Testing 10 cheap AliExpress Optical Lenses for PS1

[@lulkLogan]

Thanks for sacrificing your wallet for science.

[@Dragonfire511]

Tweaking the potentiometers could help with the ones that partially work.

[@jglg7238]

I recently brought a ps1 and ps2 new laser to replace for my original old laser that stop working, both brought from aliexpress, lucky for me they both worked straight outta the box, I was worried at first as a read online these lasers can be dead at arrival, but both of the lasers I brought new on ps1 and ps2 worked, the ps2 laser though I had to remove a solder blob which wasn't really hard to do if you have a soldering iron, so far the new ps2 laser has been working great, tested on original ps2 discs and backup copies discs, all ok.

[@evilskunk1]

I find that one of the big problems with Aliexpress lasers is the synthetic grease that they use to lubricate the sled and gears. I find that if you clean it off and replace it with white lithium grease they tend to work more reliably. I find that if you use synthetic grease around optical electronic parts they tend to malfunction. Found this out the hard way when trying synthetic grease on some N64 analog sticks I was rebuilding and all of them going haywire. I can only guess that likely the fumes from the grease causes interference with the optical sensors on the sticks. On a later job I was refurbishing some PS1 units and revived some new lasers from Aliexpress and not one of them worked right. Upon inspection I noticed that the new lasers had a clear synthetic grease instead of the standard white lithium grease that I would expect, I decided to remove and replace the grease. I started out with not one of five lasers working, afterward four out of five were working. One of them had a defective spindle motor. Some later lasers I received from Aliexpress had some similar problems but the hubs on several of them were so crummy they could not read any disk. Sure I did get a few more to work but the ones with the bad hubs did not fit the standard Sony hub so they became parts. At this point I'm looking for affordable and reliable PS1 lasers that I don't need to service before Install them.

[@CZ.RetroGamer]

@@evilskunk1 What a really good comment. I really appreciate sharing your skills with us and want to thank you a lot for that. For me I only met with bad gears and inaccurately made rails. I agree with rather buying a good PS1 laser than buying 5 that might not even work, honestly just pointless. Tho it might be useful for someone handy that is really into repairing stuff. Once again thank you so much.

[@davidfarciertenhorabuena3754]

Greetings colleague, since it is not at all reliable to buy readers on Aliexpress, any idea on how to revive an optical lens? Maybe it would be a good idea to change the flex of the original lens? And another question, in which pin of the card can I observe the behavior of the lens with the oscilloscope? Thank you in advance.

[@CZ.RetroGamer]

@@davidfarciertenhorabuena3754 Depends on where is the problem, cause if the failure is because of the worn out plastic parts then it can't be repaired(old model SCPH-1002). I did repair one original optical lense with using a laser diode from a chinese drive. Because chinese drives have really bad rails that's why I put together 2 pieces. I also recommend using japanese cd-r JVC Taiyo Yuden. For second question it's pin CL704. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

[@t.g.ch_life]

​​@@CZ.RetroGamer Did you replace only the laser transceiver itself or the entire lower part of the laser head from the Chinese drive? The question is whether it is possible to move only the transceiver and whether it is possible to install it correctly in “home” conditions.

[@Kraben12]

almost of chinese ps1 and psx lasers are cuz the platic parts have some bending of bad measures, i just swap the lasers for the OG PS parts and made some calib on the lasers cuz some times comes with very low resistanse must up a little

[@CZ.RetroGamer]

@@Kraben12 Yeah I do exactly the same thing :)

[@rinnoblegoat6857]

Cool video

[@QuickFlickFix621]

Do you have any links for the working 5th one. I have the same revision ps1 and that is specifically the optical drive I need to purchase so it would be perfect.

[@CZ.RetroGamer]

I bought 5 and 5 from differents shops on AliExpress to see if there would be any difference but there´s none. So basically all of these are the same thing. In these 5 there´s only one working but not perfectly well. It´s quite a risk to buy. If you still want I can find the links somewhere and send you but all of these drives have the same quality from AliExpress even if they don´t look alike on pictures they will arrive identically exactly the same.

[@ReneOne111]

Best way to get a good laser is to buy a used PS1. No joke. I bought a PSone (slim) to replace the laser from my 1002 (Launch model)

[@hectorlopez-nk2yt]

So it is brand new or refurbished parts i don't know i got 3 dvd drives for my xbox 360 slim and all 3 worked

[@CZ.RetroGamer]

@@hectorlopez-nk2yt They're brand new drives from China. New drives for ps1 are only made from such stores. Xbox drives are easier to make therefore they have a higher chance to work.

[@hectorlopez-nk2yt]

@CZ.RetroGamer ok, thank you, retro gamer. I was about to order some assembly for my ps2, and now I see what to expect have a great day.

[@t.g.ch_life]

Is it possible to restore the functionality of at least some of these drives and what are the main problems with these drives, besides a crooked and sunken spindle?

[@CZ.RetroGamer]

Basically usually there’s inaccurately made plastic chasis. I did repair one original driver.. for that I used the laser from one of the chinese drivers. I choose the original because as I said the chinese ones have inaccurately made plastic chasis. Ofc the laser lens from chinese driver isn’t as good as in the original driver but you can make it work nicely.

[@t.g.ch_life]

@CZ.RetroGamer That is, out of 9 faulty drives you couldn’t even assemble 1 working one?

[@CZ.RetroGamer]

@@t.g.ch_life You probably could try if you're handy enough. I didn't try it yet since it will probably cost lots of time

[@t.g.ch_life]

​@@CZ.RetroGamer Are you sure that everyone has a plastic chasis so crooked that it prevents even determining the presence of a disk in the drive? I doubt it. This could be checked by installing a working laser head on each faulty drive with a "crooked" plastic chasis.

[@FredRischter]

Were these all able to be tuned to work property?

[@CZ.RetroGamer]

@@FredRischter Some of these could be working but the bad quality of chinese drives is miserable.

[@FredRischter]

@@CZ.RetroGamer I have few of these, one is not working at all. Others usually work requiring to have spindle top lifted manually. I'm mastering technique of lifting it to correct level, but it is quite shitty. Anyway it works well, so better than nothing or having to install xstation..

[@redpower8673]

Hello guys, actually i bought one of these optical drive for my ps1 and it doesn't work, also I felt angry for this scam, but i would ask where i can find some good ones, whit out buy a other console for replaceable part's

[@CZ.RetroGamer]

On this shop you can find spare parts, I did purchase here few things as well ___ inspirevideogames.co.uk/collections/ps1-accessories/products/official-sony-replacement-laser-lens-pickup-driver-for-fat-slim-ps1-consoles?variant=40399075049609