading disk ..but I did get it chipped mid 90s ..so basically if I buy a new laser will my copied games still work ?
So, you did replace your genuine laser and in worked out. what a miracle))))) WOW man. you discover the principles on the electronics! I am very frustrated))))))
Just the other day I destroyed my PsOne slim when doing maintenance on the laser rails now the laser is dead I think I damaged the flex ribbon cable. I have a ksm-440bam laser that I got from aliexpress which is garbage and doesn't work it spins the disc very slow but the laser doesn't move or doesn't raise. If i should switch the flex cable from the aliexpress laser with the broken one do you think it might work?
i bought a psone from a flea market just for fun and it has the same problem. i found a piece of black plastic inside about the size of 0805 resistor. only black plastic is on the laser assembly and yes the sledge is tilted slightly not much but i think enough to not read a cd. maybe someone rage quit a game or it dropped or something and yours was opened before. i havent opened the laser module yet and cant see a good place where it might have snapped off but probably its some kind of support for the sledge. good video thanks :)
I have that same issue and i even tried 2 original psone sony lasers and still same result. Turns out the capacitor 0.47uf 50v on the motherboard needs replacing, one labeled c705
Your comment helped me SO much because I can confirm that switching out the 0.47uf capacitor (c705) actually worked as there was dried up fluid around the old one from a leak! Another capacitor (10uf c600) had the same issue, works fine now!
@@ClashTommyGun78 you're welcome, google comes in handy I just had to dig around. I never fixed my psone I just put it away and I play my older grey ps1's now, they're more reliable id say. Got the 7001 7501 and 9001
@@califaern3sto that's fair enough, I've definitely found at least from my own experience that the slim versions of both the PS1 and PS2 have proved to be less reliable than their original counterparts!
@@ClashTommyGun78 definitely! I have 2 ps2's as well they're both fat model 39001 they're the most reliable. I have a ps2 slim i put away years ago because it overheats in an hour. I found that by placing a fan behind it making sure air hits the back vents it'll keep it cooler longer but it'll still overheat like 3 hrs or so after non-stop play
@@califaern3sto sounds about right, I've had 2 slims die on me for seemingly no reason! Hence why I bought an original silver PS2 a couple years back, and absolutely love it, infinitely more reliable!
To me looks like a broken laser. A word of warning do not buy those drive replacements off eBay. They are cheap China clones and although they read discs they skip on fmv videos and in general have some issue. The better option is to transplant an official drive.
Hello, i have a scph-9002 ps1 and i tried a repaired lazer on it but it killed my ps1. Its working but not giving a response when laser switch pressed. I found a blown fuse and replaced it but it didnt make any difference. I just taked back the fuse and sorted the pads and lazer head moved. Do you have any idea what could be the problem?