Super CD-Rom2 Lens Replacement

[farankoshan]

I've noticed a number of threads and posts here about PC Engine CD lens repairs, for briefcase units, duos and such. But there aren't any threads/guides for the Super CD-Rom2 to replace its lens.

Any help & pics in this thread would be most appreciated.

[BlueBMW]

The Super CDROM2 laser is very similar to a Duo laser as far as replacement (I think its a HOP-M3A laser in the SCD)  and the adjustment pots are the same as a Duo.  Its such a similar process to a duo, I dont know that having its own replacement guide would be much help.

[farankoshan]

As always, thanks for the tip. I just recently sent my PC-Engine Super CD-Rom2 to the shop to have its lens replaced (using lenses purchased from HKDoctor), and the tech guy just wanted to be sure he was doing it properly.

One thing however: Assuming we never opened up the boxes for these lenses, can we just swap them and expect the Super CD-Rom2 to work well right away, or is adjusting to be ABSOLUTELY expected. I think an oscilloscope won't be around for this fix. The tech guy doesn't keep one on hand...

[BlueBMW]

Sometimes you get lucky and you dont need any adjustment at all.  If it doesn't work quite right, have your tech guy note down the initial positions of the pots.  It will likely only require a slight adjustment of vr101 and vr103.  Sometimes vr102.  You can do it by ear / observation.  Just adjust and test.  Its more tedious that way, but not impossible to do.

[thesteve]

it can also be adjusted by power consumption (lower is better, too low wont track)

[farankoshan]

Cool! What's VR... :s Stupid question? My bad.

[csgx1]

The adjustment pots are labeled VR101, VR102...etc.  Check out the fantastic Duo repair guide for more info....

http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=8926.0

[farankoshan]

The unit is with my friend, and upon opening the unit (alongside keeping a the TurboDuo lens replacement thread nearby), the insides appear 100% different from DUO/DUO-R/CD-Rom lens.... Does anyone here have a Super CD-Rom2 and CD-Rom to verify this? He's a little worried to proceed since the guide doesn't seem to offer any help, since it's "apples to oranges."

[thesteve]

he should be able to just be observent for the swap at least.
swapping the laser sled on a cd rom drive is no different than on a cd player (youve done one, youve done them all).
best advice is be gentle with it, and look closely at how things attach.

[farankoshan]

Ok, here's hoping everything goes fine...

[farankoshan]

Ok, just got my unit back and it works PER-FECT-LY.

Though he only has a few photos to show, he did have these tidbits to share (he's speaking in this account):

- Upon looking at the helpful pics provided by pcenginefx.com, it's safe to say that the Super CD-Rom2 unit is almost COMPLETELY UNLIKE any of the other NEC systems. The reason being that the Super CD-Rom2's lens is covered by a plastic box, uses no screws & has a lens unique on its own. So, I couldn't use the guides provided.

- When the Super CD-Rom2 casing was first opened, there was a plastic cover/box that covered the lens mechanism. Now, there were no screws to remove in order for this plastic cover to come off. No screws only meant one thing: plastic clips, locks or wedges to keep it attached to the board. Be very careful when removing. Since there seemed to be no easy way to remove the box, I had to cut a portion off one of the flower-lock tabs. (NEC might have done this both as a security measure, and to keep the parts from moving.)

 - Breaking a tab or two doesn't affect the process, since you'll see that the entire casing does a good job keeping that plastic box & everything securely in place without movement. Perhaps the NEC guys were being extra careful with this cover.

- Once the plastic box/cover is unhinged, carefully note any wires underneath. Time & age normally doesn't decay wires, but be extra careful not to rip/tear/cut any of the wires, since doing so will leave you looking for a wire now, and that'll be another problem.
 
- Once all ribbons & wires are out of the way, replacing the lens isn't too difficult. Just see how all the elements are put together and use common sense to remember the order you remove things, and to put them back as you took them out.

Some pics (which may or may not help, but these are some photos of the procedure):







-----
So, as I gathered from my friend's account, the actual lens replacement isn't too difficult at all. It seems that the removal of the components to get TO the lens is what's a little harder. Maybe if anyone here owns a Super CD-Rom2 & will be conducting a lens replacement soon, please add to this thread.

Hope it helps with future replacements!

[gtsamour]

According to my latest experiece I would have to disagree on the matter of having the laser lens replaced will lead to the need for trimmer adjustments using an oscilloscope or the trial and error method....

Here's my experience.... recently i bought a broken white cdrom2 unit for just 10 euros. When I pluged on the IFU30 interface and with a known good white pce, i could hear the motor spinning and the "PC" indicator was working but the laser wasn't moving and the disc whouln't spin..

I opened it up and the gear was missing. The laser ribbons were cut too. So I got me another gear and a brand new laser (KSS-220A), installed them and tried the unit with an audio cd while I was listening using head phones through the out jack.
Everything seemed to be working except that the audio was low even at the MAX setting and the music was skipping all the time. So I thought that trimmer adjustments were in order but also capacitors replecement due to the low sound volume.
I thought I should start with the capacitor replacement..... after I was done, the unit was playing brilliantly (both copies and pressed cds), the sound volume was OK and there was no need for trimmer adjustments.

My conclusions....
The trimmer were adjusted when the hardware was brand new and ofcourse when the caps in it were new. As the years went by the capacitor's values drifted thus after a point making new trimmer ajustments imperative for the unit to work.
BUT.... if you replace the lens AND replace the caps with fresh ones and assuming the trimmers were not altered from their original positions, there will be no need for new adjustments...

[Keith Courage]

The super CD rom drive uses a kss-210. I can't remember if it is a kss-210a or kss-210b but it is very cheap to get a whole new assembly on ebay.

[gtsamour]

The super CD rom drive uses a kss-210. I can't remember if it is a kss-210a or kss-210b but it is very cheap to get a whole new assembly on ebay.

Maybe the american one does. I'm speaking of the white Japanese cdrom2 that I repaired... it had the KSS-220a lens.

[Lochlan]

Maybe the american one does. I'm speaking of the white Japanese cdrom2 that I repaired... it had the KSS-220a lens.

Then you're in the wrong thread, guy!   This is about the Super CD-Rom2, you're talking about the regular CD-Rom2 which has a thread about laser replacement here: http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=7193.0