Please Help! TG-16 CD Doesn't Load Discs!

[mobiusclimber]

I just got a TG-16 CD for cheap (about half the price you'd normally pay) and for good reason: the CD portion doesn't work. It doesn't even spin the disc. Otherwise it seems to work ok. It lights up, shows either you have a CD game in it or a music cd (music cd shows 0 track), but the cd doesn't spin and it doesn't play anything or try to read the disc at all. Anyone know what I can do to fix it?

[Michael Helgeson]

A shotgun method would be to replace the entire assembly,laser and all. There was a business me, Nat, and a couple others ordered similar cd-rom drives from that have all the parts you'd need. Send Nat a pm and see if he still has their contact info.

[kid_rondeau]

Before removing/replacing the laser assembly, I recommend opening up the unit and squirting some high-purity rubbing alcohol on all of the gears and moving parts. It's OK to get it reasonably wet so long as you let it dry completely off before trying to use it.
Once it's wet with alcohol, manually turn the gears to move the laser all the way to the end of travel, and then move it back home.

Let it dry, and reassemble.


This method obviously won't fix a genuine mechanical break, but if it's just stuck (as two of mine have been) then this method could have you running good as new.

[mobiusclimber]

It looks like the power cable is disconnected inside of it, which would explain why it only powers on intermittenly. Can anyone tell me, or show me a pic, of where this should be connected, and explain how to. This is the first time I've tried taking something apart like this (besides my attempt to fix the broken PSP screen).

[kid_rondeau]

If you can post a picture of your disconnected power cable I'd be in a better position to help...

[mobiusclimber]

finally got around to putting a pic up:

[kid_rondeau]

Oh, that looks like a ground wire. There should be a solder lump on the bottom half of the case. If so, and the wire looks about the same length, go ahead and resolder it.

[mobiusclimber]

Could that be what's keeping it from turning on?

[kid_rondeau]

Mobius, I tried to upload some pix, but it says the upload folder is full. Here's the text accompanying the pix I tried to send:

=======================================================
Mobius,
It's possible that that may be keeping the power from coming on...I don't know how likely it is, though.

I took some pictures of my old TG CD unit with the wire in place. Maybe 4 pics is a little overkill, but I really wanted to show different angles of what that wire should look like. It doesn't normally have a piece of electrical tape and a section of green wire connected to it; I did that like 13 years ago to lengthen the wire.

If this looks like the wire in your picture, I would start by soldering it to the case as in the pictures. If that doesn't work, let me know.

=======================================================

I'll try posting them again in a little while.

[mobiusclimber]

Maybe just try to upload one. I think there's a size limit. (I put my pic up on freewebs, only b/c I already had the space.) Thanks for your help. I'm starting to think this "easy fix" (as was advertised in the auction I bought this off of) is going to be a bit beyond me. Even if I can get it to turn on again, it still won't read the cds. XD

[papa_november]

   Easy fix? NOTHING about fixing these monstrosities is easy. If it was an easy fix he would have fixed it himself since he would've gotten way more money for it if it was working.

[kid_rondeau]

I'll try posting them again in a little while.

Aaaauuugghh!! I keep getting this error:

"The upload folder is full. Please try a smaller file and/or contact an administrator. "

All the files I'm trying to upload are under 50kb, and I get this error even when I try to only upload one!!

[mobiusclimber]

Don't worry about it, I think I have a general idea of where it should go, I just haven't gotten around to working on it. I need to borrow a soldering iron off my friend. I'm kinda discouraged anyway because even if I fix this one part, it won't get the CD to spin and I have no idea where to get parts for it.