DVD Drive Replacement on the Liteon LVW5001 with a PC Burner

Kevin Gene Dowd

January 22, 2006

About a year ago, I bought a Liteon LVW5001 DVD recorder for a low price. I couldn’t have been happier until the unit failed to initialize a new DVD disc. The unit would play an already written disc and commercial discs but would not burn a new one or for that matter get past the “preparing” step when a new DVD disc was inserted. I was told it might be a dirty lens. I tried blowing out the dust with canned air and using a disc cleaner to no avail. I suspected a bad writing laser in the drive (internet research indicates that it happens a lot). The warranty had gone out just weeks before; therefore Liteon would not repair it free of charge. Considering the deal I got on it and the price of new recorders, I did not want to spend a lot of money having a repair shop fix it. So, I used it as a player and went out and bought a different brand DVD recorder. The new recorder works fine but is not as easy to use as the Liteon. I missed the Liteon as a recorder but was weary of buying a new Liteon for fear of it breaking a week after the warranty ran out. Meanwhile, I bought a new double layer 16X DVD burner to replace the old Liteon single layer DVD burner in my PC. Looking at the old PC drive sitting on the table just collecting dust made me wonder if I could use it to replace the drive in the LVW5001. I tried researching the subject on the internet, but found little more than speculation on whether it would work. I figured, what the hell, I might as well give it a try. Well folks, it works! It does take a little modification of the drive before it will fit but that’s not that difficult. I don’t know what the cost of a direct replacement drive is for the LVW5001 but it can’t be less then free and probably cost more then a new PC DVD burner. I understand that the LVW5005 is built almost exactly the same as the LVW5001 so you should be able to use the same procedure.

Here is how to do it.

Liteon LVW5001 with cover removed.

First power up the recorder and press the eject button to eject the tray. Remove the power from the recorder with the tray out (If you skip this step you will find it almost impossible to remove the door!). Remove the door. Take the cover off the recorder and remove the two screws holding the drive bracket to the case. Unplug the data and power cables from the back of the burner unit. Remove the old drive unit by pulling the unit back and up. Remove the bracket and back supports from the old unit. Set the jumper on the replacement drive the same as the old drive (mine was set to master).
Use a paper clip or a pin to open the replacement drive. Remove the drive door and the front face of the replacement and then remove the screws holding the bottom plate to the drive and remove the plate.
Now you have a choice. You can remove the replacement’s drive core from its metal case or you can leave the case on and modify it. You will find removing the core is a lot harder then it looks and it seems like the metal case would help protect the lasers and other inside parts from dust. I chose to the leave the case on and modify it.
If you left the case on the drive core bend the tabs on the bottom of the support bracket and attach it to the replacement drive (Bending of the tabs is not necessary if the case was removed). Attach the back supports as well.
(Skip to step 6 if you removed the core from the metal case.) Use the front metal support as a guide and CARFULLY cut off a quarter inch section of the front part of the case using a Dremel or similar tool with a cutoff wheel. This is necessary for the unit to fit in the recorder. Use canned air to remove the dust and metal shavings from inside the unit caused by the cutoff wheel. Tip: Pack a small slightly damp rag in the front of the drive before cutting the case so that most of the dust and metal shavings will stick to the rag. Carefully pack the rag behind the point of cut.
Make sure the tray of the replacement drive is sticking out slightly and not locked in the unit because you will need to pull the tray out in order to check the fit as well as put on the door.
Install the unit into the recorder making sure the tray is free to move in and out of the front of the recorder. Put the door on the tray. I had to modify the door by cutting the center tab off with a razor knife.
Plug in the data and power cables in to the drive unit. Put the cover on the recorder and enjoy.