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1985 Sony CDP-302 Tray Problem Repair

I am bringing a 302ES back from the dead. Which light(s) do I need to replace to get the display to light up? Is it the bulb with the white plastic housing? What are the values of the bulb I would need? Any help would be appreciated. FWIW the play, pause, and stop bulbs are working.
 

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Do you mean the alphanumeric display to the upper left labelled FLD201?

If so, it's not backlit. It's a Vacuum Fluorescent Display, which can go dim over time, though it could be a problem with the driver circuitry or filament (thin horizontal wires) power supply.

Most likely, though, it's physically broken. See the white spot in the lower right? It should be silver. The device is a vacuum tube, and if vacuum is lost it won't work. The normally silver spot - which is called a "getter" - is a clear indication.
 
DaveVoorhis said:
Do you mean the alphanumeric display to the upper left labelled FLD201?

If so, it's not backlit. It's a Vacuum Fluorescent Display, which can go dim over time, though it could be a problem with the driver circuitry or filament (thin horizontal wires) power supply.

Most likely, though, it's physically broken. See the white spot in the lower right? It should be silver. The device is a vacuum tube, and if vacuum is lost it won't work. The normally silver spot - which is called a "getter" - is a clear indication.
Click to expand...

Wow, well, I guess I will have one less project in the repair pile. I won't spend any more time on this player I suppose. Thank you for the reply.
 
I stumbled upon an old post where AK'er wsjoe changed the op-amps and said it made a huge difference. Anyone else done this??

I just LOVE this sony. Listening now, and while it isn't the nicest sound I've heard (my yamaha CDX-1100u is sure nice) I would LOVE to get this thing full-on hot-rodded.

I'm such a sucker for mods.
 
Gary Indiana said:
My latest trip to Goodwill and $4 cash resulted in acquisition of another fine piece of vintage digital audio source: Sony CDP-302 made in 1985 AD.

Here is a great link (not mine) with description of the player and a couple of good pictures.

CDP-302 is a heavy, mostly metal, fine-looking little player. When I bought it, a stuck tray seemed to be the only problem it had.

Googling around I learned that frozen tray is a common problem for this particular model. And so... here's what to do to fix it.


Topless view: very good old school, little plastic, lots of heavy metal. Proper transformer in the power supply.

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Old school little known Sony DAC CX20152 giving "pure" hospital grade vintage digital sound. Some loved it, others re-converted to vinyl because of it.

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Here she's up side down showing her inner beauty. The laser transport is state-of-the-art electro-mechanical marvel. To quote an expert from the link posted above: Disc loading and track access is faster than greased lightning on a banana peel. And that's exactly right!

rcq7hi.jpg




When bottom cover removed, these two round laser transport rails should be lubed with light machine oil.
Sewing Machine Oil will work perfectly well.

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And here is one of the troublemaking culprits stopping the tray from opening: the yellowish nylon pulley. It was spinning on grease that became glue after a quarter of a century of hard work. This has to be removed and cleaned up with Q-tip and rubbing alcohol.

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Metal housing removed. Careful with that tiny E-clip - they might jump like a frog while being removed. I lost mine and had to get replacement for 23 cents at Ace hardware.

j64e8w.jpg




This pin was really sticky. Rubbing alcohol cleaned her up. This does not need any lubrication. The two rubber belts were still in great shape. I cleaned them up with alcohol and put them back to service. Be careful not to stain them with grease or oil: it would eat them up fast.

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There is more glue that used to be grease many years ago that needs to be removed. The round CD tray rail is best removed completely (one screw) and cleaned thoroughly with alcohol. Clean inside the holes with Q-tip dipped in fine machine oil. Lubricate the round stick with oil. Make sure oil doesn't drip. The flat housing on the other side of the tray need to be removed also (3 screws) and all goo underneath needs to be cleaned up and left clean & dry.

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The transport in CDP-302 is amazing. It sounds good, too, but there is room for improvement, and so I plan to tap to the circuit for digital out, and hook up good external DAC to it.

This would be the tapping point. However it may need some tweeking like: buffer, or inverter, or muting between tracks, or combination of them.

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This is the pin to tap.
Click to expand...
A ha! Another disciple of sewing maching oil for the rails. Stuff works great!
 
Take a look at CDP-552 and 553. Also Luxman D-109. All are BU-1C based and some of the earliest with coax digital out.
 
I just picked up a Sony CDP-50 from 1986 that also has a robust transformer... that hums like a neon light. I like the player but the hum is a bit much. Might have to consider putting a new one in but that would be fairly advanced for me.
 
Wow oh wow. I finally got around to fixing the tray on a Sony CDP-520ES yesterday. It was very slow and I couldn't quite figure it out. I had cleaned the guide rail and oiled it, but it didn't help. That was months and months ago. Yesterday I touched some of the old lubricant where the tray contacts the body of the player and found how gummy it was. I figured the belt gears would be the same way.

At any rate, I did virtually the same steps that Gary Indiana did. The innards look nearly identical too. The tray is SUPER fast now
 

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Just wanted to thank everyone for this thread. Just fixed one of these for the non profit thrift that I help out with their broken electronics. VERY robust, and still working 33 years later.
 
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