Can't open door of DVD RW Drive on desktop PC

Question

My computer is an "emachine". The brand of the device is ATAPI DVD A DH16AASH SCSI CdRom Device. Door to the drive is vertical (side ways).It used to open very well. I've hardly used it, so it's not worn out. There is no pinhole on it's "face", so the paperclip solution isn't possible. It seems like the problem is a mechanical issue w/in the "tower". On the screen under device properties it says that the device is working properly. I'm not a computer wiz, so I'm reluctant to open it up & mess w/the hardware. I imagine that if I took it to a computer tech, it would be expensive! What can I do?

Answer 1

I just went through this problem this week for this same exact part number Phillips/Lite-On brand drive. It turned out that the eject mechanism is run by a small motor driving a larger pulley via a rubber belt all located deep inside the front of the drive. The belt stretches and dries out over time and then slips on the motor pulley so it can't drive the eject mechanism. It is a typical square cross section belt that is ~ 1.75" (44.5mm) long when doubled up and stretched out along a ruler.

Unfortunately, access is only possible by disassembling the drive and pulling the mechanism out of the metal case. Once the drive mechanism is out of the case,you can see a relatively large-toothed white gear up front near the door. Turning it manually (clockwise I think?) will start the eject process and "unlock" the tray so you can now manually pull it into a position where a hole in it allows access to the belt. You may have to take the front panel off the case to get the mechanism out of the case. There are little lock tabs on the sides that you release once the drawer is slid out and just slide it forward along the drawer and you won't have to take the drawer front closeout panel off.

Slip off the old belt and fish it out with a homemade paper clip hook and stretch a new one into place that you can get on Amazon or eBay. (Many of those are thinner than original, but will work, at least for a while. It's really hard to find the old thicker 2mm cross section belts nowadays.)

Once the new belt is in place, put everything back together. You do not have to close the drawer. Once you apply power, it will re-sync the mechanism. Be aware that the drawer will slide closed unexpectedly when you apply power, so don't have anything in the way.