Hi guys,

Newcomer here. Found this place while searching for body shop recommendations awhile back and have been lurking for awhile.

Anyway, I've been looking all over NOVA for a place that repairs Sony PS2s. I figured Starland would be a good place to try, but both their Annandale and Centreville branches have "disconnected" numbers (at least the ones found on their website). I found this other place, http://www.fixmyps2.com, and it's based in Reston. I called him but he was like he doesn't take any drop offs. I wonder if the guy is working out of his house or something? Sounds just a tad sketchy.

If anyone has any recommendations for repair shops, please share! Thanks.

They're not hard to FIX, just really hard to REASSEMBLE

what kind of problem are you having?

oh and for the cost of most repairs in this area you could afford a used replacement

Yeah, I've had plenty of experience building my own computers, but the PS2 is so fragile I'm afraid to do anything with it. At first I was just having a laser problem, it would read some discs and not others. Eventually, it completely stopped reading my backup DVDs (I have a modchip) and even with legit games it would only read about 30% of the time.

I took it apart, swabbed the lens with some alky, hoping to clean the dust, and that didn't fix the issue. I then tried playing with the white leveling gear that brings the laser closer/farther from the disc, and that didn't do anything either. And then, by accident, I hit the sled and caused the laser fixture to move along the rails, and it sounded like it grinded. You could pull/push it along the rails, it just didn't seem to like it, since the rails are probably controlled by the motor when the machine is on. I put everything back together, and wala, now the disc doesn't even spin and it goes straight to the bootup OS screen.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2005 04:50PM by zstryder.

I would just buy a new PS2, but getting it premodded makes it pretty expensive...

I have a unit I could parts to you if you want

I'm never going to bother poutting it back together

I've had Starland repair PS2s 3 times already. PS2's use very cheap laser kits and they typically need to be replaced for a cost of about $75

It isnt that hard if you know how to use a screwdriver.

If you are getting disc read errors all you have to do is adjust the laser height using the white knob in the cdrom drive.

30 minutes or less max and it should be working again.

Yeah, I've already tried everything. Cleaned the lens, tried the leveling gear, nada. I basically touched everything minus the pots. Ended up taking to Starland, guess we'll see how they do.

I just love how reliable new consoles are. Seriously now, why do they make them so shitty. I have a 6x read, 4x write, 2x rewrite CDRW drive that his been kickin ass since "way back when." I got it when it was considered fast and still use it all the time as a normal cd drive. So what the fuck is it with consoles with peice of shit readers. I've only got burned on a Game Cube that was "refurbished" and then broke less than a year later. Apparently 1/3 of Game Cubes have the drive die within a year. Damn them and their shitty hardware.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Okay, great. Took it to Starland - they said they can't get any new lasers so they're returning it to me and telling me to go order a new laser because "it's easy to fix yourself."

What a bunch of worthless 'tards.

Oh, and this is after they have my PS2 for like 3 weeks. Yargh.

CERT fix PS2 for anal!!!