FZ-10 Won't Load Games: Bad Laser/Lens?

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jasonbar
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FZ-10 Won't Load Games: Bad Laser/Lens?

Post by jasonbar » Wed Jul 14, 2010 9:22 pm

Howdy-

I tried to fire up my FZ-10 for the 1st time in a while last night & it wasn't cooperating.

Upon power-up, I get the 3DO logo briefly, then the screen goes black & the disc drive makes awful grinding noises. I imagine that the laser & lens assembly is whipping back & forth frantically & fruitlessly.

Troubleshooting:
1 - I poked a stick in the switch hole to fool the unit into thinking that the lid was shut & powered up. The disc spins fine, so the spindle motor seems OK. Behavior was the same as with the lid closed properly.
2 - I took a clean rag & some ethyl alcohol & wiped the lens. No change.


Any ideas? I tried a search on these forums & didn't see this topic addressed--if I've missed an existing thread, my apologies.

I prefer to repair rather than replace (a motto I try to follow in general). But, if repair isn't an option, what's the going rate for an FZ-1 or FZ-10 console these days?


Thank you,
-Jason

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Post by BryWI » Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:25 pm

Is it doing this with original discs? It probably is a bad laser in that case. I'm not sure that the laser is really fixable/replaceable at the moment yet. Someone was working on that but I havent heard anything about it for a while now.

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Post by jasonbar » Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:31 pm

Yup, I tested the machine w/ a handful of original discs. No copies.

Thanks,
-Jason

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Post by jasonbar » Fri Jul 16, 2010 1:34 am

I wasn't adequately clear in my description, so I took a few videos under different conditions to demonstrate what's happening:

1: Trying to run a disc normally (with lid closed). Sounds you hear are actually lens zipping back & forth, I think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbNQQK2_3HY

2: Trying to run a disc with lid open & screwdriver in lid switch. Disc spins at different speeds, perhaps b/c system isn't able to read it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHJ1XDk6hQU

3: Lid open & screwdriver in lid switch, no disc. Lens pops up & down (focus?). Spindle doesn't spin, b/c I guess the laser assembly didn't see a disc to spin?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlpStngKvKY


Hopefully this recorded behavior will shed some light on the problem, for those who are experienced w/ disc-based console problems.

Thanks!
-Jason

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Post by jasonbar » Fri Jul 16, 2010 8:16 am

Howdy-

I did lots of disassembly & research & testing tonight. The laser sled was up against its limit switch by the spindle motor & never budged.

After disassembling & pulling the laser sled motor out, upon power up, the 3DO would spin the laser sled motor for a couple of seconds, which normally brings the sled against its limit switch by the spindle motor & it even overspins, popping the clever clutch on the lead screw (I say "normally", since I had the motor detached & it was just spinning air...).

Figuring there was binding in that mechanism, I cleaned & regreased the lead screw, the other slide rail, the pillow blocks, & the gearbox (worm gear).

It would work sometimes but not always. Occasional binding? Maaaybe...? When it wasn't moving, I could feel an occasional soft *click!* in the laser sled motor, as if it were trying to slide the sled & failing. Also, during the times when it wasn't working is when the spindle motor & focus in/out actuator went ape, making nasty noises. And, if it were binding, a gentle nudge should unbind it the sled--nope.

I measured 5V on the laser sled leads during that short motion upon power-up. So, I removed the whole assembly & hooked that motor up to the 5V leads on my power supply to be able to run the sled back & forth at will. It ran back & forth like a champ! And then it stopped. Weird.

Further tests w/ the motor alone w/ my power supply reveal that it runs fine for several bursts & then will stop & be forever unresponsive until I twist the motor shaft, & then it's good again.

Good thing I used to be an electric motor designer & also had a short stint as a professional motor abuser (read, BattleBots competitor).

OK, so this motor seems to have a bad commutator segment. When it happens to stop on that bad commutator segment, it won't start up again unless I manually rotate the motor to the next commutator segment.


So, I'm confident that a swap of this motor will do the trick.

The trick is *finding* the motor...perhaps, when one buys a replacement laser assembly, one gets the whole kit & kaboodle?


Embossed in the assembly frame is PPE+PS. That seems to the type of plastic used...

Ink-stamped on the assembly frame is S5801. That P/N doesn't seem to bring up anything good in Google.

Ink-stamped on the spindle motor is LMRD0019 5607, but I don't need that...

Sticker on the laser sled is M43i3FCFE

Ink-stamped on the motor is PPN13KA11C 23495PD. Hey, the 1st half of that number turns up lots of motor hits on Google!

Yup, looks like a 5V motor & the can & mount bolts look the same.


Ugh, $10? http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/L ... -/414-015B

$24??? http://www.partstore.com/Part/Matsushit ... C/New.aspx



Pics:
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff97 ... ly_top.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff97 ... bottom.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff97 ... raving.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff97 ... _stamp.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff97 ... _motor.jpg

Interesting--I came across this site (http://www.datacentra.net/other/3do/3do1.html) & from what I can see (not the whole thing, unfortunately...), the FZ-1 & FZ-10 have the same laser mechanism!

Getting closer!

Thanks,
-Jason

PS--should I be able to see the laser light up when the machine is running?

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Post by k1ngarth3r » Wed Dec 12, 2012 9:25 pm

Sorry to bump an old topic but I found this information very useful!

I'm having the same issue, my disc didn't spin and neither did the spindle unless removed and re-greased then it would work for 20-30 minutes!

God damn thing, thanks for all the information/research you did on this fault.
jasonbar wrote:Howdy-

I did lots of disassembly & research & testing tonight. The laser sled was up against its limit switch by the spindle motor & never budged.

After disassembling & pulling the laser sled motor out, upon power up, the 3DO would spin the laser sled motor for a couple of seconds, which normally brings the sled against its limit switch by the spindle motor & it even overspins, popping the clever clutch on the lead screw (I say "normally", since I had the motor detached & it was just spinning air...).

Figuring there was binding in that mechanism, I cleaned & regreased the lead screw, the other slide rail, the pillow blocks, & the gearbox (worm gear).

It would work sometimes but not always. Occasional binding? Maaaybe...? When it wasn't moving, I could feel an occasional soft *click!* in the laser sled motor, as if it were trying to slide the sled & failing. Also, during the times when it wasn't working is when the spindle motor & focus in/out actuator went ape, making nasty noises. And, if it were binding, a gentle nudge should unbind it the sled--nope.

I measured 5V on the laser sled leads during that short motion upon power-up. So, I removed the whole assembly & hooked that motor up to the 5V leads on my power supply to be able to run the sled back & forth at will. It ran back & forth like a champ! And then it stopped. Weird.

Further tests w/ the motor alone w/ my power supply reveal that it runs fine for several bursts & then will stop & be forever unresponsive until I twist the motor shaft, & then it's good again.

Good thing I used to be an electric motor designer & also had a short stint as a professional motor abuser (read, BattleBots competitor).

OK, so this motor seems to have a bad commutator segment. When it happens to stop on that bad commutator segment, it won't start up again unless I manually rotate the motor to the next commutator segment.


So, I'm confident that a swap of this motor will do the trick.

The trick is *finding* the motor...perhaps, when one buys a replacement laser assembly, one gets the whole kit & kaboodle?


Embossed in the assembly frame is PPE+PS. That seems to the type of plastic used...

Ink-stamped on the assembly frame is S5801. That P/N doesn't seem to bring up anything good in Google.

Ink-stamped on the spindle motor is LMRD0019 5607, but I don't need that...

Sticker on the laser sled is M43i3FCFE

Ink-stamped on the motor is PPN13KA11C 23495PD. Hey, the 1st half of that number turns up lots of motor hits on Google!

Yup, looks like a 5V motor & the can & mount bolts look the same.


Ugh, $10? http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/L ... -/414-015B

$24??? http://www.partstore.com/Part/Matsushit ... C/New.aspx



Pics:
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff97 ... ly_top.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff97 ... bottom.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff97 ... raving.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff97 ... _stamp.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff97 ... _motor.jpg

Interesting--I came across this site (http://www.datacentra.net/other/3do/3do1.html) & from what I can see (not the whole thing, unfortunately...), the FZ-1 & FZ-10 have the same laser mechanism!

Getting closer!

Thanks,
-Jason

PS--should I be able to see the laser light up when the machine is running?
Most wanted:
3DO Magazine Issue 10 - 15

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