Problem with my TG16 CD

[Nijhazer]

A bump for hope...

[2X4]

This is a stab in the dark, but I've been tinkering with mine lately.  You said it rattled as if there were something loose inside right?  This may be too obvious but there is a screw that holds the circuit board to the top part of the housing, if that screw isn't screwed in, it might not work, cause I think it's a ground or something.  Another possibility:  there is a tiny plastic piece where the orange and yellow (power) wires connect to the motor that spins the spindle.  That has to be screwed in perfectly (as I found out) or the motor will not have power. You can screw it in wrong very easily if you don't pay attention.  If the motor has no power, no spinny.  No spinny, lens movey all the way outsidey looking for data.  I hope this helps.

[SignOfZeta]

If its missing a pot screw, then is it like...broken off from the pot itself? If that's the case then I would say that needs to be replaced for sure.

Could you elaborate? I'm sorry, it's just that I really don't know what he's referring to, or how I could get a replacement for that; and he's about as good at explaining this stuff as he is at taking photos.

"Pot" is short for potentiometer. Its basically the same thing as the volume knob on a stereo only the ones inside a game system are really super small and need to be turned with a tiny screwdriver. If a person turns them too far they break. CDROMs often have little adjustments that can be made to fine tune the laser. It usually won't fix a problem, but someone must have thought it would and broke the thing.

If yours is broke you need to replace it because whoever broke it probably also messed with the adjustment a lot as well before they broke it, and its probably not in the original setting.

As for a replacement, I really don't know. Possibly Radio Shack, but they are stocking less and less of that sort of thing nowadays. You could get one from some broken thing laying around the house. A PS1 might work, and at least half of those are broken.

Just for you, I opened my Duo R and took a picture. I've never owned a standard CDROM2 unit, so I have no idea if the pots in your system are like mine, or if they are even broken in the first place.



For a higher res version, click HERE

[Nijhazer]

Thanks a ton for the info! I passed it along and here's what I got:

The potentiometer isn't broken, the screw isn't broken-- I was confused as to what he was asking. He wanted to know if the pot screw is supposed to turn clockwise or counter-clockwise in order to increase power to the laser for this particular unit. He also said there was no screw securing the circuit board so that could be an issue. I'll know more later in the week, methinks.

[malducci]

'Zeta, what is the thing hold back the wires!?

[SignOfZeta]

'Zeta, what is the thing hold back the wires!?

Its Nipper from Starriors an ancient toy line from Tomy. Sort of like a spin-off from Zoids from about...1984 I think.

[SignOfZeta]

Thanks a ton for the info! I passed it along and here's what I got:

The potentiometer isn't broken, the screw isn't broken-- I was confused as to what he was asking. He wanted to know if the pot screw is supposed to turn clockwise or counter-clockwise in order to increase power to the laser for this particular unit.

I have no idea. The range is pretty small though, so I'd just try it in several positions.

He also said there was no screw securing the circuit board so that could be an issue. I'll know more later in the week, methinks.

Well, I don't know much about the insides of individual CDROM2 units, but a lack of a case ground is more likely to cause some sort of erratic operation than a serious failure like you have since the circuit is still grounded through the DC input. It does seem like the PCB should be screwed down to some shielding or something though.

Going back...didn't you say that the drive was parked all the way to the outside at one point? From a purely forensic standpoint that would lead me to think that the drive was working up until the point when it parked there, and never worked again, and whatever is wrong with it now might have been caused by people messing with it.

Its pretty hard to do this over the internet though. Even if I had the thing right in front of me there is a good chance I could never fix it. Looking at webcam pics on a forum makes it even harder

[2X4]

Forget that, the lens is out because the cd isn't spinning making it impossible for the lens to read it so it works its way out looking for data.  Your problem is either the circuit board ground (if that's what that is) or the main ground which is a black wire that should be soldered to a metal plate in the bottom of the unit.  I don't know if the unit would turn on without that, but check it just in case, as it is easy to break if you take the unit apart enough times.  also make sure that the motor is connected properly like I mentioned before.