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CD "skips" drops out.

R

REEdwards

New Member
There have been many discussions about problems where a CD player is said to skip. I think the real term is drops out. My Bose Wave skips/drops out when the CD Player is first started. Then, over time, it plays longer and longer before dropping out, and finally after a few minutes it plays normally. but only if the CD is not stropped. If it is stopped or another CD loaded, it starts that skipping sequence again. There is one other diagnostic clue: when it skips or drops out, the Bose has a time (of the track) indicator and the seconds do not progress. It will indicate the same time, e.g, 1:08, for several seconds until the sound comes back and the seconds continue to advance as long as the audio is playing.

Any suggestions as to what the problem is, and if there might be a way to fix it, would be greatly appreciated
 
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Does not seem like a cleaning issue, otherwise it would not begin to play perfectly after it has been playing for 15 min or so...with skipping slowly getting farther apart over the 15 moin.

I did see that video, but he replaced the whole CD drive, and the drive is very expensive -- even if one can be found. Plus, the video did not say what the initial symptoms of the problem were...so replacing the expensive CD drive might not even solve the problem.
 
If it wasn't repeated with each new disc I would have said a questionable part is warming up then functioning fine. What you're describing sounds to me like you have an IC problem.
Just a guess, don't buy parts on it.
 
These are a nightmare to work on. The CD mech is a car CD mech, pulls the CD in using rollers. I worked on one once. I could not figure out how to get the mechanism apart. I'll never touch one again. The problem could be the sled motor has a bad spot or it could be the disc motor needs oil. Good luck getting to either of those things.
 
I had the same issue when using my universal player to play CD's and I thought it was the optical pick up out of focus or needing to be cleaned. Turns out because there was a cooling fan light layers of pollution could be spread on the rails and lens so I cleaned the optics and checked the clamp etc and the focus. Same symptoms, so a friend of mine said clean and lightly lube the rails and I did and the mechanism has now been perfect for over 3 years. I will admit on the previous player the LED for the CD became weak and failed and the entire optics and led section had to be replaced. Thats one reason I update players every 10 years or so. Because most of the time replacement parts are no longer available. Playing and LP is so much easier. Just replace a common stylus assembly every few thousand hours.. Guess I was lucky that I had one CD player that worked perfectly over 30 years.
 
I will see if cleaning/lubricating the rails and the motor will solve the problem. The problem obviously is within the CD deck. Keeping the radio or Aux on for a long time does not stop the skipping. It only stops after the CD has been playing for many minutes, and during those minutes the skipping becomes less frequent and with less duration. I suspect that it is either mechanical (hence the lube need) or electronic (with a capacitor or other component in the deck working correctly after "warming up" for a while.

Now if I only knew what the "rails" were, and how to get to them and find them in the Wave, I would be in better shape, LOL.

All comments and ideas are greatly appreciated, and I will keep everyone posted on what happens and turns out.
 
REEdwards said:
I will see if cleaning/lubricating the rails and the motor will solve the problem. The problem obviously is within the CD deck. Keeping the radio or Aux on for a long time does not stop the skipping. It only stops after the CD has been playing for many minutes, and during those minutes the skipping becomes less frequent and with less duration. I suspect that it is either mechanical (hence the lube need) or electronic (with a capacitor or other component in the deck working correctly after "warming up" for a while.

Now if I only knew what the "rails" were, and how to get to them and find them in the Wave, I would be in better shape, LOL.

All comments and ideas are greatly appreciated, and I will keep everyone posted on what happens and turns out.
Click to expand...
The rails are the machined posts that the laser slides on, but they are not the problem, because if they needed lubrication it would not stop skipping after it warms up.
The disc motor is the motor that turns the CD and should be lubricated at the top bearing with a couple drops of light machine oil. The motor that moves the laser back and forth may have a bad spot on the commutator and you can try injecting some Deoxit into any opening in the end where the wires connect to it.
 
teal'c said:
It doesn't...
Click to expand...
He said: "My Bose Wave skips/drops out when the CD Player is first started. Then, over time, it plays longer and longer before dropping out, and finally after a few minutes it plays normally. but only if the CD is not stropped. If it is stopped or another CD loaded, it starts that skipping sequence again."
Pay, ah say, pay attention, son! Ah ain't a talkin' just to hear my neck roar. (Sorry, but that called for a Foghorn Leghorn quote.)
 
Well, here is the outcome, and probably my last reply. Today I took the Bose Wave apart and looked for any signs of obvious problems. I took advice from some here and previous threads, and I sprayed Deoxit into the small openings on the bottom of the disc motor. I also sprayed the little motor that actuates the changer.

When I carefully reassembled it, I found that it would not eject the disc that I had left in before taking it apart. While looking to find out how to fix that, I found YouTube video that diagnosed and fixed what seemed exactly what my problem was. The problem was due to failure of the many electrolytic capacitors used on the main board. In the video the capacitors were tested with a special meter and several were found to be bad. Apparently those capacitors loose their electrolyte over many years of use, so they do not build up capacitance until they are loaded after a long time. The solution was to de-solder many old capacitors and replace them with a modern, non-electrolytic type. The video person said that it was not easy to do that unless one had extensive experience to avoid solder running over onto nearby component pads.

So I have given up on fixing this unit that I got at Goodwill for about $5. Plus, when I put it back together, the disc would not eject. I had to remove it by taking the deck out again, and turning the little gear that actuates the disc platform that slides out. Maybe the Deoxit on the little disc eject motor damaged it??

If anyone has any use for the rest of the unit and wants to buy it for as much as I spent on it (net), let me know. Otherwise, the FM radio and clock radio work fine with great sound, and maybe someone will use it for that.

Over and out,
 
Now you know why I won't ever work on one of those again. They are just not made to be repaired.
 
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