What is the name for the plastic piece on the end of a 5.25" optical drive tray?

I have a PC set up with 3 optical drives (to rip compact discs). One of the drives was salvaged from a pre-built machine that had a cover to hide the optical drive. As a result of this, the plastic piece (I would call it a bezel) on the tray has been removed.

See this image (third drive down) for clarification.

I have tried to find a replacement using terms such as tray cover, tray bezel, etc. on eBay and Aliexpress and I have turned up nothing. I am surprised that no replacement is available, as the three drives I have all share the same fitting for this part – it seems to be generic.

Here are two more pictures of the part I am talking about – it's hard to describe!

Ivan Holmes

Posted 2018-07-21T16:38:32.633

Reputation: 141

3Without sources to cite, I personally always called it a door. – Ian MacDonald – 2018-07-21T20:03:31.350

4I'd be surprised if there were replacements up for offer. No one's going to buy a $3 part for a $5 drive. – Mazura – 2018-07-21T21:48:08.417

4It would be embezzlement. – bmargulies – 2018-07-22T02:03:16.933

@Mazura To be fair, you raise a good point there – you can get a brand new LiteOn iHAS124 for £8 shipped on Amazon now – there's barely any point in even buying an entire drive used... – Ivan Holmes – 2018-07-22T02:41:20.397

Answers

It is indeed a faceplate. Bezel is used too but that usually refers to the surrounding frame into which the faceplate sits flush when the tray is closed.

Your best bet is to take one from a scrap drive. Even transplant the faceplate and bezel both so you have a matching pair.

They aren’t as generic as they look. There are lots of variants with slightly different size/notches/retaining clips. Most can be made to fit using a sharp knife to shave of bits that get in the way. Polystyrene glue (same stuff as used for plastic model kits) can also be handy to glue a faceplate on a tray if the retaining clips don’t hold it in place well enough.

Tonny

Posted 2018-07-21T16:38:32.633

Reputation: 19 919

It seems that my drives (all salvaged) are all made by HL-DT-ST, which would explain why the faceplates are all the same fitting as each other. – Ivan Holmes – 2018-07-21T18:38:06.300

5@IvanHolmes if they are the same model or model-range the bezels/faceplates are usually interchangeable. Another brand, not so much. But you could be lucky. Many ‘brand’ drives are actually rebranded OEM drives from a small number of manufacturers and still may share the same form-factor. – Tonny – 2018-07-21T18:45:32.810

If your other faceplates are matching, you could measure their dimensions precisely (or perhaps use a 3d scanner) and design and 3d-print a replacement. – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE – 2018-07-22T16:26:51.777

That part is usually called a bezel or faceplate. I would recommend searching for “optical drive bezel” or “optical drive faceplate” and see what pops up. I would also recommend eBay searches for “optical drive bezel” and “optical drive faceplate” as well.

That said, I am not 100% sure how interchangeable these things are from drive to drive. But one quick idea is instead of searching for just the bezel/faceplate, see if there is a similar used—or even broken—drive you can find online or even in a thrift store going for cheap. Like an old CD-ROM drive that is going for cheap and just buy that and take the bezel/faceplate off of that. It might cost less than buying a specific bezel/faceplate for a specific device.

JakeGould

Posted 2018-07-21T16:38:32.633

Reputation: 38 217

1Thanks for this – although those searches only turn up faceplates for laptop optical drives, which of course are actually standardised rather than just coincidentally similar. R.e. their interchangeability, the three drives I have in this machine all use the same attachment method, although I've just checked and they're all manufactured by HL-DT-ST, so that might be the reason for it. I am at least a little surprised that there isn't a market for these parts at all... – Ivan Holmes – 2018-07-21T18:34:04.420

@IvanHolmes If it helps, the HL-DT-ST stands for “Hitachi-LG Digital Storage.” So maybe search for parts along those lines?

– JakeGould – 2018-07-21T20:15:54.207

1Cheers, I was aware of that – but it's still not leading to anything! I guess I'll just have to live without the bezel, because at least here in the UK the 'thrift stores' (charity shops) are very weak for computer hardware and you can get a whole new drive for £8 shipped. Thanks though! – Ivan Holmes – 2018-07-22T02:42:54.080