saturn cd replacement

[machs_fuel]

i picked up a saturn off ebay a while back... its a round button type, with a jvc cd reader.
well the cd reader won't spin up, or move the lens.. but the power suppy gives it 5v

is there anywhere i can get a replacement cd reader?

[NFG]

Buy another Saturn.  Swap parts if you can, otherwise use the new unit.  Saturns are cheap, replacement parts don't exist.  If they did you can be assured they'd cost more than another Saturn.

You might also contact the seller if he said it was working.

[kendrick]

To be fair, replacement parts are available. But it's not as if somebody has a warehouse full of Saturn parts waiting around to be bought. The problem is, replacement components are only available by way of scavenging from other working equipment. Double-speed JVC CD mechanisms can be found in all manner of consumer equipment and as PC parts, but it would prohibitively expensive to do the swap. Lawrence's recommendation is the best one, and even then it makes more sense to leave a working Saturn in one piece.

There once was a game wholesaler out there that bought up every defective Saturn on the west coast of the US and tried to pimp them out for about $15 a piece. Oh wait, they're still doing so but the price is down to $3.50 a pop.

http://www.marketworks.com/StoreFrontProfi...4672&i=10113705

VG Liquidators gets only a marginal recommendation from me, as they do business primarily through Paypal and eBay. Also, note that these are clearly labelled as defective units, so if you bought ten of them one might have a working CD drive. Caveat emptor, as it were.

-KKC

[dj898]

does the lens head assembly move when powering up?
Or stuck in one spot? Or does the CD spin when powering up?

I had a saturn long time ago - it was first version Hi-Saturn that had this symptom. I opened it up an compared to my other working saturn and the only difference was with the power off the position of the lens head assemblies were different. What I did was - since I was about to chucking it off as junk - move the assembly to the same spot as the working saturn. Then when I powering up it spin the CD and worked like normal. I sold that Hi-Saturn few years later when I got skeleton saturn...

maybe worth a try???

[Guest]

thanks for the response guys, i'm thinking i might just poke around garage sales and hope to find a saturn..

i saw those VG liquidators on ebay, it would be an ok option, if there weren't so many models of saturns, with three idential units you could arrange enough good components, but since there are a few different kinds, with different cd-drives, and power suppys..

i've tryed adjusting the lense pots, and also manual moving the lense.
It doesn't feel like there isn't any feedback if you move the lense when the unit is on.. i think perhaps the drivers for the lense position servos are crapped out.  i suppose i could do some more poking around with the meter...

[dj898]

when you move the lens assembly you should feel some resistance...
if not it's probably the servo has packed up...

try to find a junk sautrn locally if you can...
or look for ebay for broken saturn... - not sure now but used to see broken sautrn for cheap now and then... (depending the location and shipping cost)

[budo-ka]

i picked up a saturn off ebay a while back... its a round button type, with a jvc cd reader.
well the cd reader won't spin up, or move the lens.. but the power suppy gives it 5v

is there anywhere i can get a replacement cd reader?

There is, somewhere near back the cd door, a little swith that send to the saturn  the state of the cdrom door; door open? or door closed?.
If this switch is broken (or if there is a malfunction), the saturn would always think that the door is wide open and will not read the inserted cd.

Take you voltmeter and try to guess if this switch is ok or not. Next you could try to hack it or change for another one.


Budo