hi,its been a while since i posted any repair stuff and ive noticed more with this problem so i thought id share.
the cdrom rom laser has a plastic guide/holder for the spiral arm. it breaks alot during shipping or a hard drop. usually it can work with it broken but slowly the laser will droop and you will get read errors,music skipping or full shutdown.
both tabs have been broken in this picture only showing the metal slide wich isnt strong enough to hold the laser in place.
ive tried gluing with no success. i guess a 3D printed option could be made but i veiw 3D printers as a waste and have no scientific use in making things. none.
this fix i use is a simple twist tie from my whole wheat loaf. this fix can be done with the laser attached to the mechanism but for this tutorial i will use the slide and laser removed.
unscrew and remove the arm guide
first you take a twist tie and remove its paper covering exposing wire and if you look closely under the laser you will see 2 unused holes under the guide. thread the wire over until you hug the spiral guide.
technically this is all you need. its strong enough to hold the laser in place and with the guide arm reattached it will move. i have many cdroms working with this alone but i took it a step further and added another twist tie
loop the tie over so it only catches one side of the first tie
tighten slowly like so
now you get the idea. tighten that twist tie first until it closes over the spiral groove then tighten the other twist tie. it should look like this when done:
twist tighten with small tweezers. tight but not too tight. adjust the wires where needed with something stiff like a nail.
the finished ties will look like this
all nice and snug and aligned with the slide gear. also technically this is more than enough and you don't need the metal guide arm but i screwd it back on anyway
clip away any excess and tuck so it doesn't scrape against the board
thats it. you get the idea. all this can be done with the laser still attached to the mechanism but the mechanism unscrewd from its mounting and the metal laser cover off. makes it easier to loop the wires.
the fix can be altered in so many ways,2 loops of wire or anything your imagination can come up with that can hold the laser in place and allow it to screw on the screw guide. this is just what i used at the time and thought id share so all can prosper.
i can do this for a small fee if your fingers aren't small enough like necromancers. he has very good hands.