TG-16 CD - Does Not Spin

[TheClash603]

I ordered a TG16 briefcase unit off of ebay a little while ago, but never got around to playing with it until today.  Once I had the unit hooked up and I was ready to go, there was no spinning of the disc.  Unfortunately I assume this is the gear issue?

According to the ebay auction:  "A friend of mine still had cd games and tested it with 3 games and they all loaded and played. I hope this help Thanks Jay."  Could I possibly be doing something wrong?  I have never used anything except my Duo or LA before, so perhaps I am not putting the system together correctly?  When I hit run at the menu screen, it says "please wait a moment," but nothing occurs with the disc.  It says "PC" in red lights on the actual disc unit.

When I unplugged the unit from the base, it said "0" in red lights.  I put a disc in it and hit play, still no spin.

Since the auction states "no returns," I am probably stuck with this thing.  Any help would be great.  Also, to any of you gear guys, what would it cost me to get the repair done if this is in case the issue?

P.S. - Don't buy from muzknt on ebay.  Not only does my item appear to not work, but the system was shipped to me in its original box.  There are now a bunch of UPS stickers and tape on the system's box that will never come off.  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110855005807 is the auction.

[roflmao]

I ordered a TG16 briefcase unit off of ebay a little while ago, but never got around to playing with it until today.  Once I had the unit hooked up and I was ready to go, there was no spinning of the disc.  Unfortunately I assume this is the gear issue?

According to the ebay auction:  "A friend of mine still had cd games and tested it with 3 games and they all loaded and played. I hope this help Thanks Jay."  Could I possibly be doing something wrong?  I have never used anything except my Duo or LA before, so perhaps I am not putting the system together correctly?  When I hit run at the menu screen, it says "please wait a moment," but nothing occurs with the disc.  It says "PC" in red lights on the actual disc unit.

When I unplugged the unit from the base, it said "0" in red lights.  I put a disc in it and hit play, still no spin.

Since the auction states "no returns," I am probably stuck with this thing.  Any help would be great.  Also, to any of you gear guys, what would it cost me to get the repair done if this is in case the issue?

Man that sucks.  I'd still contact the seller and try to get it resolved.  Ebay should stick up for you if the guy won't help you out.  If you paid through Paypal, you can also contact them and they'll likely refund your money.  One of my old co-workers had an expensive item arrive broken/not as described and the seller wouldn't takeit back or refund his money so he contacted Paypal and sent them the PMs and they gave him his money back almost immediately.  That was a couple of years ago, so things might have changed, but I was impressed at how quickly it was resolved.  And he got to keep the defective item, which he was able to repair fairly inexpensively.

P.S. - Don't buy from muzknt on ebay.  Not only does my item appear to not work, but the system was shipped to me in its original box.  There are now a bunch of UPS stickers and tape on the system's box that will never come off.  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110855005807 is the auction.

Oh man, I hate it when that happens.  My Turbo CD Attachment box is the same way.

[thesteve]

no spin simply means the drive didnt see disk.

[TheClash603]

no spin simply means the drive didnt see disk.

So that would mean the laser doesn't work?  Regardless, it is past my repair abilities, so someone help please!

[hoobs88]

I had the same problem with my CD ROM recently...I sent mine to BlueBMW and he changed the gears. Works fine now.

[BlueBMW]

Myself, chop, keith courage, steve, turbokon, and probably someone else I missed can all fix it   Let me know if you need me to take care of it for ya.

[thesteve]

the laser needs to move to the center of the disk before attempting to read.
if not centering it is gears

[Snow Crash]

The console is probably repairable so i'd keep it and see if you can get a partial refund for the reasons you mentioned from the seller.

[NecroPhile]

Good luck on getting this fixed up and running again, and +1 on going to eBay/Paypal for a partial refund.  His 'no returns' means jack shit to them, as it's their policy that sellers must deliver items as described.

[GohanX]

Word. Get your money, then send it to chop/keith/beemer/whoever to fix it better than new. You paid a LOT of money for this, and if the CD drive isn't working it's not really worth half of that. I may give the seller the benefit of the doubt that maybe something got knocked loose during shipping, but I doubt it.

Out of curiosity, does it play audio cds? Pull the CD drive out, hook power directly up to it (I don't remember if the CD power adapter works with it, it may need the TG16 adapter) and press play. If it still does nothing, then yeah, drive is fucked. This eliminates the remote possibility that something is screwy with the CD dock.

[FiftyQuid]

I recently made a bulk purchase that included a broken CD unit for the TG-16.  I bought it with the assumption I would be able to fix it.  I like to consider myself pretty handy with electronics, and I even have a college degree for Electrical Engineering Technician (Digital).  Anyway...  

So my problem is identical to the TheClash603.  My experience using the CD unit is identical as well.  I have the CD unit locked into the mounting base.  The TG-16 is also inserted.  The system card is inserted.  The main power adapter is connected.  The TG-16 works just fine.  If I put a CD into the CD unit the disc does not spin.  Nothing happens except I get red LEDs so I know the unit is receiving power.

So before I go taking it apart, TheClash603 was the issue with your unit gears?  

@everyone ~ Does it sound like I am using the CD unit properly?  Is it possible it is something other than the gears?  If so, what would be the next logical thing you would check?

Thank you for your time.

[TheClash603]

Beats me what the issue is, I just know there are wiser guys than me on the forum that can fix the problem.  I am sending a list of items for trade today to Chop for his help.  BlueBMW is another guy that can make these fixes.  Might want to hit them up with a PM?

[thesteve]

TG16 CD/PCE CDROM2
diagnosis...
step 1 does it power on (yes=continue)
2 move the laser to the center of track.
with lid open and lid switch pressed power on (press play)
laser should move to center (gears), light up dimly red (laser diode), bob up and down slowly (focus search circuit).

[FiftyQuid]

TG16 CD/PCE CDROM2
diagnosis...
step 1 does it power on (yes=continue)
2 move the laser to the center of track.
with lid open and lid switch pressed power on (press play)
laser should move to center (gears), light up dimly red (laser diode), bob up and down slowly (focus search circuit).

When you say "move the laser to the center of track.", how am I supposed to do this?  Push it there with my finger?

Beats me what the issue is, I just know there are wiser guys than me on the forum that can fix the problem.  I am sending a list of items for trade today to Chop for his help.  BlueBMW is another guy that can make these fixes.  Might want to hit them up with a PM?

I'm definitely going to hit BlueBMW up with a PM, but first I'll crack it open and do a visual inspection.

[PikachuWarrior]

Yes, you physically drag the laser to the middle.

[CrackTiger]

TG16 CD/PCE CDROM2
diagnosis...
step 1 does it power on (yes=continue)
2 move the laser to the center of track.
with lid open and lid switch pressed power on (press play)
laser should move to center (gears), light up dimly red (laser diode), bob up and down slowly (focus search circuit).

I have a TurboDuo which successfully does all of this, the disc just doesn't spin.

I ordered a TG16 briefcase unit off of ebay a little while ago, but never got around to playing with it until today.  Once I had the unit hooked up and I was ready to go, there was no spinning of the disc.  Unfortunately I assume this is the gear issue?

According to the ebay auction:  "A friend of mine still had cd games and tested it with 3 games and they all loaded and played. I hope this help Thanks Jay."  Could I possibly be doing something wrong?  I have never used anything except my Duo or LA before, so perhaps I am not putting the system together correctly?  When I hit run at the menu screen, it says "please wait a moment," but nothing occurs with the disc.  It says "PC" in red lights on the actual disc unit.

When I unplugged the unit from the base, it said "0" in red lights.  I put a disc in it and hit play, still no spin.

Since the auction states "no returns," I am probably stuck with this thing.  Any help would be great.  Also, to any of you gear guys, what would it cost me to get the repair done if this is in case the issue?

P.S. - Don't buy from muzknt on ebay.  Not only does my item appear to not work, but the system was shipped to me in its original box.  There are now a bunch of UPS stickers and tape on the system's box that will never come off.  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110855005807 is the auction.

You shouldn't have a problem getting a refund from PayPal. The seller didn't ship you what was advertised: a working system and the box as pictured. If they won't accept one as a failure to deliver what was promised, the other should count.

[FiftyQuid]

Yes, you physically drag the laser to the middle.

Ah, thanks.  Okay I'll try this and let you know what happens.

[thesteve]

dont drag a duo laser ever

[FiftyQuid]

How much force do I have to use?  I'm worried about busting something.  Should there be much resistance?

[ApolloBoy]

EDIT: NM, I seem to be scatterbrained today

[thesteve]

lol
the cdrom should move easily
the duo is hard geared and will break if moved (all gears in place)

[FiftyQuid]

lol
the cdrom should move easily
the duo is hard geared and will break if moved (all gears in place)

Well I wouldn't say it moves easily, but it wasn't exactly difficult either.  Then I plugged in the unit, opened the lid, pressed the lid switch and pressed play.  The laser did not move, but I heard it try.  The laser did light up red, but I didn't see it focus.  Maybe your eyes are better than mine are.

I started following BlackandBlue's laser replacement guide.  I am able to see all the capacitors, gears and, ... well all the guts.  The capacitors all look fine.  No leakage, no swollen tops, and for something that is 20+ years old it's actually very clean inside.  If I look at the gears it's plainly obvious that the center gear is a different colour.  The outer two are your typical white, but the middle one is an ugly yellow.  The outer ring of the yellowed gear looks fine.  All the teeth are still there, but the inner ring (smaller) that turns the spindle to move the laser looks like all the teeth have been shortened.  I don't see any little bits of gear anywhere in the housing though.  I took my precision screw driver and poked at one of the teeth on the outer gear and it broke off without any pressure.

So you guys are correct about the gears.  What's the best way forward now?  Should I bother with a complete laser replacement or just buy a gear off Keith Courage?

[thesteve]

the laser wont come with gears
keith or chop have gear kits

[FiftyQuid]

Thanks the steve.  I'll send Keith a PM.

BTW, how do I remove the middle gear?  It looks like it's on there with some sort of u clip, but it's so small I'm not positive.

[thesteve]

you are correct
the chop kit has instructions for removal.
I expect the keith kit does as well.
the chop kit uses a 3 gear system (like the original)
the keith kit eliminates the middle gear, but requires the motor wires swapped

[FiftyQuid]

you are correct
the chop kit has instructions for removal.
I expect the keith kit does as well.
the chop kit uses a 3 gear system (like the original)
the keith kit eliminates the middle gear, but requires the motor wires swapped

I'm going to go ahead with the Keith Kit.  It seems like the simplest option.  Thanks for the help thesteve and everyone else.

[grimp]

hey BLUEBMW , i tried to message you a couple of times but i dont think it went though . Id lik to hire you to refurb my turbo cd unit . my e-mail is grimproducer@yahoo.com if you cant get ahold of me on here .

[BlueBMW]

PM replied to