Ps3 CHECHC04

[Devourer0f-G0DS]

Good day all. Im kinda new here. New in the sense of i finally created a damn profile. But also not cause iv been downloading and researching from this place for years now lol and seriously THE BEST COMMUNITY EVER!!

Anyway on to my problem as the title says i have a backwards compatible ps3 model is CHECHC04. The big issue i am having is that it reads ps2 disc's but not ps3. Iv opened the bd drive and cleaned it but still no Change.

I read on a other forum saying that it is probably just the blu ray lens that is damaged but the normal dvd lens is still functional. Well in my case when i opened the bd drive i noticed that I have only one lens. Please any advice or solutions will be greatly appreciated. Stay awesome everyone and stay safe

 

[wrx884]

when u opened the BD drive what did u clean exactly? did u clean the lens itself?? these are very common to fail and usually 1 goes before the other but sometimes with just cleaning the lens both on top and under it, they can start reading again.

This lens uses 2 diodes in the 1 lens so if u can only get a red emitting light (DVD) and no violet (BD) that is for the PS3 discs then the laser is faulty and needs to be replaced. U can use a 5V source to try check these diodes to see if they do work if u have it on hand? even a 9V battery works but u can only do these quickly so u dont burn the diodes out while testing. Doing this generally will tell u whats going on but sometimes the light may not be strong enough and it may still be faulty but its the best way to really diagnose these lasers.

 

[Devourer0f-G0DS]

when u opened the BD drive what did u clean exactly? did u clean the lens itself?? these are very common to fail and usually 1 goes before the other but sometimes with just cleaning the lens both on top and under it, they can start reading again.

This lens uses 2 diodes in the 1 lens so if u can only get a red emitting light (DVD) and no violet (BD) that is for the PS3 discs then the laser is faulty and needs to be replaced. U can use a 5V source to try check these diodes to see if they do work if u have it on hand? even a 9V battery works but u can only do these quickly so u dont burn the diodes out while testing. Doing this generally will tell u whats going on but sometimes the light may not be strong enough and it may still be faulty but its the best way to really diagnose these lasers.

Thanks for the quick response I appreciate it. From what I recall I did clean the top of the lense but not the bottom lol. Will open it up later and give it a try. And thanks for diod suggestions aswell will give me a way to actually test it haha but again thanks for your feedback

 

[sandungas]

Good day all. Im kinda new here. New in the sense of i finally created a damn profile. But also not cause iv been downloading and researching from this place for years now lol and seriously THE BEST COMMUNITY EVER!!

Welcome to the forum, it was about time :P

Just an oppinion about your problem... the best thing you can do now is to order a new laser pickup
The lasers wears out with the usage, and most of us uses the PS3 laser to read blurays (to play games), so is usual when the laser stops reading blurays (but can read CD and DVD fine)
Actually, what you did trying to load different optical disc media to verify that it doesnt reads DB but reads CD and DVD is the usual way to diagnose your problem, when this happens the next thing you should do is to buy a new laser, because it means all the circuit boards, cables (and even the laser partially) is working normally
In other words... the only things that are not working are a few tiny parts inside the laser that are specific for BD

You are not going to waste money by trying to clean the lens, etc... (only time) so go for it, but keep in mind you are doing it mostly for learning and for experimenting
Maybe you are going to achieve an small reading improvement thought... it depends of how dirty is the lens and how damaged are the BD related parts
But incase the BD related parts are completly "blind" you are not going to achieve anything though
And incase you achieve something you need to keep in mind the BD parts are going to be partially blind... so they works under stress and the small lifespan left is going to short very fast... in a matter of weeks is going to be completly blind

In the laser with 1 lens there is an additional (mobile) part inside the laser that have an small motor and have a "prism", his purpose is to "bounce" the laser ray at different angles for each diode, is like if it had 2 positions... one position is for CD/DVD and the other position is for BD
This part is critical, sony removed it (and started making lasers with 2 lenses) because it was prone to failure

So additionally to the diode specific for BD mentioned by @wrx884 you have also this "mobile" parts that are specific for BD too
Probably you have all them weared out (or completly dead), and in both cases there is no way to fix them because are very accuratelly calibrated

So... yeah, play a bit with it (but be careful with the short circuits), but keep in mind most probably you are going to need to buy a replacement laser, is going to be 15€ or so

 

[Devourer0f-G0DS]

Welcome to the forum, it was about time :P

Just an oppinion about your problem... the best thing you can do now is to order a new laser pickup
The lasers wears out with the usage, and most of us uses the PS3 laser to read blurays (to play games), so is usual when the laser stops reading blurays (but can read CD and DVD fine)
Actually, what you did trying to load different optical disc media to verify that it doesnt reads DB but reads CD and DVD is the usual way to diagnose your problem, when this happens the next thing you should do is to buy a new laser, because it means all the circuit boards, cables (and even the laser partially) is working normally
In other words... the only things that are not working are a few tiny parts inside the laser that are specific for BD

You are not going to waste money by trying to clean the lens, etc... (only time) so go for it, but keep in mind you are doing it mostly for learning and for experimenting
Maybe you are going to achieve an small reading improvement thought... it depends of how dirty is the lens and how damaged are the BD related parts
But incase the BD related parts are completly "blind" you are not going to achieve anything though
And incase you achieve something you need to keep in mind the BD parts are going to be partially blind... so they works under stress and the small lifespan left is going to short very fast... in a matter of weeks is going to be completly blind

In the laser with 1 lens there is an additional (mobile) part inside the laser that have an small motor and have a "prism", his purpose is to "bounce" the laser ray at different angles for each diode, is like if it had 2 positions... one position is for CD/DVD and the other position is for BD
This part is critical, sony removed it (and started making lasers with 2 lenses) because it was prone to failure

So additionally to the diode specific for BD mentioned by @wrx884 you have also this "mobile" parts that are specific for BD too
Probably you have all them weared out (or completly dead), and in both cases there is no way to fix them because are very accuratelly calibrated

So... yeah, play a bit with it (but be careful with the short circuits), but keep in mind most probably you are going to need to buy a replacement laser, is going to be 15€ or so

Thanks yout repky!! I appreciate all the help truly. I will try and keep in mind about the lense not to spend to much time on it instead of just buying a parr. And if it is possible could either of you suggest a reliable site i could buy from I live in South Africa so yeah im really not sure where I can order from and if they are legit. Thanks again you guye are the bomb and this forum is the best place ever!!!!

 

[sandungas]

I cant suggest any place to buy it, usually the cheapest way is if you find a shop locally near your house, try to google to see if there is some shop repairing consoles close to you

Is not posible to buy the same lasers used by sony, whichever company was providing sony with the lasers was manufacturing them exclusivelly for sony
Usually the lasers we see on sale in ebay, amazon, aliexpress, etc... are "refurbished", they takes the original sony damaged lasers and replaces the parts that wears out (new lens, new coils, new diodes, and not sure if something more), this is made on factories using expensive equipment and the result is good
Probably at this point of the PS3 lifespan there is some company selling laser "clones" (not using refurbished parts from damaged lasers, but everything new)

Is like a war in between asian electronics manufacturers, it evolves fast and im not sure what they are doing right now, i dont know how to identify the refurbished or the clone lasers either
But you should not worry much about the quality, all them should work fine, a new laser (of any brand) is going to assure you can abuse of it for several years

 

[wrx884]

Yeah as above u cant buy these new anymore so sometimes it can be pot luck even when buying these refurbished ones. so who ever u buy them for just make sure they have a return policy.

Saying all this tho i have had many bad ones from ebay sellers not work straight out the box but i have also had heaps of success getting them to work just with a clean, so i have ended up with my money back on most of them and also got the keep them for free coz the sellers didnt want to know about the bad ones they just refund u but they started working after a clean. So always try the lens cleaning 1st.

Just remember its so easy for these units to get like a oily haze from oil substances from the air (cooking, Smokers, Incense), not just dirt and debris so theres actually 3 parts to try clean. ON top of the lens, Under it and also the small glass square under the lens too. I found usually if i can do all 3 especially on these new ones that they would start working.

 

[sandungas]

I think most of the faulty laser sold had a damage that happened in the shipping, because the laser pickups are very deilcated and can be damaged by shocks or if you place a magnet close to them
When we order them from china under "free shipping"... well... the package is going to be transported by trains, planes, ships, and eventually by non-qualifyed personal or who knows...
Thats why i think is better to buy them locally, to avoid the shipping... but if you think in it... the owner of the shop probably bought them in bulk by free shipping from the same place, so we are in the same boat

 

[Devourer0f-G0DS]

You guys are seriously awesome!! Legit i have been on quite alot of forums/support pages and non of them come close to this place!!! Thanks all for the feedback and suggestions. And most importantly the knowledge you shared with me everytime invome here i learn something new and I absolutely love it!!

 

[Devourer0f-G0DS]

Finally got a new one. Any advice or pointers for installation?

 

[sandungas]

Finally got a new one. Any advice or pointers for installation?

Not sure if you are used to open/close the BD drive, but incase you are not i suggest first to dedicate some time watching some videos in youtube, search for "replace PS3 KES400 laser" or things like that
Is not a matter of watching only a couple of videos and try to follow the same steps accuratelly, is mostly to watch the videos with a critical point of view, your only goal is to see how other people does it, and most important.. to have a first look at the parts you are going to find inside

Is important to have at least a rought idea of what is inside... also when moving the parts to separate them from each others do it very gently because there are some thin wires that can break, also keep lot of attention to how the "clips" of the connectors works, you need to open/close the clips with your finger nail

The critical point (where you are really replacing the laser) is when you have this view

Note there are 2 cylindrical "rails" at the sides (and the rails are kept in place by an screw that cant be seen in the photo)

What you need to do is to remove the screw of the right rail... then move the right rail a bit to top (while keeping an eye at a spring located next to the rail you are moving, that spring could "jump"), and thats all
After that you can disconnect the clip (incase you didnt disconnected it before) and remove the old laser
From the old laser you only need to keep the piece of white plastic where is located the spring

That rails (and the white plastic piece with the spring) had solid vaseline from factory as a lube that works nice for plastics, the motor axis with an spiral (located in paralell to the rails, and touching the white plastic piece with the spring) is lubed with vaseline too
What i use to do is to clean all the factory vaseline with a cloth (because the cloth doesnt lefts residues), and then i lube them with solid vaseline
Maybe you have that solid vaseline at home, is named "pure vaseline" or "neutral vaseline" and can be bought in a drugstore, is used for babies, sports, etc... (for everything where we have the skin rubbing with more skin)
Dont use an excess of vaseline, to remove the excess you can turn ON the PS3 and the laser is going to move back and forth a couple of times... this cummulates the excess of vaseline at the tips of the rails (this allows you to remove the excess)

Edit:
Or you can move the laser back and forth with your hand (and the PS3 turned off), this have the same effect... it cummulates the excess of vaseline in the tips of the rails
While moving it with your hand you are going to feel the laser have some resistance to the movement, and you are going to be a bit scared because it looks you are forcing it too much... but is safe to move it with the hand, dont worry

 

[wrx884]

Make sure u clean the top of the lens after u finished installing like above and just see if it works straight out the box if not let me know and i'll take pics of the parts u need to remove on the laser to clean it properly.