[rescue] [OT] CDROM and other repairs (was: prioblems with CDROM on Ultras)

[Lionel Peterson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Arno Kletzander" <Arno_1983 at gmx.de>
To: <rescue at sunhelp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 2:10 AM
Subject: [rescue] [OT] CDROM and other repairs (was: prioblems with CDROM on 
Ultras)


> "Lionel Peterson" <lionel4287 at verizon.net> wrote:
>
>> Geeze - you wanna fix old SCSI CD-ROM drives? Replace them - it can't be
>> that expensive... I have an old PlexWriter that is External, and it just
>> works - 40x SCSI CD-ROM drives can be had for about $20 local computer
>> flea markets - you only need one drive, as one machine can install from
>> the other's CD-ROM drive...
>
> Geeze - you just throw 'em out?

The price barrier to replacing a broken CD-ROM drive is (for me) so low, 
that I don't even think abou tit, honestly - darn near every machine I have 
came with a functioning CD-ROM drive, and for a while I was on the look out 
for replacement CD-ROM/CD-RW drives that I amassed a small number of drives 
that have sat for *years* in my spare parts bin, waiting for one to fail. I 
think I averaged $5-10/each.

It doesn't take much of my time to make it more efficient to just replace a 
bad drive, since I have them on-hand. I think it's great to fix broken 
things (I even have broken TVs repaired), but time does = money in most 
cases, and if a part is truely worn on a 5-7 year old optical drive, where 
will I get the replacement part, except another identical drive? Kill one 
drive to save another?

<snip>
> I don't even remember why I did the second one; the first one was one of
> those Toshiba drives where the housing is set in above the IDE connector
> like this (drawing not to scale ;-))
>
> ,---,     ,---,
> |   |_____|   |
> |   |:::::|   |
> '---'-----'---'
>
> which was needed because I was fitting it in a "luggable" case, where a
> full-shape drive would have interfered with the CPU cooler.

Replacement would have been hard, so it's great that you could repair that 
odd little drive - a 1-4x SCSI CD-ROM drive is far from obscure though...

> Not to start a flame war, but for my part, I try to repair what ever seems
> repairable.

No flame war worries, a reasonable discussion is all.

Add the words "within reason" and I'm right there with you - realizing that 
what I can reason my way to fixing may be different than you...

Lionel