We received an SCPH-300001 PS2 from eBay for around $30. Today’s goal is disassembly, cleaning, and initial component inspection.

This is only our second time disassembling PS2s, the first of which could have gone better.

CMOS

One notable difference between this 300001 model and our previous 39001 model is the location of the CMOS battery, which is located on a daughterboard on the side of the disc drive rather than being contained on the motherboard.

CMOS daughterboard (side of disc drive)

Motherboard

Speaking of motherboards, our first unit contained a GH-010 motherboard, sub-revision 1-681-693-12.

GH010 motherboard (top)

GH010 motherboard (bottom)

Disc drive

The white disc drive wire exhibited a concerning amount of slack. This may be due to reassembly error, but we’re not certain.

Disc drive wire slack

The disc drive bracket was dremmeled to give the wire more slack when routing.

Disc drive wires (no slack post-modification)

This unit’s disc drive would not open. The noises from the motor did not inspire confidence. After some disassembly, it appears that the disc drive eject mechanism is the culprit. This could be a motor failure or belt failure, but further testing is required.

Disc drive eject mechanism belt

Disc drive disassembly

Last modified on 2023-08-19