Re: Playstation 2, last chance

From: LASERandDVDfan (laseranddvdfan_at_aol.com)
Date: 11/30/04 

Date: 30 Nov 2004 23:58:45 GMT

>my son has a PS2, version 4, I think, (eight screws in the bottom).

A model number would be a better descriptor of the console version.

> I've done all the usual stuff - cleaning, increasing the magnet
>strength, adjusting the angle of the laser (turning the little white
>gogwheel) until I'm cross-eyed. I'm told I can't adjust the voltage on
>this model.

"Magnet strength?"

First off, a lot of what you have done was probably unnecessary and usually
acts to make the problem worse.

If you remember the original position of the white gear, reset it! Also make
sure that the leaf spring with the notch at the end is resting in the gear's
teeth on its left side and not underneath the gear itself.

Secondly, if the console had a lot of dust in the drive, you would also have to
relubricate mechanical parts to allow the drive traverse to function smoothly
after cleaning by airblasting.

If you only cleaned the dust out and didn't bother to relube the wormgear,
pickup slider tracks, and the pickup's sleeve bearings for those sliders with
high quality molytone grease, then it's no wonder why you would still have
problems.

Sony didn't really use enough lubrication in those mechas and the dust tends to
dry out what little lube there is on those things.

One sign of this problem is when it has a harder time reading PS-2 CD-ROMs
(blue-bottoms) than PS-2 DVD-ROMs (sliver-bottoms).

>I'm told I can't adjust the voltage on
>this model.

And you shouldn't because tweaking the laser gain potentiometers on the pickup
doesn't really work effectively anyways.

And, there are two pots for this. One for the IR laser for CD and the other
for the red laser for DVD.

If the pickup is worn enough to the point that it's "weak," replacement of the
pickup is really the only reliable fix.

>Now it's much better - every game loads superbly, quicker
>than ever, the memory card loads up and the game starts.
>Only thing now is that the games freeze, especially when changing
>location, or going on "missions" and the message "Error reading disc"
>shows after a couple of minutes play.
>I'd be grateful if anyone knows of any other fix I might try - it
>feels like it's so close to working it would be a shame to give up on it

I suggest reseting all the adjustments back the way they were, airblasting the
pickup and drive clean of any dust, cleaning the objective lens, and
relubricating the kicker wormgear and slider tracks with high quality
medium-to-low viscosity grease. - Reinhart

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