Need Turbo CD help, or help me rectify the consequences of my stupidity

YAGRS · 06/08/2012, 08:45 PM

I posted a little about this in the thread for Keith Courage's Turbo CD replacement gear, but I don't want to derail things there. Plus, this puts my problem up front where others might see it.

Anyway, I received the replacement gear today, and I happily began to disassemble my Turbo CD in order to fix it. In anticipation of the new gear's arrival, I had already removed the old middle gear (which fell apart as I did so) and post. One thing that I had yet to do was to remove the one metal piece near the gears so that the new gear would fit. I ran into a problem attempting to do this, as the screw did not want to turn; instead, the head began to strip. I decided that I could just as easily clip off the part of the metal piece that would prevent the new gear from fitting, so I proceeded to do so.

I used a pair of old, small wire snips to get at the metal piece. It was still a tight fit, and apparently I bent the metal cover for the laser in the process, which I didn't know until after I put everything back together and began troubleshooting why some CDs didn't want to spin.

I spent the next several hours attempting to fix what I had done, and I managed to get the CD cover bent back to where it at least looks flat. However, in the process, I lost one of the tiny screws for the cover (I keep going over the area where I was working with a magnet, but I've had no luck finding it).

When I turn on the Turbo CD now, the laser will move (if I have it away from the spindle), but the disc only starts to spin and immediately stops.

So, does anyone know what the issue is? Is it the one tiny screw that is missing? Have I harmed my Turbo CD beyond repair?

thesteve · 06/08/2012, 10:15 PM

if the cover is not rubbing anything, its not the issue.
the laser sled moves, the gears are working.
did you swap the gear motor wires (required for keiths gears)?

YAGRS · 06/08/2012, 10:43 PM

I probably should clarify what I meant by "cover." I didn't mean the lid to the CD player but the metal piece that is over the laser sled that has the cut out section for the laser to read CDs (sorry, I wish I had a better idea of what these parts are actually called to prevent confusion). Anyway this cover was rubbing discs until I bent it back down. It scratched an audio CD I let play for a bit, but I fortunately didn't ruin any of my games.

I did switch the wires, and until I reopened it to bend back the cover, I did have games playing on system.

I've inspected all of the wires, and they are all connected, and the ribbon cables are connected correctly.

So . . . I'm stumped. All that I could think is that it had something to do with that metal cover, as that is the part I screwed up. The only other thing I noticed is that I do have one leaking capacitor (one of the 470 uF caps).

thesteve · 06/09/2012, 12:27 AM

the cover is optional
the laser ribbons like to tear

turbokon · 06/09/2012, 02:56 AM

Yeah, check the laser ribbon. Sometime they are stubborn.

YAGRS · 06/09/2012, 09:11 AM

Okay, I uploaded a couple of videos showing my Turbo CD disassembled and then what happens when it's assembled and I attempt to use it.

fraggore · 06/09/2012, 01:13 PM

I will go with the last post when i had mine apart i had a similar problem re-fitted the ribbon cables fixed it, found i had not pushed them all the way in.

change that capacitor out if its leaking it needs changing and it might solve your problem.

thesteve · 06/09/2012, 03:32 PM

its not a problem with the cover
it looks like an adjustment issue

YAGRS · 06/09/2012, 03:34 PM

Potentiometer adjustment? If so, is there a good way to go about adjusting this, or is it a bunch of trial and error?

YAGRS · 06/29/2012, 12:04 PM

I think I'm ready to give up on my Turbo CD. I haven't replaced the leaking cap yet, but I've tried adjusting the pot and re-examined the cables, etc., and I'm still having the same issues.

So, is there anyone with a lot of experience working on Turbo CDs who would be interested in trying to fix it? If so, please PM me with what you would charge.

turbokon · 06/29/2012, 11:53 PM

The turbografx cd is a hit or miss for me. Sometime I can get one working easy and there are a few I can't seem to get it working. I got a couple that I'm having trouble with. I can take a look at it for you but I can't guarantee anything. Thesteve, keithcourage and a few others also work on these.

YAGRS · 06/30/2012, 01:15 AM

Okay, I may PM you about this. The Turbo CD was working fine prior to me installing the new gear, except that if I let it sit without playing it for a while, I would have to open it up and move the middle gear around (which is why I finally decided to change the gear). After changing the gear, it was working with some, but not all games. Then, after messing around with it a little more, it would only spin discs a partial turn. Not sure what I did, or if something had been going bad and just happened to go out at that point.