PSX SCPH-1001 Repair

[Great Hierophant]

I am looking for somebody/some company that can repair a Sony Playstation Model SCPH-1001 (US). Normally I would not bother, but I got this as a gift and these units are unique. The problem is that CDs will not read at all in the machine. The device will power on and display the BIOS screens, but the drive unit will not function at all. It seems to be connected correctly and no obvious damage is visible to the drive mechanism or the board. I may need a new drive unit, but if the board is bad somehow, I would not prefer to spend the money on a part that may not work.

[shadow460]

Does the disc spin up at all? Is it giving you some kind of disc error, or just sitting at the main menu?

 

This is the unit that develops heat problems. I had one for years, though, and never had any trouble with it. IMO, yes it is worth saving as it's one of the best CD players on the market.

[DragonmasterDan]

The drives in them were cheap, NCSX.com sold the replacement laser for a while. Due to the unbalenced design of the unit they are bound to fail. While it's great to have a disc swappable system like the 1001 the lack of hardware reliability comes at a steep price.

[tremoloman2006]

I think I found a solution to your problems:

http://www.richspsxparts.com/

[shadow460]

I've found an online repair guide for the drive. PS1 repair. Also, I believe the drives are interchangeable between units from 1000 series to 7000 series. One thing, though, there's no point in replacing the drive unless you address the heat and wear issues. I thought of installing fans in the case to carry heat away from the power transformer that's close to the drive unit.

[Hyper_Eye]

I've found an online repair guide for the drive. PS1 repair. Also, I believe the drives are interchangeable between units from 1000 series to 7000 series. One thing, though, there's no point in replacing the drive unless you address the heat and wear issues. I thought of installing fans in the case to carry heat away from the power transformer that's close to the drive unit.

 

I did the repair using a piece of a floppy disc like that guide instructs on the same model unit probably 8 years or so ago. It worked just fine.

[DrLove0378]

Interesting topic... I also have a SCPH-1001 with problems. For whatever reason, the earlier games (in the tall cases) stopped working on it. It just shows the "Please insert PlayStation CD-ROM" screen. All other games play fine. I wonder what the hell could be causing that?

[shadow460]

Interesting topic... I also have a SCPH-1001 with problems. For whatever reason, the earlier games (in the tall cases) stopped working on it. It just shows the "Please insert PlayStation CD-ROM" screen. All other games play fine. I wonder what the hell could be causing that?

 

Faulty discs? Are the discs cracked near the hole, or is any of the "stuff" coming off?

[DrLove0378]

Interesting topic... I also have a SCPH-1001 with problems. For whatever reason, the earlier games (in the tall cases) stopped working on it. It just shows the "Please insert PlayStation CD-ROM" screen. All other games play fine. I wonder what the hell could be causing that?

 

Faulty discs? Are the discs cracked near the hole, or is any of the "stuff" coming off?

 

No, the discs themselves are fine -- they work in PS2/PS3 systems. (I just keep my original PSX hooked up in another room.) Later releases that came in regular-size jewel cases aren't at all problematic. Maybe the PSX just reads older discs differently, and now it's unable to do so for whatever reason? They did play fine in my 1001 at one point, but not anymore.