All laser units I ship I have personally tested in a ps2 with all types of media.
90% of the time just install the laser and it should boot right up with all types of media, if it does not follow the directions below:
first set the white skew knob to the center after marking where you started from (about 1 click to the right of the
hole) then try all types of media.
if not reading correctly: take the loading tray off, set the drive to loaded,
load the disk and use the disk lock removed from the drive lid.
Set the white skew knob a few clicks CCW from the center dot then try a clean DVD disk, and click
the white skew knob 2 clicks at a time clockwise till it reads, you can tell if your getting close by
the sounds and movement of the laser. You do not have to power off and on between each click
just press the reset button... when it reads try a CD, black bottom, then DVD
game just to be sure.
if it gets past the browser screen and identifies the media and thats it: that
usally means the skew is incorrect.
after trying various skew adjustments, if it still will not read completely or just one type of media
keep trying the white knob
do not turn the tiny black height hex screw because it is already set. you can try 1/8th turn at a time
but not more then 2 full turns and remember where you started from.
still will not read:
if nothing ever reads and the laser focus goes click, click, click
observe the action of the laser head when pressing reset: it should smoothly move to the front
and immediately bounce off the front stop switch and move back out a bit then the
DVD laser should
flash a visible red and then move the focus loop up and down a bit.
if you have a V9 or V10 and the laser acts lost: your focus
coils are most likely burned out, they should be
5 ohms for tracking and 5 ohms for focus, also your LA6508 chip that controls
focus is most likely bad.
Sometimes packing material or lint will fall under the laser eye and block
the laser light, carefully clean this out with air duster.
If you get a buzzing and the head is not moving right sometimes a single hair caught in the rail and
brass O ring of the head will cause a non-read situation. make sure the rail moves effortlessly thru
the set of brass O rings on the head. Clean the rail and brass rings so it
slides effortlessly.
Sometimes the white plastic thing that rests on the worm gear warps causing a head movement issue
or buzzing sound (on V9 V10 its metal) you can carefully bend it downward to get more grip on the worm gear
or replace the white thing. Also if the worm gear is new it may be too tight!
make sure it moves easily back and forth if you spin
the worm gear with your finger. At this point its best to send it in
Never adjust the laser power adjustment pots on the bottom of the laser head
unless you know exactly what you are doing.
Never turn the pots below 850 ohms the normal range is 900-1800 ohms, if you
apply power with the the laser turned up
too high (pot ohms less then 850) it will fry the diode and the laser is scrap.
The lower the ohms the higher the laser output.
They should always be adjusted with a scope and reference or game disk. click
here for technical adjustment guide PDF
The normal range is 900-1800 ohms across the legs of the adjustment pot.
Some guides say as low as 600ohms but I have never seen a laser work at this
setting
But sometimes you can turn them 10 degrees +/- but if you turn them up too much the laser eye will instantly
fry and has to be rebuilt. if you have many lasers and ps2's get a DVD disk where the visible laser
light goes thru and get used to how the brightness of the dot should look and sometimes you can
make a tiny adjustment if the dot is too bright or too dim. if it looks dim but reads perfectly
do not adjust it because the laser will last much longer at a lower setting.
These pots are calibrated
at the factory and adjusting them incorrectly will roast the laser eye
immediately upon power on.
The power level of a new replacement laser never has to be adjusted. If you cannot
read any disks first suspect the
laser movement, skew, laser height or motherboard. V4 and below have much worse
disk reading circurtry.
V7,9,10 read much better with the same laser.
If you bought
the laser from me I will generally install and calibrate it for free if you cover return
shipping of your unit.
I have sold over 500+ replacement lasers to customers all over the world with
excellent results.
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