Dreamcast Lens Replacement - does this one work?

[Gocha]

Hi everyone, don't worry, my dreamcsat is working fine.

I have a friend that is having problems with his dreamcast, I KNOW USING A GDEMU IS A VERY GOOD AND AFORDABLE OPTION but the idea of this post is not to talk about how cool those are (I already know about that), it's about this replacement I found on ebay, has anyone bought one of this or similar? I personally love repairing stuff so even if some day my drive dies I would like to repair it just for the sake of it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-OPTICAL-LA ... SwHc9ebjh-

I insist, I know about GDEMU, my dreamcast is working fine and I might get another dreamcast to have one with disks and another one with GDEMU.

(there was another topic about this, but the link used on that post years ago is dead, so I have no idea if it was refering the same item, a similar one or something totally different)

[SMiTH]

more than likely it works.
just remember with new laser lens sometimes they bridge connection on back with bead of solder. (desolder if it has bridged connection on back)
this is to prevent potential esd damage while shipping etc.

i can tell you i have had luck using older pc cd rom laser lenses and swapping it with dc gd rom laser.
the ribbon cable aligns short of 1 trace, so you move the ribbon far left.
you also have to tweak the potentiometer a bit.
but once working it will boot official gd-rom disks and cd-r. (you might be able to tweak it to boot cdrw as well)
i currently have a model 0 dc using a pc cd rom laser.

the pc cd rom drive i remember working was an NEC brand.
i would try finding older pc cd rom drives from 1995-2003.
you can get them for cheap and sometimes even free.
check thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales, and computer recycling shops.
you might have to spend 5 bucks at most for one.

but, i would get several different ones with the hope you can get one that will swap and fit correctly etc.
fyi coCo! had a guide here years ago about how to swap pc cd rom laser with dc gd rom laser etc.
good luck!

*i just recently found out my old yamaha pc cd rom drive can do cd-r tattooing LOL
thanks to LGR

[pcwzrd13]

The replacement lenses from China have never worked for me. I've tried a couple of them. The first one didn't work at all and the other worked briefly but died within minutes. So yeah, my experience with them hasn't been great. lol

[bshi02]

Chinese dreamcast lens (aliexpress)doesn't work with Potentiometer adjustment?

[megavolt85]

Chinese dreamcast lens (aliexpress)doesn't work with Potentiometer adjustment?

do you really think the potentiometer is the only thing you have to adjust?
potentiometer, spindle height, tilt angle of the spindle motor - all this will have to be adjusted when replacing the laser head, but you may not be lucky, because half of the laser heads sold are defective

[Gocha]

I had a very good experience replacing the whole drive, I'll suggest my friend to do the same I think, that if he doesn't want a GDEMU.