CD Drive advice...

[winslow33]

Hello:wave:

While waiting for either a new hard drive to come my way for my computer to be back to working order or some money to come my way to rebuild my computer from scratch, one of my friends gave me a CD-ROM drive he was going to throw away. I got it to work, it was a bad solder joint on the eject switch. But there are a few other problems I can't figure out:
-When a disk is in the drive, it sounds more like the Johnson 20hp outboard motor we used to have:isadizzy:!!! The entire computer shakes!!:faint:
-There is a funny rattling noise coming from inside the part that spins the CD.

I'm assuming both problems must be related, but how might I go about fixing them? I've put a little oil in the motors and cleaned the entire drive, but it only helped ANOTHER problem: A terrible squaling noise when the drive opened. at least thats fixed...

I guess the poor thing must be almost dead, but I thought I'd might as well try giving it a shot and fixing it.

Thanks in advance!

[waco]

Winslow, having been an aircraft electrician in the USAF for twenty years and also having taught the subject for a half dozen years, I'd suggest looking at the gear train off the drive motor. I think, just from experience with electrical motors of all sizes that the optical drive is worn too much to fix but might be fun to tear apart. I have a small house fan torn down on the work bench in the garage right now. All it needs is lubrication, though.

[stansdds]

Sounds like the optical drive is about to suffer a catastrophic failure. In order to keep the cost of optical drives low, manufacturers use as much plastic as possible. Unfortunately, the plastic gears wear and will become brittle and break over time. Rather than attempt to repair one, I think you are far better served by buying a new one.

[winslow33]

Thanks for the responses. I guess I will just rip it apart. I guess I should get with the times and buy a CD/DVD-R drive instead of a CD-ROM. I can't recall how many times I wished I could write to CD's and watch movies on my computer.... In fact just yesterday I wanted to watch The Green Mile on it... Have to dust off the DVD player.

[waco]

If you're going to buy a CD/DVD-RW, read the reviews of the different models and brands at Newegg.com to ensure that you select one that's reliable and not a lemon.

[stansdds]

Waco has given you some great advice.

[winslow33]

Thanks for that link... I'll give it a shot before buying anything.