Panasonic 3DO FZ-1 repair??

[spideyc]

Hi all!

I recently came into possession of a Panasonic 3DO FZ-1

Unfortunately it has a dead or extremely stubborn CD drive... it does not spin up for reading, so don't know about the laser, but the spindle certainly does not work

Any chance there is anyone who knows what type of drive is in this system or if anyone has a spare they'd be willing to trade or sell??

Any response is appreciated!

 

[DefectX11]

Maybe eBay's got one. I'm assuming it's proprietary, as they usually are, but I can't say for sure because I've never opened mine.

 

[themadhacker]

from what I understand, the 3do is pretty prone to cd drive failure. I would hook some batteries up to the motor and see if it spins. If it doesn't, you know it's dead. If it does, maybe there is a bad fuse somewhere.

 

[spideyc]

Cool, thanks for the advice

 

[Bibin]

it is possible that the motor does work, but the laser is either too weak or positioned poorly and can not focus on the disc surface. This can lead it to believe that there is no disc to spin, thus never starting the motor. Not likely, but it's a thing some Sega CDXs do ( and turning up the laser intensity fixed mine )

 

[spideyc]

After some testing, the motor does work. Can see no visible signs of error except there is some blackness atop two caps on the control board... does this mean they are burnt out?

Where is the pot screw for this unit? and also I have model 2 SegaCD with same issue good motor... I've tried increasing the laser but still nothing...

 

[grossaffe]

After some testing, the motor does work. Can see no visible signs of error except there is some blackness atop two caps on the control board... does this mean they are burnt out?

Where is the pot screw for this unit? and also I have model 2 SegaCD with same issue good motor... I've tried increasing the laser but still nothing...

capacitors don't exactly burn out, but there is something called Capacitor Plague. That black stuff on top very well could be the innards of the capacitors leaking out. If the capacitors are bulging out, then they're probably bad. I had a TV stop working because the capacitors on the power board were leaking out. I just replaced the faulty capacitors and it was good as new. Just make sure you replace them with capacitors of the same capacitance, equal or higher voltage rating, and don't mix up the polarity.

 

[spideyc]

Sweet... I messed with the POT screw as much as I could with the tools I have with me, and VIOALA!! the disc started spinning!

...then it died while i was playing a CD...

so im back to the drawing board... gonna mess a lil more with the POT screw and see if I can't get a sustained operation... other than that... ill try the cap switch and see what happens...

 

[Bibin]

Black stuff could be sharpie. They often mark caps when they are installed and tested in the factory.

 

[grossaffe]

Black stuff could be sharpie. They often mark caps when they are installed and tested in the factory.

indeed. That's why I wanted to specifically mention to look for bulging or to see if stuff is coming out the vents.