HOP-M3 Buy a couple to squirrel away?

[RevQuixo]

I'd like to purchase a few of these from eBay to have if and when I need to replace my laser in the Duo.  However i hear they have a high failure rate from the buyers (possibly buyers selling returned defective lasers as new).

Short of installing them in the duo and then taking them out again, is there any other way to know that you have a batch of "good" lasers to use in the future?

[wyndcrosser]

That's honestly the best way, it's the same for sega CD, etc. These lasers are not made recently, they are not aging well, even unused.

Thanks

[choijimmy]

Normally, I bought 2nd hand tested hop-m3 laser and no issue for that.
I also bought some untested hop-m3 laser and the failure rate from my experience ( about 10+ units ) are around 50%
Never buy brand new hop-m3...
Anyhow, the only way to confirm if the laser is good is test it yourself. Lucky, DUO/DUO-R/DUO-RX is pretty easy to change the laser 
It took less than 10 mins

Good luck

[SamIAm]

No kidding? New hop-m3s are bad? That's distressing to read, because I just bought two myself to store for backup purposes. Have other people had bad experiences with "new" hop-m3s?

[crans]

it depends where you get them from. Stay away from  "New" and china = fail!

[DragonmasterDan]

No kidding? New hop-m3s are bad? That's distressing to read, because I just bought two myself to store for backup purposes. Have other people had bad experiences with "new" hop-m3s?

I'll link Chop5 to this thread shortly. But for regular visitors of the PC Engine Community Forum he often advises that the defect rate on Chinese made HOP-M3 clones is somewhere in the neighborhood of 75%.

[chop5]

the best lasers i ever got and  were made differently were from electronix.com. every laser i got from them worked fantastic. we need to bug that company to have more made wich i suspect they did. hire a private laser manufacturing to thier specifications.
i just ordered a bunch of lasers from ebay so im takin a gamble. my advice order from dalbani or liberty,usa seller,so at least you can get a refund or exchange if they dont work. but i gave up on them when shipping back costs were more than the lasers i was getting in. plus they are not very customer friendly. but i was ordering a lot from them.

but even so the lasers i got as bad im holding onto for the day i get a good oscilloscope,i get a feeling a good tuning can get them at least partially working. but without the scope im goin blind and will damage it or burn it out.

[ClodBuster]

I once bought a HOP-M3 from China, but it didn't worked with the stock potentiometer settings. Since I wasn't confident enough to set the pots up properly, I put the original laser unit back in.

I can get a used and tested HOP-M3 from a domestic seller. I think I'll give it a try.

[elmer]

It looks like I need to get my TurboDuo recapped ... and perhaps get a new laser.

This thread has scared the bejeezus out of me!

I guess that buying a single HOM-M3 off an unknown Chinese/Taiwanese reseller is going to be a crapshoot ... but how about this eBay US selller of "original" units?

Maybe if they look good, then perhaps some other people might want to go in on a group-buy to take advantage of that price? ... or is there a better option?

[SmokeMonster]

I ordered one of the Chinese lasers last week before reading this info. From what I saw of them in my searching, anything that is sold new is the exact same part no matter the source: eBay, aliexpress, electronics parts suppliers, etc. You can tell from the pictures and specs. $13/shipped is the cheapest you can get it. Here is that link.

One thing that I know from repairing several Sega CD Model 1 & 2s is that almost everyone online misdiagnoses disc-reading problems as laser issues, when in fact a recap is what's actually needed. Many Sega CDs won't read discs before a recap, but after they come back to life with no pot adjusting or laser replacement needed.

If I had a Duo or CD with disc reading problems (read errors, discs not spinning, etc), I would start by recapping it and then move on to replacing the laser as a second resort. That's just me though. You are probably better off following the advice of long-time PCE CD experts.