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Wont read my game discs - Sega Saturn

ansbar - Jul 26, 2016

		ansbar		Jul 26, 2016
			Hi, I own a saturn that gradually have become worse at starting up game discs. Before it worked most times, but now, when firing up the saturn with a game disc 9 times of ten it spins quite fast like 10 times then it present the audio-cd screen. - The laser is moving when starting up - I have cleaned the laser - I have calibrated the yellow screw as good as I can - I havent tried with an audio cd (cant find one at home..) - I have tried adjusting the spindle gap (but I dont think I actually succeding in moving it) but I dont know the perfect gap size (see picture). - The games are original and worked before. Its a PAL version 2. What to do? =) Regards, Per

		Mr^Burns		Jul 26, 2016
			Are the discs scratched?. The only thing you can really do is adjust the pot in tiny tiny increments to see if it has any effect, the impression i'm given is that it's currently in a weak/bad position.

		SegaSaturnShrine		Jul 26, 2016
			Torico said: Best to use a multimeter while making the adjustments. First before you move anything, measure it at its original position and write it down, that way, if things get worse, you can at least bring it back to its original position. Measure the amount of ohms of the pot at each incremental change (very tedious I know, but if you drop the resistance too much and too quickly you will permanently fry the laser lens). You want to very carefully drop the resistance by adjusting that screw, this will cause the current and voltage to increase forcing your laser lens to work harder, but this is pretty much the only thing left you can try. Its a great way to squeeze some extra life out of a failing laser. If successful, this fix "should" last a while. I don't recommend dropping the ohms more than a couple hundred from whatever its original measurement is to avoid cooking it. If all else fails, I imagine you can get a new laser assembly fairly cheap on ebay (likely a refurb pulled from a donor machine, but hey w/e works lol).

		ansbar		Jul 26, 2016
			The discs have no scratches, at least some of them. So, you think the yellow screw is of then? It has nothing to do with the spindle gap? When I fiddled with the screw (I moved it a maximum of 1/4 of a turn) counter clockwise, the disc stopped turning, that normal? Thanks for your help!

		SegaSaturnShrine		Jul 27, 2016
			I don't think we're talking about the same screw. I'd have to take my Saturn apart to look and find the potentiometer screw to be sure.

		Mr^Burns		Jul 27, 2016
			Yes it's the yellow screw, personally I think the sega saturn laser is probably the sturdiest of all retro consoles (and Jaguar CD has the worst ) as i've messed with mine since 1999 and it's still alive, even got cd-rws running on it. http://guidesat.free.fr/tutoriaux/cdrw/cdrw.html... http://www.elotrolado.net/hilo_mod-sega-saturn-cd-...