Great video. No pointless rubbish, straight to the point, no annyoing music or intros, very pleasant to watch. I'm about to give my 9002 PS1 a similar treatment😁
If you can, please recommend people to only use Silicone greases. Many Lithium greases are petroleum based, and petroleum has a risk of absorbing material out of plastics, turning them brittle. Only Lithium grease I would trust with plastics is Molykote, which uses PAO, but this brand is hard to find and on the expensive side.
thank you very much for the video i liked and subscribed , i learned a lot from these videos & i also learned a lot after destroying multiple laser diodes as well as 2 motherboards as well hahahaha
Well, I got some old Kenwood CD players that might benefit from this treatment. I've already looked into it years ago, and indeed, adjusting the pot was what was recommended if an IPA clean of the lens didn't improve matters. They did mention it would shorten the laser's lifespan, since you're essentially overvolting/overamping it. I tried replacing the laser assemblies with new old stock, but same issue as the original lasers. Perhaps all they needed was some oil in the motor bearings and new grease on the gears and sliding surfaces. Time to revisit the project, methinks! Thanks for the tips!
This is the best PS1 service guide I've come across. Very cool. Any chance you will do a video a video replacing the motherboard caps? I've watched your vid on doing them on the SNES, do the same methods apply?
Yes, I do them the same way as on the SNES. But if you've never worked with SMD caps before, I'd highly recommend getting some practice on junk boards to work out which method works best for you
Hi bud. Great work as always:) quick question that doesn't have anything to do with this video. I have a ps 1 that I finally got working good after a donor one. However, it needs retrobrighting and I noticed that the lense for the power led can't be removed.. do you think that the lense will be fine submerged in the liquid proxide? Or how would you recommend doing it? I have only had good luck with submerging the big parts in the liquid and small parts with the cream. (Doing several c64s etc) I know it's always a gamble retrobrighting but I'm going to do it. Everything scubbed and cleaned up with magic eraser etc. Your options would be greatly appreciated. Cheers. U are a very smart man... my favorite retro channel for sure... I've learned so much over the years:)
I can't imagine anything will happen to the LED lense. I'd be more worried about the little PS badge in the top of the lid, and the labels on the underside might suffer a little. But of course it's always risky retrobrighting anything, just depends if it's worth the reward
Fair enough:) I wasn't thinking about the ps logo.. which is mint now 🤔.. bottom half looks good... just want to do top half... thanks for your thoughts..
There are a few old Sony Discman CD carriages that perfectly fit the early model PS1's- mine got broke while I was in S.Korea (where I bought mine) & they were sold out for months after launch. Someone asked me to fix theirs, so I found out where he bought one & got one myself, not only did it work perfectly, it was a 4x player so it made loading times 3x faster than the default PS I originally bought; & for only about 50,450.00 WON (KRW) or about $35.00 USD; was worth every penny. Survived until about 2008 when during a move a box tore & it fell down 1& a half flights of stairs onto the concrete basement floor & shattered to pieces.
i dont have all the tools to fixt it so might aswell buy other in Amazon but also dont want to waste more than 60 box cause there is wher they takes Advantage
This is actually a good way to improve these knock-off assemblies from China and extend their reliability a bit. So do all this with a new laser. Trying to fix a failing drive on a PS1 is a waste of time, tbh. Just get a new one. Knob-twisters will probably disagree, though.
I'm trying to understand the title: in your experience, cleaning the optical assembly has produced better results than adjusting the potentiometer? I have a couple of PS1s which are not reading properly or at all, I'm definitely gonna try your method.
Yes, a proper clean and lube has brought many of mine back to life. The exceptions would be one with a broken hinge piece, and another with a seized motor. If all else fails then boosting the laser power can squeeze a bit more life out of them, but at that point they are already on their way out and turning them up will only accelerate their demise.
I can't believe you would alter that system! It must be the way it was made forever!!! How dare you make it work again!! I still have mine and it's got all it's original caps!!! It sits on my shelf and I dust it off every once in a while to make it look like it's being used!!!! 🤣
Very nice video, straight to the point. I'm wondering, what's the name of that set of flat tools that you used to remove the drive spindle? It can the seen at 2:58. Thank you!
Great video helped me fix most of my lasers, but one of my 9001 playstations is only displaying a white screen, I can hear the boot animation but all it shows is a white screen and if i leave it for a while there will be some interference on screen and then menu will pop up briefly I'm guessing the video chip is toast but i was wondering if anyone had suggestions here lol
If the carriage is mechanically worn out, there is not much left to repair. You need a new drive, or the laser. I tried to get doctors around in the past, but in vain. You can solve the mechanical problem that the laser is no longer in balance Not really a repair. Unlike the PS2 Fat, Sony has installed a screw to readjust the problem.
I'm a capacitor advocate here and since I replaced the old ones on my PSOne (the small one) and it came back to life! even with a mod chip reading burned games of CDRs of all kinds of manufacturers, reads all games OG and burned! but this is great preventive maintenance for the laser assembly itself too
Now i know how to potentially get my second PS1 to not rattle anymore. It sounds exactly like the one in your video. And its even the same Model Number.
I have a ps 2 (in its original box), and it accepts sometimes a disc and sometimes not, very annoying. Cleaned head etc... but I'll watch your vid first before jump to conclusion. I saw in the end that you replaced some capacitors, could this be the issue?
It's unlikely to be the caps, especially in a PS2. I change them in the PS1 because I've found there's usually one or two that are leaking, but not badly enough to cause any real issues (yet)
I did mess with the pots on my old PS1, and I regret it so much. I ended up buying a "new" laser from China. My PS1 is the 1001 series, the laser is for the psOne, but it fits o.k. after swapping the top plate. I had also previously ripped out the 4 pin connector, but I was able to solder it on again (my second ever soldering attempt, actually XD). But to no surprise, after installing the assembly, no discs are read. I know the connector is correctly soldered on, because the lens does move, and I got the spindle, well, spinning, but the best I could do is have the "Please, insert a PlayStation disc" screen show up. The PS1 has been modded in forever, but not even music discs play. I'm sad I didn't get it working. Half of my childhood memories are burned within it.
That sucks. Yeah the 100X series is a lot more complicated when it comes to replacing the laser assembly. The later models automatically adjust the gain and bias, but on the 100X series these need to be adjusted manually (those trimpots near the connector). I think there are instructions online on how to do it but how accurate they are I don't know. I ended up putting an X-station in my 1002 and donated the laser assembly to a PSone that had a totally dead laser
The solder blob can protect the laser from ESD when in shipping or storage, but not necessary when working on the PS1 (unless you have a build-up of static of course)
Thing about the pot is its there to trim and train the laser operation and not as a bijou extra repair as messing with it brings on final unit breakdown so much quicker. Usually any need to mess with the adjustment suggests your laser and driver are fully winkered or in the last throes of life so you have to replace the breaking down things rather than over exert a circuit which might give a short remedy but won't last and then it is really busted.
@@tatecheddar So effectively what you have happen is "oh no, my laser is bad. It won't read disks anymore.".... to "oh no, my laser is REALLY bad, it won't read disks anymore." So between BAD and REALLY BAD, if you can get a little more life out of the laser, I say tweak the pot and get more life out of the laser. Because one way or another, you're still ordering a new laser. But at least you can keep playing Worms Armageddon in the meantime.
LOL, dumb video you say? Harsh words coming from someone who managed to destroy the optical drive of his CDTV while "fixing" it. Clearly you're the last person in the world to give any advice on repairing optical drives. Hahaha.
I discovered this solution back in 2016 when I bought two Sony refurbed units from eBay. Both were 7502s with new lasers under the green taped shut lid. I also had an old 1002 with a metal spindel and thought it'd be better than having the two part ceramic and plastic hub as they fall apart over time. But when I swapped the new motor for the old one I was horrified to discover that the new laser wasn't working properly anymore. By chance I had a small bottle of clock oil and tried that on the old motor as you did and voila! Also I use the end of a PS4 Pro HDD caddy to pop off spindels. It's like it was made for it!
Great video. No pointless rubbish, straight to the point, no annyoing music or intros, very pleasant to watch. I'm about to give my 9002 PS1 a similar treatment😁
Good luck with it
Awesome, glad to see people actually repairing the parts rather than replacing them. Good job!
If you can, please recommend people to only use Silicone greases. Many Lithium greases are petroleum based, and petroleum has a risk of absorbing material out of plastics, turning them brittle. Only Lithium grease I would trust with plastics is Molykote, which uses PAO, but this brand is hard to find and on the expensive side.
Dr Nick Riviera: IT'S WHISPER QUIET!
are you sure it's on? I can't hear a thing!!!
I'm a new member here ,but love your videos, and could listen to your commentary for hours
Great video as always. Sometimes when the motors are pretty "crunchy" I throw them in the ultrasonic cleaner. 😁
thank you very much for the video i liked and subscribed , i learned a lot from these videos & i also learned a lot after destroying multiple laser diodes as well as 2 motherboards as well hahahaha
14:25 The sound of losing your favorite game to scratches.
Kinda catchy though.
I know not to mess with the pot. But i like to see a video on how to correctly tweak the pot if it is the really necessary last option.
Fair enough. I may do a video on that in the future
Well, I got some old Kenwood CD players that might benefit from this treatment. I've already looked into it years ago, and indeed, adjusting the pot was what was recommended if an IPA clean of the lens didn't improve matters. They did mention it would shorten the laser's lifespan, since you're essentially overvolting/overamping it. I tried replacing the laser assemblies with new old stock, but same issue as the original lasers. Perhaps all they needed was some oil in the motor bearings and new grease on the gears and sliding surfaces. Time to revisit the project, methinks! Thanks for the tips!
This is the best PS1 service guide I've come across. Very cool.
Any chance you will do a video a video replacing the motherboard caps? I've watched your vid on doing them on the SNES, do the same methods apply?
Yes, I do them the same way as on the SNES. But if you've never worked with SMD caps before, I'd highly recommend getting some practice on junk boards to work out which method works best for you
@@TheRetroChannel I will do just that, thank you.
Hi bud. Great work as always:) quick question that doesn't have anything to do with this video. I have a ps 1 that I finally got working good after a donor one. However, it needs retrobrighting and I noticed that the lense for the power led can't be removed.. do you think that the lense will be fine submerged in the liquid proxide? Or how would you recommend doing it? I have only had good luck with submerging the big parts in the liquid and small parts with the cream. (Doing several c64s etc) I know it's always a gamble retrobrighting but I'm going to do it. Everything scubbed and cleaned up with magic eraser etc. Your options would be greatly appreciated. Cheers. U are a very smart man... my favorite retro channel for sure... I've learned so much over the years:)
I can't imagine anything will happen to the LED lense. I'd be more worried about the little PS badge in the top of the lid, and the labels on the underside might suffer a little. But of course it's always risky retrobrighting anything, just depends if it's worth the reward
Fair enough:) I wasn't thinking about the ps logo.. which is mint now 🤔.. bottom half looks good... just want to do top half... thanks for your thoughts..
There are a few old Sony Discman CD carriages that perfectly fit the early model PS1's- mine got broke while I was in S.Korea (where I bought mine) & they were sold out for months after launch. Someone asked me to fix theirs, so I found out where he bought one & got one myself, not only did it work perfectly, it was a 4x player so it made loading times 3x faster than the default PS I originally bought; & for only about 50,450.00 WON (KRW) or about $35.00 USD; was worth every penny. Survived until about 2008 when during a move a box tore & it fell down 1& a half flights of stairs onto the concrete basement floor & shattered to pieces.
i saw rebuild play stations in 150 box and thats sucks
they wants to recover the money there put in fixting it or what
i dont have all the tools to fixt it so might aswell buy other in Amazon but also dont want to waste more than 60 box cause there is wher they takes Advantage
This is actually a good way to improve these knock-off assemblies from China and extend their reliability a bit. So do all this with a new laser. Trying to fix a failing drive on a PS1 is a waste of time, tbh. Just get a new one. Knob-twisters will probably disagree, though.
i think mine just have little dirt or Spider webs cause in certain level the game dont read
Loved the parallel port , , perfect for GameShark and the Gameboy Booster adapter ( allows you to play Gameboy carts on your PlayStation ) 🎉🎉😮😮
enough is enough i dont pay more than 60 box
Pot tweaking would mess up PS1, especially without multimeter.
I'm trying to understand the title: in your experience, cleaning the optical assembly has produced better results than adjusting the potentiometer? I have a couple of PS1s which are not reading properly or at all, I'm definitely gonna try your method.
Yes, a proper clean and lube has brought many of mine back to life. The exceptions would be one with a broken hinge piece, and another with a seized motor. If all else fails then boosting the laser power can squeeze a bit more life out of them, but at that point they are already on their way out and turning them up will only accelerate their demise.
Enjoyable, as always. I can’t believe people get offended by a recap 😀
I can't believe you would alter that system! It must be the way it was made forever!!! How dare you make it work again!! I still have mine and it's got all it's original caps!!! It sits on my shelf and I dust it off every once in a while to make it look like it's being used!!!! 🤣
Very nice video, straight to the point.
I'm wondering, what's the name of that set of flat tools that you used to remove the drive spindle?
It can the seen at 2:58.
Thank you!
It's a feeler gauge. You can usually find them at auto parts stores
The other problem with this console is that it is legal! That made me laugh lol
Love your retro repairs ! Please don't stop lol
Great information. Thanks.
Thanks! keep up the good work.
Great video helped me fix most of my lasers, but one of my 9001 playstations is only displaying a white screen, I can hear the boot animation but all it shows is a white screen and if i leave it for a while there will be some interference on screen and then menu will pop up briefly I'm guessing the video chip is toast but i was wondering if anyone had suggestions here lol
Have you tried different AV cables? Could be that RGB has issues but composite doesn't, or vice versa. That could help narrow down the fault
@@TheRetroChannel i only have AV cables at the moment but ill try doing that thank you
For a moment I thought an laser adjustment with oscilloscope. honglaser sucks so badly, use an original one - 10x times better
If the carriage is mechanically worn out, there is not much left to repair. You need a new drive, or the laser. I tried to get doctors around in the past, but in vain. You can solve the mechanical problem that the laser is no longer in balance Not really a repair. Unlike the PS2 Fat, Sony has installed a screw to readjust the problem.
It isn't always a good idea to use IPA on lase assembly lenses because it removes the anti-reflective coating from them.
Someone got a 3d printable model of the black cd holding hub? mine was pushed too deep and I broke it trying to pull it back out.
Amazing video! Thank you!
I would love to see you working on a Dreamcast in the future.
I'm a capacitor advocate here and since I replaced the old ones on my PSOne (the small one) and it came back to life! even with a mod chip reading burned games of CDRs of all kinds of manufacturers, reads all games OG and burned! but this is great preventive maintenance for the laser assembly itself too
Nice to see some PS1s get some TLC and repairs. There are so many games made for this console that I would love to play again.
Great video. FWIW Naptha is safer for degreasing plastics.
Now i know how to potentially get my second PS1 to not rattle anymore. It sounds exactly like the one in your video. And its even the same Model Number.
🍪
💿📀💿
Great content! (As always!)
Thanks for sharing!
I have a ps 2 (in its original box), and it accepts sometimes a disc and sometimes not, very annoying. Cleaned head etc... but I'll watch your vid first before jump to conclusion.
I saw in the end that you replaced some capacitors, could this be the issue?
It's unlikely to be the caps, especially in a PS2. I change them in the PS1 because I've found there's usually one or two that are leaking, but not badly enough to cause any real issues (yet)
I did mess with the pots on my old PS1, and I regret it so much. I ended up buying a "new" laser from China. My PS1 is the 1001 series, the laser is for the psOne, but it fits o.k. after swapping the top plate. I had also previously ripped out the 4 pin connector, but I was able to solder it on again (my second ever soldering attempt, actually XD). But to no surprise, after installing the assembly, no discs are read. I know the connector is correctly soldered on, because the lens does move, and I got the spindle, well, spinning, but the best I could do is have the "Please, insert a PlayStation disc" screen show up. The PS1 has been modded in forever, but not even music discs play. I'm sad I didn't get it working. Half of my childhood memories are burned within it.
That sucks. Yeah the 100X series is a lot more complicated when it comes to replacing the laser assembly. The later models automatically adjust the gain and bias, but on the 100X series these need to be adjusted manually (those trimpots near the connector). I think there are instructions online on how to do it but how accurate they are I don't know. I ended up putting an X-station in my 1002 and donated the laser assembly to a PSone that had a totally dead laser
Ok, i'm confused. When is it necessary to solder an antistatic blob on a laser assembly before handling?
The solder blob can protect the laser from ESD when in shipping or storage, but not necessary when working on the PS1 (unless you have a build-up of static of course)
0:40 ughh that sound brings tears to my eyes
Ahh yes the old PS1 toilet seat
pal games need love too XD
Nice video. Is the feeler guage the one you use for spark plug gaps?
Yep
Great Job! 👍🏻👌🏻
Thing about the pot is its there to trim and train the laser operation and not as a bijou extra repair as messing with it brings on final unit breakdown so much quicker. Usually any need to mess with the adjustment suggests your laser and driver are fully winkered or in the last throes of life so you have to replace the breaking down things rather than over exert a circuit which might give a short remedy but won't last and then it is really busted.
If it's already broken, then what does it matter?
Well, thankfully a new laser assembly is still a pretty cheap fix, although it won't fix what was originally wrong with it before you burnt it up.
@@tatecheddar So effectively what you have happen is "oh no, my laser is bad. It won't read disks anymore.".... to "oh no, my laser is REALLY bad, it won't read disks anymore."
So between BAD and REALLY BAD, if you can get a little more life out of the laser, I say tweak the pot and get more life out of the laser. Because one way or another, you're still ordering a new laser. But at least you can keep playing Worms Armageddon in the meantime.
The Poti adjust is for the cat.not helpful.not in PS1 or ps2.
LOL, the motor spindle has nothing to do with the laser or laser power. What a dumb video.
No shit, clearly you missed the point. Enjoy burning out your lasers
LOL, dumb video you say? Harsh words coming from someone who managed to destroy the optical drive of his CDTV while "fixing" it. Clearly you're the last person in the world to give any advice on repairing optical drives. Hahaha.
I discovered this solution back in 2016 when I bought two Sony refurbed units from eBay. Both were 7502s with new lasers under the green taped shut lid. I also had an old 1002 with a metal spindel and thought it'd be better than having the two part ceramic and plastic hub as they fall apart over time. But when I swapped the new motor for the old one I was horrified to discover that the new laser wasn't working properly anymore. By chance I had a small bottle of clock oil and tried that on the old motor as you did and voila!
Also I use the end of a PS4 Pro HDD caddy to pop off spindels. It's like it was made for it!
@TheRetroChannel Don't shit urself. You are the last person which is able to tell me what should and should not to do with my stuff...