O2 CD tray, worth fixing?

[telackey]

My R5k O2's CD tray just started misbehaving. The tray itself moves freely (I can pull it out or push it back in manually with little effort) and when I restart the machine, it makes a pretty terrible noise for a few seconds. In the startup sequence it reports the drive is "not ready".

I suspect this is the common problem where the little white plastic gear has fallen off its spindle. I am kicking myself for having opened the tray at all...

If the problem is what I think it is, it doesn't sound too hard to fix, but it means taking off the skin. At the moment, I am more scared of breaking the skins in the process than I am bothered by the CD (I can't recall the last time I used it).

Is this worth fixing, or should I just leave it be?

 

[ReVolt]

The plastic gear falls off because it's cracked (my o2). Evidently the nylon shrinks over time, then the stress eventually cracks it. If you put it back on the crack becomes evident. A cracked gear that hasn't fallen off results in a noisy tray (my other o2). I tried super gluing the crack then reaming the shrunken center hole slightly larger but the superglue didn't want to bond and the crack re-opened. If it worked I was going to use locktite or epoxy to help hold it on the shaft. If you don't need the CD-ROM maybe just leave it alone.

My R5k O2's CD tray just started misbehaving. The tray itself moves freely (I can pull it out or push it back in manually with little effort) and when I restart the machine, it makes a pretty terrible noise for a few seconds. In the startup sequence it reports the drive is "not ready".

I suspect this is the common problem where the little white plastic gear has fallen off its spindle. I am kicking myself for having opened the tray at all...

If the problem is what I think it is, it doesn't sound too hard to fix, but it means taking off the skin. At the moment, I am more scared of breaking the skins in the process than I am bothered by the CD (I can't recall the last time I used it).

Is this worth fixing, or should I just leave it be?