What type of lasers do Saturn's use?

[Deleted]

We all know that our lasers will some day die out, like mine did. I have a v-saturn, which i believe uses the same laser as the model 2s. Now i have been looking all over the place for the model number of the laser itself. These lasers were also used in cd players and such, and replacements are available, but i dont know exactly what model number the laser is. The genesis people have figured out what the laser model number is for their cd expansion, so we as saturn people need to find out what the model number of that laser is so that we can save our saturns. So post here if you know the laser model number ty.

[mick_aka]

The following lasers are used in the Saturn:

Most Model 1 Saturn's:
JVC EMW10447
I'm pretty sure this can be replaced with currently available JVC OPTIMA150S (which is an OPTIMA6 laser)
Some model 1's had later assemblies, in which case see below...

Most Model 2 Saturn's:
JVC OPTIMA6 & JVC OPTIMA6S.
Once again the JVC OPTIMA150S seems to be the only possible substitute available now.
Some model 2's had earlier assemblies, in which case see above...

OR

Saturn's With Sanyo Drives:
Sanyo SF-P101-15P & SF-P101N-15P
Not too sure on replacements for these units, or weather the original parts are still available (Googling required)


Please note: I have no personal experience changing any of the above lasers for the OPTIMA150S but several people have assured me that it does work as a replacement.

Please not that the link below is an example of what can be found and my not be a suitable Saturn replacement, always double check using the pictures:

www.donberg.ie/descript/l/laser_pu_33.htm

[Deleted]

Has anyone here been sucessfull with replaceing a laser? switching one right out fromt another saturn requires no adjustments. I picked up an "optima 6s", an upon checking, its exactly the same a the one inside my saturn! even though the markings only say "op6", so does the 6s that i bought.. At first i got nothing, after some adjusments, i finally get "checking disc format" which leads to nothing.. is a 6s actually different from a 6? physically no different, inside and out! maybe i need one of these 150s instead, and the 6s is a replacment of the 6? maybe being a different power rating, more efficient? i have to turn up the power just a little before it works, so i dunno.. ive heard of people swapping lasers right out with no adjusments, not so much with a saturn, but with some earlier cd systems, like sega cd.. any help would be great1 ive done about all i think i can do with the pots, so what ekse can there be?

-Shane

[Xen]

May 10, 2011 5:41:08 GMT @shane said:

Has anyone here been sucessfull with replaceing a laser? switching one right out fromt another saturn requires no adjustments. I picked up an "optima 6s", an upon checking, its exactly the same a the one inside my saturn! even though the markings only say "op6", so does the 6s that i bought.. At first i got nothing, after some adjusments, i finally get "checking disc format" which leads to nothing.. is a 6s actually different from a 6? physically no different, inside and out! maybe i need one of these 150s instead, and the 6s is a replacment of the 6? maybe being a different power rating, more efficient? i have to turn up the power just a little before it works, so i dunno.. ive heard of people swapping lasers right out with no adjusments, not so much with a saturn, but with some earlier cd systems, like sega cd.. any help would be great1 ive done about all i think i can do with the pots, so what ekse can there be?

-Shane

I'm on it right now... I have two different Optima150s's, plastic and metal. No luck with either in a saturn whose laser is perfectly fine and working, ruling out ribbon cable issues/motor issues etc. I'll try adjusting both of them tomorrow, but as we speak, I can get it moving, I can get the lens moving, but I cannot get any laser light out of either. Anti-Static points removed on both, too. If it doesn't work out by sunday, I'll be getting replacements. Then we'll see.

[zyrobs]

Just keep trying to adjust them, also adjust the potmeters on the board not just the laser. I had a Saturn with a lot of mods but a laser that couldn't be adjusted right, so I exchanged it with the laser from a working machine. After some adjusting, BOTH lasers worked fine.
It took a day of nonstop trying different adjustment values though, not made easy cause one of them has a board with 5 potmeters for various gain adjustments.

If you get to the point that it realizes the disc, you'll probably won't need much more adjustments.

[Xen]

^Do you mean that you got beyond the point of no light emitted from the lens to laser emitted, thus disc recognized using these various potentiometers? Mind telling me where some of the laser ones and board ones are? Beside trying to fix my own saturn, I also want to write a guide, since there basically is absolutely no replacement guide in the wild right now, this could help out a LOT of people I reckon.

[zyrobs]

Well, if the laser doesn't even emit any light, it's probably either faulty or incompatible. If it emits light, to the point that it gets the disc spinning, adjusting it can get it fixed most of the time.

[Xen]

What was the case with you? I have two Optima150s lasers and two model 1 saturns, for which they supposedly work (being pretty much identical physically, I don't see why they wouldn't), and they move along the rails, so does their lens (up and down), however, I do not get any laser action out of them (well, one saturn has a problematic ribbon cable, but the other is perfectly fine). I have another Optima6s on the way here, too, to rule out 150s incompatibility.

[zyrobs]

All the lasers I exchanged came from other Saturns (all of them optima6), so I can't be much help with the replacement parts.

[Xen]

I see, I see. Were they different model donors/acceptants, though?
I know a guy with a model 1 who said that optima lasers off of ebay suited him just fine, installed by a pro though.

I'll try to get the word about this on some other retrogaming forums, too. While there are definite SCD guides out there, I've yet to see anything good of the sort for our beloved Saturn.

[Xen]

Hey guys, got it fixed, back with the details tomorrow

[zyrobs]

May 14, 2011 17:23:18 GMT Xen said:

I see, I see. Were they different model donors/acceptants, though?
I know a guy with a model 1 who said that optima lasers off of ebay suited him just fine, installed by a pro though.

I'll try to get the word about this on some other retrogaming forums, too. While there are definite SCD guides out there, I've yet to see anything good of the sort for our beloved Saturn.

It's certainly weird, all my saturns use an Optima6, but some of them only work in certain models - I have no idea why. Like, I had a late model 1 pal machine with a working laser, put the laser in a VA0 pal machine, and it worked for a time - then, at one point during the many mods I made, it stopped reading discs. Didn't work in the late model1 machine either anymore. Then, I got a model 2 machine, a weird VA9 model. Exchanged the laser between that and the VA0, and I could calibrate both of them to read all my discs.

Then, the VA0 machine died, and I tried putting its laser back to the late model 1 machine, and it still refuse to work... despite being a fully working laser from another machine.

The one I have in the VA9 machine still works.

Crazy stuff.

[Xen]

May 15, 2011 22:37:27 GMT zyrobs said:

May 14, 2011 17:23:18 GMT Xen said:

I see, I see. Were they different model donors/acceptants, though?
I know a guy with a model 1 who said that optima lasers off of ebay suited him just fine, installed by a pro though.

I'll try to get the word about this on some other retrogaming forums, too. While there are definite SCD guides out there, I've yet to see anything good of the sort for our beloved Saturn.

It's certainly weird, all my saturns use an Optima6, but some of them only work in certain models - I have no idea why. Like, I had a late model 1 pal machine with a working laser, put the laser in a VA0 pal machine, and it worked for a time - then, at one point during the many mods I made, it stopped reading discs. Didn't work in the late model1 machine either anymore. Then, I got a model 2 machine, a weird VA9 model. Exchanged the laser between that and the VA0, and I could calibrate both of them to read all my discs.

Then, the VA0 machine died, and I tried putting its laser back to the late model 1 machine, and it still refuse to work... despite being a fully working laser from another machine.

The one I have in the VA9 machine still works.

Crazy stuff.

To say the least, wahaha.
With 2 hours of calibration today, I've only gotten as far as reading audio cd's, games are still "unsuitable for this system" (riiiight )
I'll keep working on it. Got any tips for calibration? Should I calibrate as close as possible to the lasers I'm pulling out of the machine, or should I do it by trying various combos? I've gone by the former so far, but it's still not 1:1.

[s8n]

Xen , any updates on how your going with your Laser Eye replacement ?


I was planning to buy some Eyes from Donberg in the future to prolong my Saturn's life


s8n

[Xen]

Still can't get some games to read. The ones that do get read, are perfect however.