Bogus CD drive

From: Marvin <marvin_at_rain.org>
Date: Fri Nov 14 01:28:52 1997

Kip Crosby wrote:

> My primary computer has a Toshiba 3401 (couple-years-old) caddy-type SCSI
> CD drive in it. This is from back when they were expensive and built like
>
> tanks. It is now generally choking on software CD's and skipping horribly
>
> on audio CD's. My Wintel guru says that it is literally not worth trying
> to clean the thing, that the cost of a cleaning will exceed the cost of a
> new 8X or 10X SCSI CD drive, and the bother of going inside the case,
> removing, and re-installing will be the same. I hate to pitch this drive,
>
> it's worked so well; is there anything non-invasive I can try before I
> give
> up on it?

My feeling is that merely cleaning the unit will not help ( the sensor is
fairly small, approx3/16", and I *think* it can be reached with a Q-Tip.)
My experience tends to make me think the problem is more along the lines of
either the laser diode output decreasing, or the gain of the electronics is
decreasing with age. I had one for quite a while, and it was also a very
reliable drive. One day, it started making funny noises, so I replaced it.
Months later, I tried to take it apart and found the screws breaking off or
rounding off where the phillips tip goes. I ended up drilling the heads
off, getting the unit apart, and finding the noise was because of a faulty
cassette leaving the metal cap attached to the magnet inside the drive. I
found the screws were loktighted in place, and heat was required to soften
the Lok-Tite enough to take the screws out. A bit of carelessness later,
one of the plastic gears melted because of the heat, and the drive was
rendered mechanically bad, and I *think* I tossed it.
Received on Fri Nov 14 1997 - 01:28:52 GMT