TG-16 CD kind of works

[jpmaher2222]

I have looked over a few guides here and while they are very informative, they haven't quite touched on the problem I'm experiencing. Hopefully this isn't a re-post of an existing problem!

To make a long story short, my TG-16 CD will play audio CDs but wont play games.

The more detailed story:
I got a TG-16 CD that was not functioning properly. It powers up and PC shows up on the LED screen, but the CD will not spin up. I open it up and check the gears to find that they seem to be moving properly. After a bit of testing I found out that if I hold the CD door open and keep the door switch in the closed position, that I can nudge the laser a little and it comes to life and starts moving(when I say nudge I mean that the laser will be pushed very gently, but not hard enough to make it skip through gears). If I place an audio CD in the tray after this, I can close close the door while keeping the door switch depressed and it will play the audio CD with no problems. The laser will move up and down the CD as I switch tracks. I even kept the audio CD playing for a few hours to see if the internals needed to warm up after a long time of inactivity. As soon as I turn the TG-16 CD off and back on again, I have the same problem: it wont spin up unless I use the process described above.

Today I was able to acquire a game that is proven to work, but when I try the trick I used with the audio CD, it will spin for about 10 seconds and then stop. The audio CD still works fine. So this is about where I am at the moment.

Does anybody have any ideas or expertise that could shed some light on this issue? I would definitely appreciate it!

 

[Keith Courage]

Does the audio disc play through all of its tracks with no issues? Any skipping anywhere?

Also sounds like your middle gear has swollen making it very difficult for the motor to turn. You will need to either get a new gear or dill out the center of the gear slightly so it will move freely again. Don't just try to grease and or oil it. Won't fix the problem.

[jpmaher2222]

It does play through all of the audio tracks with zero issues. No skipping. I will see about that middle gear tomorrow and see if that fixes the problem.

[Keith Courage]

Hmm well if audio plays through then it should be able to play a game.

Try backing the CD drive out of the docking station slightly. I've come across drives that will play audio fine but not games unless you pull them out a little bit. The contacts in the rear getting dirty/corded sometimes.

Brush out with a toothbrush and rubbing alcohol.

[jpmaher2222]

I thought there might be something going on with the contacts as well. Before i pursued that I broke out the lithium grease, added a fairly liberal amount to the gears, and it is now running perfectly!

I really appreciate your feedback! Hopefully my TG-16 CD will run for many years to come.