Rant: Found a PS2 at a thrift store in Portland last week but the disc drive is toast

I swung by a Goodwill out near Beaverton and spotted a fat PS2 for $25. Brought it home, cleaned it up, and the disc drive just grinds and won't read anything. I tried flipping it on its side like the old trick but no luck. Anyone know if swapping the laser is worth it or should I just hunt for another one at the flea market?

3 comments

3 Comments

wren_mitchell5d ago

Wait, have you tried cleaning the laser lens first before swapping it? @wright.leo is probably right that it's a dead laser, but sometimes these things just get a layer of gunk that a q-tip and some alcohol can fix. If the laser is toast, swapping it out is actually pretty easy on the fat PS2s, you can find replacement lasers for like $10-15 on eBay or Amazon. Just make sure you get the right model number off the old one because Sony used a few different lasers in those things. Honestly for $25 I'd give it a shot, worst case you're out ten bucks and you can sell the rest of the console for parts.

nathankim4d ago

A fat PS2 with that same grinding noise and a $12 laser swap from Amazon fixed it for me perfectly.

wright.leo5d ago

Flipping it on its side was my first thought too, but yeah that sounds like a dead laser.

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