PCE Cd-Rom2 with a torn ribbon

[K2THELEGEND]

Hi all love the forum,
 
After weeks of eager anticipation my CD-Rom2 unit arrived today, sadly it was DOA.
I plugged it in to try and play an audio Cd and it made a burr noise and and nothing else. Of course having heard of all the horror stories of middle gears I feared the worst. The gears are fine, however the the long skinny ribbon had 50% tear.
Any advice on torn ribbons would be greatly appreciated!

P.S. Great forum

[PigInTheMud]

Repairing a torn ribbon cable is some pretty tricky stuff. I usually just pronounce the system as dead when that happens, but a CD-ROM2 is much too valuable to just scrap.

I found this guide http://www.gearhack.com/Forums/DisplayComments.php?file=Electronics/Ribbon_Cable_Repair

I haven't tried it yet and it sounds like a hassle to reconnect each wire due to how small they are, but it definitely should work.

Tell us how it works out for you

[SignOfZeta]

If I had that problem I'm sure I would find some way to fix it, but the easiest way would be to just buy a unit with broken gear and take it's ribbon cable.

BTW, make sure you clean those gears up and re-lube them. Hopefully you'll get another 20 years out of the thing.

[blueraven]

I also swapped a cable from a dead unit to a working one, but never attempted the ribbon repair. Seemed like too much effort at the time and I had an extra.

[K2THELEGEND]

   Right, now it's time to look for a CD-Rom2 with a broken gear. That should not be too hard, though I will probably use my unit as the donor with its good gears, rather than try a ribbon swap.
   
    Until then my questions are:
What kind of oil or grease would you use to lubricate the gears?
And does anyone have, or know a good place to find a candidate for the transplant?

Thanks

[Turbo D]

Ribbon cable replacement is difficult, but not impossible. I had to replace the ribbon cable on a ps2; it wasn't that bad. However, the replacement ribbon cable for the ps2 was readily available, in your case, you would have to find a universal replacement ribbon cable.

[BlueBMW]

Isn't the long skinny ribbon cable attached to the laser?  A whole replacement laser is only about $25... so why not just swap the whole thing for a new one?

[blueraven]

What kind of oil or grease would you use to lubricate the gears?
Thanks

White lithium Grease

[BlackandBlue]

I repaired one of mine with some thin wire (24g), a razor, and a ton of patience.  It can be done.

EDIT;

perhaps I should explain what I did instead of just saying you can do it 

Lay the ribbon on a flat surface and lightly scrape away at the plastic coating until you get to the metal inside on both sides of the break.
If there is more than one contact broken, stagger the scraped areas so there is no contact between the two.
Cut a thin wire (I used 24g coated wire) to length between the two spots.
Tin the wire on each side with a low wattage iron (10-15w is good).
Place the wire in position and quickly tack the wire in place.  Should only need a second or two.  Using solder flux helps.