Technics SL-P230 outputs finicky and takes 10-15 minutes to load when cold

[daejaephonic]

I just bought this Technics cd player and it had a few issues that I was hoping some pros here would have an idea what's going on.

One the left channel is very finicky to make a connection. I tried to sets of RCA cables and there's no difference. It's just the left channel that's spotty. I can pull the cable out of the spotty connection side until it's practically out of the socket and just barely making contact with the metal inside. If I don't touch anything so it actually works. Any ideas how this can be fixed so I don't have to play around with the rca every few plays?

Secondly when I first got it, it was winter and much colder in my house in the morning. I noticed that it took the cd player a while for it to actually read the cd just displaying all zeros on the display - 0:00. It would just spin for 10+ minutes. After the heat was turned on in the house, the cd would eventually work. Now that summer is here I haven't had this issue but I expect it to go back to how it was earlier. Does anyone have any ideas what this could be from?

Thanks for reading!

 

[KeithD]

I just bought this Technics cd player and it had a few issues that I was hoping some pros here would have an idea what's going on.

One the left channel is very finicky to make a connection. I tried to sets of RCA cables and there's no difference. It's just the left channel that's spotty. I can pull the cable out of the spotty connection side until it's practically out of the socket and just barely making contact with the metal inside. If I don't touch anything so it actually works. Any ideas how this can be fixed so I don't have to play around with the rca every few plays?

Secondly when I first got it, it was winter and much colder in my house in the morning. I noticed that it took the cd player a while for it to actually read the cd just displaying all zeros on the display - 0:00. It would just spin for 10+ minutes. After the heat was turned on in the house, the cd would eventually work. Now that summer is here I haven't had this issue but I expect it to go back to how it was earlier. Does anyone have any ideas what this could be from?

Thanks for reading!

Are the RCA jacks soldered directly to the PCB inside the unit? If so, you could have a cracked solder joint on the left channel connector. Fix would be to remove the solder and put new solder in, or at least reflow the solder.

Does the laser mechanism work on a screw drive to move the laser back and forth? If so, might have old grease/lubricant that has dried out and grown stiff. As temp increases, it might become "fluid" enough to allow the laser to move to find the TOC on the disc. If it's a screw drive, give it a good cleaning and put new grease/lubricant on.

 

[curtisw99]

Secondly when I first got it, it was winter and much colder in my house in the morning. I noticed that it took the cd player a while for it to actually read the cd just displaying all zeros on the display - 0:00. It would just spin for 10+ minutes. After the heat was turned on in the house, the cd would eventually work. Now that summer is here I haven't had this issue but I expect it to go back to how it was earlier. Does anyone have any ideas what this could be from?

Sounds like the old grease in the transport softens as it warms up.

Probably needs a deep clean. Any brown/amber grease, clean it out and use a modern silicone grease.