optical drive tray loading problem

[ChaosLegionnaire]

i started using a couple of my optical drives again to perform some testing and backup but to my disappointment, they have tray loading problems. both drives wont eject the tray and when i load the tray back, it auto ejects the tray again. it seems that the laser sled assembly in the drives wont drop down fully to the correct position to release the tray and the laser sled assembly wont extend back up to the proper position to lock and load the tray so it auto ejects the tray again.

i tried lubricating the gears in the tray loading mechanism and the tray sled rails but it didnt change the problem. in fact, it got worse because the rubber belt for the tray loading motor got slippery due to all the oil lol! any idea how to fix the tray loading issue with the drives? thanks.

[stj]

Re: optical drive tray loading problem

clean the belt pulleys with IPA and get new belts - belt-stretch and deforming is a common problem.

[Topcat]

Re: optical drive tray loading problem

Back in the VCR service days, there used to be belt assortment kits your could get....it doesn't seem to be that easy for optical drives....I have several that do this and are in need of belts....all of them use different size belts.

One nice thing about old gear-driven Plextors!

[stj]

Re: optical drive tray loading problem

i'v seen kits,
either at banggood or aliexpress.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: optical drive tray loading problem

well, i was wondering if a rubber band of the appropriate size and strechiness would work well as an intermediate ghetto fix stop gap to get the tray working and loading right again. i need to use the drives immediately for testing and cant wait weeks for shipping from overseas regardless if its new belts or a new optical drive...

[stj]

Re: optical drive tray loading problem

weeeelllllll - you could splice one together with superglue!

[R_J]

Re: optical drive tray loading problem

Elastic/rubber bands do not work, try cleaning the old belt. If it won't open that easy, open the drive manually. most cd drives use a small pulley, this causes a sharp bend in the belt and after sitting a long time the belt forms to the pulley and the pulley just spins and won't turn the belt

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: optical drive tray loading problem

One nice thing about old gear-driven Plextors!

Just like how I thought that engines should have a timing gear and cam timing gear...

[momaka]

Re: optical drive tray loading problem

Elastic/rubber bands do not work, try cleaning the old belt.

They do, but it's a crapshoot. I've done it on a few drives, and most didn't last more than a few years, if even that. This is mainly due to the fact that regular rubber bands will degrade a lot quicker than a proper belt - even if you wore surgical gloves and never got any oil on the rubber bands!

So all in all, I agree - it doesn't work well long term. And even short-term, the results could be iffy.

clean the belt pulleys with IPA

+1

I find that this works a lot better than getting cheap "replacement" belts online - most of which are simply regular rubber bands and not proper belts.

i started using a couple of my optical drives again to perform some testing and backup but to my disappointment, they have tray loading problems. both drives wont eject the tray and when i load the tray back, it auto ejects the tray again. it seems that the laser sled assembly in the drives wont drop down fully to the correct position to release the tray and the laser sled assembly wont extend back up to the proper position to lock and load the tray so it auto ejects the tray again.

Oh I have a few drives like that. I don't remember if they were Lite-On or LGs... I think LG drives. Some models just develop this problem after a number of years, and it's not the belts - it is wear on the first big pulley/gear after the motor catching on the screw on top. No easy way to fix it. So the way I work those drives:
- On eject, I press eject button and insert a paper clip into the hole to help the drive tray eject.
- On load, I press eject/load button and "help" the tray go back in by pushing it and giving it a quick jab/accelerating towards the end.

One nice thing about old gear-driven Plextors!

Hell yeah!
My indestructible Teac CD-540E CD-ROMs are the same way. One even has broken guides (came from a dumpster-picked PC), but it still ejects the tray fine - quite roughly, though.

[dmill89]

Re: optical drive tray loading problem

Just like how I thought that engines should have a timing gear and cam timing gear...

Some do: Most heavy truck engines, Dodge Cummins diesels, most old International Harvester engines back when they made pickups/SUVs, Ford 4.9L I6s, Ford flat-head V8s, old Willys Jeep engines (1950s and earlier), etc.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: optical drive tray loading problem

many thanks to stj and R_J for the belt and pulley cleaning tip. cleaned a couple of my drives and the tray now ejects and loads fine now after testing the tray ejecting and loading several times after cleaning.

so it seems that rubber is a biodegradable material so changing the rubber belts prolly wont work and fix it long term. the rubber will just degrade again. so its a design problem with the drives using a material that degrades over time aka planned obsolescence again! when cleaning the belt and pulleys with 70% ipa (medical grade), the tissue i was using to clean it got black stains on it. guess that is the decomposed rubber residue?

regarding the rubber belt deformation problem, yes. when i pulled the rubber belts from the drive to clean, they were indeed egg shaped as well instead of being round shaped. i tried bending the rubber belt the other way to "iron" out the kink but it didnt work so well. its still slightly egg shaped... yea i know its a pretty nub thing to do but i just had to try it out to see if it works lol!