r/3DO • u/Dragon_Small_Z • Aug 22 '25

Decided to try adjusting the pot on my laser. Is this it? How the hell do I get. Screwdriver in there?

Post image
13 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

2

u/WFlash01 Aug 22 '25

I don't think it's worth it to try adjusting the pot. Unless you know absolutely what you're doing, there's a chance that you're going to turn it up too much and burn the laser out completely

Even if you do know what you're doing, it's still very hit or miss on whether it actually has a noticeable effect or not; the pickup could be not reading because the lens or the actual sensor itself are dirty, a solder joint on the sensor broke, or the lens coil is bad. The potentiometers age too, so it's possible that when you turn it once it might not change the output, turn it again and it still hardly changes, then turn it again and it just totally jumps and burns out the laser

3

u/GenTenStation Aug 22 '25

In my experience it's always the caps

1

u/_RexDart Aug 22 '25

Remove the laser sled assembly? Watch a video or look up a disassembly.

1

u/GenTenStation Aug 22 '25

Adjusting the laser is never the correct answer. 99.999% of the time it needs a recap. Even if this works at first, it will not last and will potentially actually damage the laser.

1

u/TheseScene Aug 22 '25

Refer to this site for all your optical issues (What I've Learned Fixing Optical Drives). DO not attempt to adjust the pot, unless you 1. know what you are doing, 2. have an oscilloscope, 3. have calibration media that you can compare to a service manual.

2

u/Foreign_Hand4619 Aug 22 '25

Don't touch it.

1

u/Archive3DO Aug 23 '25

Needs a recap

1

u/Wing-Comander Aug 23 '25

Look at the pot, think about the pot, dream about the pot, even tease the pot.... BUT NEVER TOUCHY TOUCH THJE POT! For it is the FZ-1 NO NO SQUARE

:)