Turbo Grafx CD drive motor

[chop5]

sure but all i have are my older pics,that gear in that first pic is 13 mm in diameter so its gave me tons of problems so found a 12mm gear in another device. mini cassette player.



the hole is still too big so i added a filler of another gear with a long shaft,a servo gear. they snap on like legos. The snap on gear is just as strong as a regular single molded gear. wont shuffle in the unit.


here it is in a unit with the older gear to help hold it in place. Ive long since removed the old gear and just have it like that:






thats pretty much how the final product looks without the old gear in there. that white lip over the gear was to prevent skipping but found out it didn't need it so it was removed,just a bare gear.

As you can see the metal axle has to be removed and the long guide bar. they cant be in the same place or the screw holding it will cause friction on the new gear. if you can find a screw with a flatter head you can use it but its best just leave it off. The plug end of the smaller motors wire are clip ons so all you need to change them is a small screwdriver and push up the clips and change the wires. you will get what i mean when you see the wire clips.
thats it you have a zombie revived unit. its not simple to do but not $75 simple. no way in hell,might as well buy another working unit.

its also key to the warm up isue if you read my other findings in other threads. so in one swoop i conqureded warm up and middle gear. i am victorious.

i will be offering this service for a few dollars soon just pay shipping back and forth.
Now that i know it can be used by others for profit no reason why i cant go forward. Testing phase is complete!
there is still the slight concern of some skipping. no way around this not even the ebay dude can get around it. but so far it hasn't surfaced from my end and the member that has the unit. but 20 or 30 % skipping on some music is to be expected but way better than having a dead unit.
this method is not perfect.
and ebay dude should state that.

more pictures soon when i make my premier thread

[kid_rondeau]

Chop,
Looks good, and I'm a little surprised that I didn't know about your fix earlier. I love that we're getting our ideas and solutions pooled. Eventually, we will find a solution.
In the meantime, we'll see what happens with cheapnicecomputers. I'll let you know if his setup is the same as yours.
I see what you mean about switching the pink and blue wires on the sled motor...that solves the problem of going to an even number of gears causing a reversal of direction...you just reverse the reversal!

Again, thanks for sharing this!

[kid_rondeau]

Update:
Repairs are almost complete, he's sent me a pic of my repaired gearing mechanism, and communication continues to be excellent.
I should have it back by the middle of next week, I would think.

[kid_rondeau]

Success!

Ok guys, I got my TG-CD back from Chris at CheapNiceComputers on ebay. Aside from sounding a little different mechanically (due to different gears/configuration being used), it works as good as it ever did. Actually, it might even work a little better! It's very responsive, and seems to have no trouble loading or finding tracks. I still plan to run more tests (like playing an audio CD in the dock, playing an audio CD as a standalone, etc.), but first impressions are completely positive.

As for the "doing business" aspect, I again give Chris highest marks. He responded promptly to any questions or concerns I had, and was polite and professional. Finally, he did in fact, refund $15 of my $75 payment because the problem was isolated to the gearing system (with no laser issues).

So, for $70.95 ($60 + $10.95 shipping) I have a TG-CD unit that, barring any unforeseen explosions or meltdowns, performs as good as or better than new. If you need the service, and can afford the cost, and you have no philosophical or moral objections to using it, then I recommend it highly.

[Game-Tech.US]

Could we bother you to open it up and take pics of the new gear set?!?! 

[kid_rondeau]

akaViolence,
Rather than open it up to take a pic of it, and then try to figure out how posting photos on this forum works (seriously, I have the damnedest time figuring it out...l33t I am not), I'll just post the link that Chris sent to me while he was working on it:

http://img59.imageshack.us/i/cimg5885.jpg/

I hope you can open/view that no problem...it's not password protected.
Not that you would necessarily care, but he's already indicated he has no problems with pics of his fix going up here.

One unfortunate thing, which was in no way Chris's fault, is that it looks like someone actually punted the return shipping box before I got it. Seriously...huge dent on one of the corners. When I opened the CD lid, I noticed the sled was all the way to the outer limit...even beyond, since I had to use a pen to pull the thing back into moving range to make it work. I think it was just dropped or otherwise manhandled.

[chop5]

ah so it is chris   i had my suspicions.

i wish he would come forward and admit to his copying. this i can forgive but using ebay i cannot.



all my repairs i offer lifetime warranties. those who use the ebay cdrepair service be warned no such warranty is given. Also i will hold on to the parts i remove from the cdroms and put them away for the day the original gear can be repalced and will be reattached for free.

I am not about gouging the helpless masses here. i am about getting people the ability to play the games and systems they love as cheaply as possible.
And if i ever use someone else's technique or idea i give credit and never pass it on as my own  

[kid_rondeau]

Yeah, see Chris? I was afraid this was gonna become an unnecessarily heated discussion. Don't pay no mind.
Chop, nothing against you, but don't you think it's possible that two or more people could have conceived the same relatively simple fix for the same problem independently of each other?

[BlueBMW]

Yeah, see Chris? I was afraid this was gonna become an unnecessarily heated discussion. Don't pay no mind.
Chop, nothing against you, but don't you think it's possible that two or more people could have conceived the same relatively simple fix for the same problem independently of each other?

That happened once long ago.... I think it was with the invention of Calculus

I can understand Chop's suspicion since the ebay auctions did start showing up not long after information concerning this gear repair was posted.  But that is neither here nor there.

I know most of the guys / girls here are not the richest people out there, but we love our turbo stuff and want it to work!  This is why I offer to fix stuff as cheaply as possible.  Yeah my time is worth something, but I get more pleasure from knowing that I got someone's system back up and running so they can get back to enjoying the games they love on original hardware.  This is my view, and I know its not shared amongst all.

Chris, I can appreciate the time and effort it takes to repair these units (having dealt with many myself) so I can understand your pricing, and putting a value on your time.  But if you are willing, would you share the source of your replacement gears with the community?  Its up to you, and if you are unwilling (which is your right) then we will continue to pursue the other avenues of replacement gears that we are undertaking.  Once I find a solution on my own, I'll do my best to offer it as cheaply as possible to the members here.

Again, I don't fault you Chris for doing what you're doing.  While it's not the way I'd handle things, I can understand your reasoning behind it.

Byron (aka BlueBMW)

[blueraven]

For reference, this is the same argument Kattare and others used when they were gouging people for $300-$400 a duo and upwards of $100 for repairs which isn't much more than you're charging.

And if you think I believe that you created this repair "organically" without the help of our repair threads:

Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.

 

And why would I purchase a service from a guy who cant spell repair?

Okay, well I am going to say that I have been keeping quiet about this matter for a while now cause I saw things starting to turn ugly and now it has. I want to asure you that I did not steel your idea for personal or financial gain. I have been doing repairs of this type for years now for friends, myself, and a couple idependant run video game stores in my area. It has only been recently that I have decided to put my service on ebay. So as much as you want to think that I stole your idea I did not. Also, you claim that I am asking too much. You have to figure in my time and parts costs. I spend at least 6 hours easy on these drives to make sure everything is setup and tweaked perfectly. After ebay fees and parts costs that comes out to about $7 an hour which is barely anything. If all I wanted was to make a bunch of extra money I would just go and get myself a 2nd job. You are welcome to offer your services for cheaper and I am not worried about that since this is not my full time job. I just figured I'd offer my Cd drive services to those who would like a good solid reapair for a fair and resonable price. I have been doing this a while and stand by my work. Sorry, to rant but I had to say something cause I don't like being blamed for stealing someones Idea for my own gain when this is surely not the case.

[nectarsis]

Okay, well I am going to say that I have been keeping quiet about this matter for a while now cause I saw things starting to turn ugly and now it has.

Why would it have turned ugly (as there was no indication in any way it would) unless this MASSIVE coincidence came to light.  Odd that these repairs weren't offered on ebay until well after things were posted here.  Is it possible yes, likely, not very.

[chop5]

but listen,i am understanding. i know its hard for some people to even say 1 word that goes against them.  and deeply understand that people need to make a living to support theirs.
times are hard and will only get harder.

so let us start over. hi am jetblue,techy for many years. nice to meet you.
please share where you got the gear from so others may purchase their own. Dont say you had them specially made or bought

them in bulk blah blah,i am more intelligent than that.


Share with us and all is forgiven and forgotten. so we can strengthen this community and go from there.  

[Opethian]