Third LG WH16 Dead

[Powerkey]

I just had a third LG WH16 drive go bad ("No Disc" error). Obviously, I am wondering if this is just bad luck, or if this drive is known to have reliability issues.

Does anyone have any experiences, good or bad, with this model? Or, recommendations for other brands/models that are might be more reliable?

[Yethidran]

have you tried to clean the laser heads? might just need abit of cleaning before you junk it aside. try it and see how it goes.

[Powerkey]

I have not done that yet as it looks tricky.

The last 3 discs that failed, all failed at around (about) 30GB into the backup. So, I just did a light grease on the rails and screw to see if that helps.

Testing now.

[Billycar11]

I just had a third LG WH16 drive go bad ("No Disc" error). Obviously, I am wondering if this is just bad luck, or if this drive is known to have reliability issues.

Does anyone have any experiences, good or bad, with this model? Or, recommendations for other brands/models that are might be more reliable?

sadly the lg/asus are junk and dont seem to be improving.
they went to junk back in late 2019 before then i had very few issues with them.

pioneers are what i recommend but you need one with old fw from the factory as they cant be flashed.
so very few have them with old fw i have some marty has some and asmcom but they are taking a break currently
but me and marty are available to sell them see selling section

[Powerkey]

Thanks.

If I am unable to clean/repair this drive, I will look for a Pioneer.

I have purchased from Bluntman in the past (I am in Canada) and it looks like he has some Pioneer slims available.

Are slim drives less reliable than full size drives?

[jjmkv]

I have apparently been pretty lucky I guess with LGs. I have a WH16 in a NexStar DX case FW 1.02 that I have put literally thousands of DVD/BD/UHD discs through. Occasional read errors, but still going strong for years.

Also have a Pioneer BDR-XS07U that has ripped hundreds of DVD/BD/UHD. Very reliable, slim slot load drive. Never has issues. Occasionally if the LG won't read something this will, and vice versa. It's nice to have two options.