Maybe the piece got caught by the tray and in forcing the tray to move, it
changed the laser alignment.
WT
"Sam Goldwasser" wrote in message
...
Jose Capco writes:
Dear NG,
IŽd like to ask a few questions about CD-RW drives. I better however
start with a short story of how mine became out of order.
The tray was not coming out completely so I decided to repair
it... unfortunately I wasnŽt at a very good mood, I however managed to
make the tray come out properly by doing a bit of lubrication (with
vegetable oil.. I know it wasnŽt the best lubricant but I wasnŽt
thinking then). Then after sometime this problem repeated, so I did
something which I donŽt exactly remember but somehow the tray got
stuck in the drive and could not come out anymore. I used a little
force and managed to pry it out. But then I felt something was broken
and that it wasnŽt able to read CDs anymore.
After disassembling the drive, I realized that the optical drive had a
black plastic cover that sorounds the laser diode (or laser light
source, whatever that is), and it was broken and I in fact found that
broken piece. I then glued it back. ... but well 
... it cant read
CDs anymore. I wonder if its already hopeless to make this CD drive
work (I can of course buy a new one, but IŽd also love to learn and
experiment with the mechanism of this one. It will be a good
punishment for me and give me a lesson not to damage a gadget more
than it is already damaged).
Also, I found a website that has everything about CD-repairs and
apparently it was an extract from sci.electronics.repair. But
unfortunately I am unable to recall this site. If anyone knows it, IŽd
be glad if he could share it with me.
If the black piece is just the cover over the optical pickup, that's
irrelevant and the drive would work without it. However, the fact that
it is broken suggests that there may indeed be other more serious problems
caused when you forced the tray out.
If you want to learn, go to the CD repair guide at the sites below.
But probably best to just buy a new one for now.
--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Mirror:
http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ:
http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites:
http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/F_mirror.html
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