Replacing the laser eye is a pretty easy procedure and should not take more than 30 minutes or so to complete. The guide was done using a Model 2 32pin system but the install procedure is identical for the 64pin systems and model 1 systems. If you have a Sanyo board the replacement is very similar however I currently only have the lenses for the JVC boards available for sale.
Tools needed:
- Philips head screw driver
- Solder and Soldering Iron (To remove anti-static point, see step 5 *note.)
Important: The guide starts out assuming you have removed the 5 screws from the bottom of the console and have the top half of the system removed. It also assumes you have already purchased a Saturn Replacement Laser from the store.
Step 1: Remove CD Drive Cover
First you want to remove the black CD Driver cover. There are 2 tabs under the metal were the red arrows are pointing. Push each tab towards the CD motor and lift the black plastic piece up. You may need to do each side separately unless you have an extra set of hands. If you need some extra room on the right hand side it may also be helpful to remove the ribbon cable from the CD Board.
Step 2: Remove Laser Eye from CD Board Assembly.Now that you have the CD board assembly exposed you want to remove the laser eye unit from the system. Push the white piece of plastic (arrow 1) away from the CD motor and slide the metal guide bar (Arrow 2) down towards the front of the system. Once the guide rail is out the laser eye can be flipped upside down so you can get ready to move onto the next step.
Step 3: Remove the laser eye ribbon cable.
Now that you have the laser eye loose and the ribbon cable exposed all you need to do is push out the 2 tabs to release the ribbon cable from the laser eye.
Step 4: Remove Laser Eye Gear
Now that you have the laser eye removed from the system all you need to do is remove the black plastic gear unit. There is are 3 tabs you need to push as can be seen by the 3 arrows to slide the gear off of the laser eye. Once you remove it you can just snap it onto your new laser eye unit by aligning the tabs to the proper openings and pushing it into place.
Step 5: Remove Laser eye anti-static point.
The last step before reassembling your Saturn is to make sure to you remove the anti-static solder bridge from your new laser unit. If you don't do this the unit will not produce a laser beam and will then of course fail to read anything. You can either use a de-soldering braid, or (since it is such a small amount) just heat the solder up and get some of the excess stuck on your iron to break the circuit.
*Note* If you are not comfortable de-soldering the point yourself, you can request to have this done before I ship out your replacement lens for no extra charge however this does increase the risk that something could damaged the lens in shipment.
Once you get to this step, go back to step 3 and just work backwards to put everything back together. Before screwing the top half of your system back on I recommend testing the system out to make sure it is working. If it is still not reading the discs it may be necessary to adjust the POT (little orange screw) on the front of the laser eye unit. Turn the screw clockwise to increase the power output from the laser. Be careful to only adjust it very slightly and then retest. Repeat this process until the system reads the discs reliably. In most cases adjusting the POT will not be necessary.