PlayStation Development Network

Hello,

I recently found SCPH-7502 in pretty bad condition and I'm about to recondition it. What makes me confusing is loading speed. When I compare loading speed with my other console, it's sightly slower (Gran turismo 2 loading is slower about 4 seconds). Where is problem? Could be the laser faulty? If yes, can I simply replace it with any other I buy? Thanks!

Yeah, slow loading can certainly be caused by a bad CD assembly. Depending on what you mean by "bad condition", it might be worth cleaning the optical pickup assembly - if the unit was stored in dusty conditions, it might have dust on the turning mirror inside the pickup, and that can cause the read quality to deteriorate.

TriMesh wrote: ↑March 18th, 2019, 2:49 am Yeah, slow loading can certainly be caused by a bad CD assembly. Depending on what you mean by "bad condition", it might be worth cleaning the optical pickup assembly - if the unit was stored in dusty conditions, it might have dust on the turning mirror inside the pickup, and that can cause the read quality to deteriorate.

Yes, little bit dusty. Question is how to recognize bad CD assembly... It looks just "normal" . I guess I do clean up first.

[C]oopeZz wrote: ↑March 18th, 2019, 11:26 am

TriMesh wrote: ↑March 18th, 2019, 2:49 am Yeah, slow loading can certainly be caused by a bad CD assembly. Depending on what you mean by "bad condition", it might be worth cleaning the optical pickup assembly - if the unit was stored in dusty conditions, it might have dust on the turning mirror inside the pickup, and that can cause the read quality to deteriorate.

Yes, little bit dusty. Question is how to recognize bad CD assembly... It looks just "normal" . I guess I do clean up first.

Unfortunately, one of the parts that commonly gets dirty is rather hard to get to - there is a 45 degree mirror located below the lens and in order to clean it, you need to remove the sled assembly from the pickup, remove the plastic cover over the lens positioner and then (carefully!) lift the lens up to get at the mirror. Isopropyl alcohol and a cotton bud works well for this.

If you have access to a scope, you can get a very good indication of the state of the optical pickup by monitoring the signal on the RF testpoint (CL704 on the SCPH-750x) - it's nominally 1Vp-p, but will typically be slightly higher on a good unit (say 1.1V) - if it gets down to 800mV, then you are likely to have read problems. Those numbers are for original pressed discs - if you use CD-Rs expect a smaller signal since they are less reflective.

"Hard to get to" but not impossible. Thanks, I'll try. ^^