Laserology - CD Players and why they stop reading

[Telecolor 3007]

I have a very little use D.V.D. player made by "Standard" Switzerland. Costed a lot of money when new - no, I didn't had it as new. I will use it only for D.V.D., since is such a nice machines - brushless motors I think, not those slim crap machines. It does have V.F.D. display!
I have a C.D. player that sometimes does not want to play (proprely) track 1. Bad C.D.s. or bad machine?
My philsophy: never pay a enormous sum of money in machines that play optical discs. B.t.w., how hard is to find Helium Neon tubes for L.D. players?

 

[dr*audio]

I have a very little use D.V.D. player made by "Standard" Switzerland. Costed a lot of money when new - no, I didn't had it as new. I will use it only for D.V.D., since is such a nice machines - brushless motors I think, not those slim crap machines. It does have V.F.D. display!
I have a C.D. player that sometimes does not want to play (proprely) track 1. Bad C.D.s. or bad machine?
My philsophy: never pay a enormous sum of money in machines that play optical discs. B.t.w., how hard is to find Helium Neon tubes for L.D. players?

On the CD player put 2 or 3 drops of light machine oil or sewing machine oil on the top bearing of the disc motor.

 

[dr*audio]

Here's another thing to look for when repairing CD players.
I was working on a NAD 512 that had been sitting in my closet of junk for 10 years. It needed a Sony CXA1082BQ, which at the time was hard to find and expensive. Now I have a good source for them cheap, so I ordered the part and got it working, BUT, it would intermittently drop out, like it had bit errors. I suspected the sled motor so I monitored the sled motor drive with a scope. It would slowly go up to 0.7V and then the sled would move, but when it dropped out the voltage would go much higher. Aha, I said, bad sled motor. I removed the drive gear and checked to make sure the laser was sliding freely and it was. Removed the sled motor and compared it with a new one, driving it with a bench supply to see what the lowest voltage it would start at. Both motors were the same, about 0.25V. Ok, I figured maybe it has a bad spot and sometimes won't start, so I replaced it. Same problem. So I moved the gear, turning it slowly to see if it hung up, and it did. Removed the gear that drives the rack gear on the laser and it had a bunch of teeth gouged out! I have a few brand new mechanisms I bought when they were available (actually they still are; Liberty Electronics has them) so I pulled a gear off one and installed it in the player. All fixed. I checked the limit switch to make sure it is working, because that could cause the gear to get ground up, but the switch is fine. So, be sure to check the gears!

 

[Late Boomer]

Usually a DVD player that plays CDs but not DVDs or vice versa has a bad laser. In this case you can try putting a few drops of light machine oil on the top bearing of the disc motor. If that doesn't fix it, trash it, because there are no parts available for DVD players.

Not sure how lubing the bearing will help with the laser. And the player eventually does read a DVD. Are you saying it does not spin fast enough for DVD when cold?

 

[dr*audio]

Not sure how lubing the bearing will help with the laser. And the player eventually does read a DVD. Are you saying it does not spin fast enough for DVD when cold?

The bearing dries up and causes bit errors. It's a Hail Mary, really, because the laser is probably bad.

 

[Late Boomer]

The bearing dries up and causes bit errors. It's a Hail Mary, really, because the laser is probably bad.

Why the laser is bad, if it plays a CD and then in about half an hour, a DVD? Does the laser warm up? Or the bearing?

 

[dr*audio]

Why the laser is bad, if it plays a CD and then in about half an hour, a DVD? Does the laser warm up? Or the bearing?

I guess I didn't read your initial post carefully. Probably not the laser, then, since the same laser isn't used for the CD as for the DVD. Try the oil.

 

[Trance88]

I picked up a Sony CDP-C260Z at goodwill yesterday (for only 10 bucks!!) and it played my factory pressed CD's just fine, but it really struggled to play my CD-R discs all the way though. I thought the laser was going bad on it but I followed the guide, just opened it up, blew some air on it, and wiped the lens with some rubbing alcohol. Seems to be playing everything fine now!

 

[dr*audio]

I picked up a Sony CDP-C260Z at goodwill yesterday (for only 10 bucks!!) and it played my factory pressed CD's just fine, but it really struggled to play my CD-R discs all the way though. I thought the laser was going bad on it but I followed the guide, just opened it up, blew some air on it, and wiped the lens with some rubbing alcohol. Seems to be playing everything fine now!

Don't use alcohol on the lens, some alcohols cloud plastic. Use Kodak Lens Cleaner, as you would with any fine lens, or distilled water.

 

[Trance88]

Eeeeh. I spoke too soon. I played 3 CD-R's all the way through, then I went to a factory pressed CD and then went back to the CD-R's and this time, the machine couldn't read any of them. I suspect this machine has to have a dying laser. It just takes a while before it starts getting "tired." I doubt the rubbing alcohol did anything good or bad for it.