Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

[ratdude747]

Here's an odd one. I have two Lite-ON dvd burners that both won't eject correctly. Both of them make a clunk, and one will only eject if one "helps" it start by using a paper clip in the eject hole when hitting the button. The other will work after a few tries but usually "clunks" on the first few hits. One is a PATA lightscribe burner; the other is a SATA Burner.

Is there a known cause for this issue? First time I've ever had issues with Lite-on drives.

[Topcat]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

belt weakening/stetching from the motor to the gear, it just starts slipping. It's not strong enough to separate the magnet atop from the spindle for the disc. Usually if there's a disc in the drive it'll eject fine....but empty, it'll do just that. Cleanign them sometimes helps, but they usually have to be replaced.

[kaboom]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

Here's an odd one. I have two Lite-ON dvd burners that both won't eject correctly. Both of them make a clunk, and one will only eject if one "helps" it

The "clunk" is mechanical slack between the deck-lift cam/slide/rack and tray traverse idler gear engaging.

Seen many "later" (LG, LiteOn, TSST, mostly) optical drives do this. It's the rails on the bottom/sides of the tray. Either the grease is stiff or rubbed away over the years, and/or dirt & dust is causing too much friction.

Remove the tray, paying attention to the indexing between that idler gear and the rack gear on the side of the tray. There are usually two mechanical limit pins, posts, or tabs that must be pushed in to allow the tray to extend fully. Once you release the tabs, the tray comes out.

Clean it! CRC QD works great on the old grease and won't hurt the plastic. Hose the slides & rack gear good.

My go-to is Super-Lube. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Super-Lu...1030/202932687

While you've got the drive apart, you should also relube that optical deck lift cam and the pins which engage it. It's sort of a flat piece with inclined slots (the deck's pins engage these) with teeth on one end which engage the idler gear, which moves the tray.

Hint: Most of the time, the tray is not indexed to that loading gear, and the loading gear is free-wheelable when the tray is out. I've always been able to simply put the deck/rack/slide in the down/eject position and slide the tray in. The rack on the tray will engage the load gear.

Some drives have a "nub" that sticks up and engages a slot in the bottom-center of the tray.


Don't forget to clean and lube the slide rods on which the pickup runs. A small amount of Superlube here... Clean the lens too.

And clean that belt (some lite-ons & sonys are fully geared from motor to rack-drive gear) with iso alcohol and paper towels while it's apart. If the belt is weak, you'll hear the loading motor run but have no tray action.

Incidentally, Toshiba/Samsung/TSST drives are good for dirty load/eject "pin" limit switches. If yours has these, unhook two tabs on one side only, partially lift (do not remove lest little parts fly away) the bulkhead holding the plungers, and spray some 2-26 in there. No more retracting tray in immediately after ejecting, or vice-versa.

Have fun.
And stay warm.

[ratdude747]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

The belts seem to be OK on both (no looser than any other optical tray belts I can remember)... What would be the best lube for these? Sewing machine grease? Silicone Paste? Edit- fail, missed your link.

[kaboom]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

The belts seem to be OK on both (no looser than any other optical tray belts I can remember)... What would be the best lube for these? Sewing machine grease? Silicone Paste? Edit- fail, missed your link.

No prob.


One of the more obvious ways to assist is to take lots of pictures as you disassemble something. So obvious, in fact, I forgot to mention it initially.

Good luck!

[R_J]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

One thing I found over time is the belt forms to the two pulleys, Usually the smaller being the motor pulley, If you take off the belt and it looks like it is formed to the pulleys and not round it needs to be replaced.

[eccerr0r]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

Dangit I hate Lite-on drives. I have a whole bunch of lite-on drives where the hub glues itself to the CD/DVD after a while. This then prohibits eject...

I had two CD-RW drives and a DVD-RW drive do this, all Lite-on...

[stj]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

you mean the magnetic clamp-ring?

[eccerr0r]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

Yes, except the it's the motor spindle side, not the magnet side. The top side will separate just fine, just the bottom sticks to the disc. The spindle side has some cork-like material that seems to exude glue that glues the disc down.

[stj]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

must be ancient to use cork - yes they had nasty glue under them.
anything half-modern uses a rubber pad.
although those can probably turn to sticky mush!

[eccerr0r]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

Is there a retrofit or quick fix for them?
Else I have to treat the drive as a very slow 700MB or 4.4GB hard drive with their last CDRW/DVDRW media in them...

[pfrcom]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

belt weakening/stetching from the motor to the gear, it just starts slipping. It's not strong enough to separate the magnet atop from the spindle for the disc. Usually if there's a disc in the drive it'll eject fine....but empty, it'll do just that. Cleanign them sometimes helps, but they usually have to be replaced.

Where do you find replacements ? - specifically for an LG GSA-4163B which will only eject if there's a disc in it

[stj]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

Is there a retrofit or quick fix for them?
Else I have to treat the drive as a very slow 700MB or 4.4GB hard drive with their last CDRW/DVDRW media in them...

you could try removing the cork, cleaning off the glue - IPA/Acetone??

then sticking it down again.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

Dangit I hate Lite-on drives.

I was starting to do the same, I had a 2005 Lite On SOHR-5239V CD-RW drive that hated lower temps, would randomly stop responding in the middle of the system software reading files!

And the facker once caused the XP text mode installer (IIRC) to randomly say "Setup cannot copy the file: town.mid"...

[eccerr0r]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

you could try removing the cork, cleaning off the glue - IPA/Acetone??

then sticking it down again.

The cork has virtually disintegrated, trying to remove it means removing individual pieces of cork...

Need to replace the whole thing -- and BALANCE it???

[Topcat]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

Where do you find replacements ? - specifically for an LG GSA-4163B which will only eject if there's a disc in it

I used to get them from MAT Electronics....but I think they're tits up now...its been a while since I've had to buy them. I used to get assortments of belts for various VCR's, etc.....there were some in the kit that would fit optical drives as well...

[pfrcom]

Re: Lite-On DVD drive eject issue

Thanks for the reply - I actually removed the belt and cleaned it with IPA

Eject button works fine now, with or without a disc in the drive