Bad Lasers on New PS2's?

[HBK114]

I was just wondering if it's true that v9 and v10 PS2's have pretty crappy lasers compared to other PS2 versions. If so, and if possible, whats the best version to get?

[MoBiUs]

the best version is the V7 PS2s v1-6 have **** lasers not sure about v8 , sometimes v9 and v10 get blown LA Chip due to overheating but other than that they have good lasers(they use the same lasers as the V7)

[crazygamelover]

I would have to say a v7 is probably one that has not been mentioned as much as far as probs go but honestly there is a philosophy of mine I like to consider when I answer this question for you.

Lets use a major car dealer as an example. First of all the real quality of any given model depends on the assembly line. If John Doe comes to work on mind altering substances/alcohol or falls asleep on the job. The quality goes down the tubes. The same for a Doctor who goes through med school but partied all the time, just berely graduated, and now practices as a pediatrician....Now good ole Doc is treating patients even though he berely made it through school. Blah Blah Blah etc.......Does this really make every car/Doctor bad? Not really so actually you can get any model Ps2 and you may never have a prob ever, no matter what model. You could buy a v9 or 10 and never have a laser issue or you could be buying that 10% (bad quality) There is no real way to know exactually. Just take a leap of faith and hope for the best. ;) I guess in a sence, you really cant fault any certain model at all. :D I still say the v7 has the least amount of probs that I have read so far though.

[ihaveanosebleed]

True, You don’t know what you’ll get but I think the percentage is way higher than 10% for getting an unreliable PS2. I keep saying no two lasers are the same, and that goes for burners and media as well. For cheap media, you might say no two sectors are the same.

They started selling V9’s around here last X-mas time, by March I think I’d adjusted more v9’s than all other PS2 versions put together. All the lasers I looked at tested over 1400 ohms on the DVD Pot and struggled to read a good Ritek burn. 1200 ohms had them reading good. I also tested all the lens coils in concern for the driver IC’s that were frying on some, mostly European consoles, I never found any bad coils.

I keep some burns of various quality around for evaluating PS2’s and I can tell you the typical V9 laser is nothing like the typical V7 laser even after adjusting. I have not confirmed this myself but from what I hear the V9 lasers are not ‘C’ type nor are they compatible for swapping.

[puppeteer666]

yea i's say buy a ps2 at eb refurb.
most those guys at eb are cool so they will let ya find the version ya want.
that's if ya have an eb retailer near you that is.

[cheryl771]

I got a v9 too. I got it the first week of june. It just started clicking a few days ago. I was told to reflash the chip. I did and it hasn't clicked since but I still have my suspicions of dying laser.

[seaneyb2003]

well 1-4 have crappy laser 400b 5-8 have 400c or type r lasers. And 9-10 have sanyo lasers

I feel that the v5-8 lasers are best as they read any media i throw at them.

i love my v7 still running strong!

[lufcfan]

Clicking is never a good sign. Keep your eye on it, and if it gets worse, then start to panic :)

[skub]

hahahahahahhahahahahahhahaha, thats ****ing hilarious

[ihaveanosebleed]

There seems to be a few posts about V9’s clicking now and I remember fixing a V9 lasers that would get stuck trying to return to the hub. The sled sticking would cause the worm gear to produce a horrible sound.
This V9 was quite dusty inside so I cleaned everything and greased the sled rods. I noticed the V9 lasers have a flimsy metal arm that runs to the worm gear with plastic clip and this one looked like it was bent up slightly so that it was providing very little pressure on the worm. The other PS2 versions have a more rigid plastic arm with metal worm pins. I took the laser out and bent the metal arm down a bit to provide more pressure. Seemed to work good after that and I’ve never had it come back so it must be doing fine.

V9’s aren’t too bad after doing some drive tweaks. It would be my second choice over a V7 and the “C” type laser. It will be interesting to see how their laser age during the next year or so. The high factory POT settings mighty indicate a strong life, requiring less voltage to operate. Then again it might indicate that the V9 laser IC can’t handle voltage as good as a “C” Type laser.

[crazygamelover]

From the posts replies in this thread, it would appear that v7 is the best choice. ;)

[lufcfan]

It may work, but I think you'll agree you just shouldn't have to do such a thing. Sony should be ashamed of themselves for producing those cheap crap drive assemblies :mad:

[ottoman]

Well, at present they are but they r gettin a bit old now. It used to be v5's that were the best but as they get old the CDR reading capabilities get dodgy so as v7's get older i suspect a weakness will show through. (If u look on kelcoo there is a website that still sells new v7 PS2's)

To be honest if yr buying a new PS2 u have to go for the latest version (10) simply because of the extras thrown in it(Quieter,built in IR reciever etc), however the first thing I would do is carry out the romeo mod!

Regards :D

[ihaveanosebleed]

So to have a decent V9 system we need to:

- Adjust the POT to 1200 ohms or about -15%
- Fix the Cogs from moving
- Fix tension on worm gear arm
- Romeo Mod for safe LA voltage

There’s also another Mod I’ve been doing to minimize dust from blowing through the drive assembly.Going to check them for dust in a few months to see how good it’s working.

[ottoman]

No, just the romeo mod. Very simple to do. The crap lasers are a 50/50 thing. Some have good ones, some have bad depending on what batch yr ps2 comes from. had to recal my v9 laser after 9 months but was just a height adjustment and it works fine again now (mine has the crap laser fitted). Would definitely carry out romeo mod though!

[ihaveanosebleed]

I’ve never personally come across a burned LA chip myself but I’ve had to do all those other things on many V9 stations.

[cheryl771]

Looks to be a heat issue with my v9. I moved it to another location and blow a regular fan on it. This is so lame that these ps2's are so touchy that I have to resort to this. Could be more in addition to that though. Thank you ynos for the cheap parts!