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Troubleshooting CD Players
- Thread starter dr*audio
- Start date
The infamous 'Sony transport Screw up'
Happened regularly on my Sony es cdp. Finally got tired of patching it, not to mention that the shrill tonal balance finally 'got to me'.
Bought a Toshiba DVD player (50$ new)
Did a few mods to it and found the sound as an Epiphany.
Seriously Good.. a Whole new world up from what my Foolish priced (yup ibought it New) Sony ever managed.
Liked the Toshiba so much that I immediately bought a 'spare' against future needs, 10 years later the thing is still going strong.
Frankly .. IMO.. 15$ Goodwill price (sticker in the photos) for the above Sony was 15$ too many.
Happened regularly on my Sony es cdp. Finally got tired of patching it, not to mention that the shrill tonal balance finally 'got to me'.
Bought a Toshiba DVD player (50$ new)
Did a few mods to it and found the sound as an Epiphany.
Seriously Good.. a Whole new world up from what my Foolish priced (yup ibought it New) Sony ever managed.
Liked the Toshiba so much that I immediately bought a 'spare' against future needs, 10 years later the thing is still going strong.
Frankly .. IMO.. 15$ Goodwill price (sticker in the photos) for the above Sony was 15$ too many.
The "shrill sound" of that Sony can be fixed by soldering all the ground points on the pcb (where the ground connections are completed by screws) to the chassis. The screws get loose and cause all kinds of nastiness. Do that, upgrade the opamps and they sound excellent.
Maybe you have owned different Sony ESs, but this one is far from shrill.
Do you have any op-amp recommendations?
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Yes, I use LM4562NA/NOPB.
Back to the original post... why isn't this a sticky?!?
The mods put it under the repair reference threads, so it's pretty easy to find.
marqueemoon
Gimme indie rock!
Managed to improve the tray mechanism on my Goodwill Denon DVD-2900 significantly by cleaning the belt with alcohol and lubing the lifter mechanism with some bike grease (applied with a toothpick).
I think a new belt would fix it completely but just eyeballing it the tray mechanism is a bit more complex to get apart than I really want to mess with at the moment.
Great sounding player and does SACD and DVD audio. I'll probably put it in my office though because my wife will have zero patience for the tray thing.
I think a new belt would fix it completely but just eyeballing it the tray mechanism is a bit more complex to get apart than I really want to mess with at the moment.
Great sounding player and does SACD and DVD audio. I'll probably put it in my office though because my wife will have zero patience for the tray thing.
juptonstone
Member at Large...
Dear Doctor! My Sony CDP 50 ESD might have a weak laser
I read pretty much everything in this thread and I had already done almost everything you suggested. My Sony skips on the same tracks on the Same CDs every time... It also skips other times but only rarely.
It isn't dirt the entire machine was cleaned with 95% ISO alcohol
The lens was cleaned with Bosch camera lens cleaner
The magnet rails are spotless
The Guide rail has a very fine coat of fine grade machine oil on it... And everything moves like clockwork.... Except on those disks.. I never know if I buy a disk.. Will it work.
Anyway, my guess is the laser is weak and needs to be replaced, but an expert opinion is requested. And iwhere can I get parts for a 20+ year old Sony 508.
Thanks for any suggestions you can offer!
I read pretty much everything in this thread and I had already done almost everything you suggested. My Sony skips on the same tracks on the Same CDs every time... It also skips other times but only rarely.
It isn't dirt the entire machine was cleaned with 95% ISO alcohol
The lens was cleaned with Bosch camera lens cleaner
The magnet rails are spotless
The Guide rail has a very fine coat of fine grade machine oil on it... And everything moves like clockwork.... Except on those disks.. I never know if I buy a disk.. Will it work.
Anyway, my guess is the laser is weak and needs to be replaced, but an expert opinion is requested. And iwhere can I get parts for a 20+ year old Sony 508.
Thanks for any suggestions you can offer!
Did you lubricate the disc motor bearing?
Did you check to make sure the chucking magnet floats in the middle of the arm and isn't rubbing? If so, the laser could be bad, but usually this doesn't cause skipping.
juptonstone
Member at Large...
No I did not do those two things and I will... But it plays some CDs no problem every time, but other CDs it always skips. However I have a cheap old Denon that plays every CD perfectly.. That's why I am wondering if the laser is weak and on some CDs it can't handle the reflectivity properly. Maybe that is not the function of the laser? What would cause consistent skipping always on the same CDs but no skipping ever on others?
I am adding this as a question... The Sony 508ESD I'd a single disk player that was one of Sony's best units back in the day. If my understanding is correct, a chucker applies only to multi disk CD players. Is the correct? Or please explain what the chucking magnet is.
Thanks
I am adding this as a question... The Sony 508ESD I'd a single disk player that was one of Sony's best units back in the day. If my understanding is correct, a chucker applies only to multi disk CD players. Is the correct? Or please explain what the chucking magnet is.
Thanks
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The chucking magnet holds the CD down on the disc motor table. Often on older players the suspension sags and the magnet rides lower in the support arm, and scrapes, causing skipping. Some CDs are thinner than others and the magnet rides lower, so some may skip and others don't. Low laser power usually causes data errors not skipping. You would hear static, often coinciding with rotation of the CD; tick, tick, tick, but sometimes just on loud parts.
juptonstone
Member at Large...
Chucking Magnet...
Ok.. I took the lid off the CD player. I assume the chucking magnet is the metal disk that cigs over the top center of the CD... Anyway, it drops down when the drawer is open, but rises and spins freely when the drawer is closed... Regardless of wether her there is a disk in there or not. But here is where I am lost.
Now it plays perfectly! If I put the lid on, it skips badly... Take the lid off and it works like a champ. I am sure you have seen this a thousand times, so what is your best guess?
Thanks!
Ok.. I took the lid off the CD player. I assume the chucking magnet is the metal disk that cigs over the top center of the CD... Anyway, it drops down when the drawer is open, but rises and spins freely when the drawer is closed... Regardless of wether her there is a disk in there or not. But here is where I am lost.
Now it plays perfectly! If I put the lid on, it skips badly... Take the lid off and it works like a champ. I am sure you have seen this a thousand times, so what is your best guess?
Thanks!
Put a CD in the player and observe. You will see a round metal disc that holds the CD down. It rides in an arm that supports it. The magnet must float in the middle of the arm. I should not touch the edges of the hole and it should not touch the top or bottom of the arm.
juptonstone
Member at Large...
Chucking Arm
I have been watching it. it wobbles just enough to be visible, but it is an up and down motion, not side to side. The disk is centered in the hole and it moves freely when I touch it, but then... It started skipping earlier on a cd that it had always played fine.. I touched the chucking magnet and it stopped skipping. What next? Are these replaceable or repairable?. I do see that it is made to come apart if held and counter rotated, but I don't want to dropping miniature bearings inside the player....
I have been watching it. it wobbles just enough to be visible, but it is an up and down motion, not side to side. The disk is centered in the hole and it moves freely when I touch it, but then... It started skipping earlier on a cd that it had always played fine.. I touched the chucking magnet and it stopped skipping. What next? Are these replaceable or repairable?. I do see that it is made to come apart if held and counter rotated, but I don't want to dropping miniature bearings inside the player....
Attachments
See the metal disc on top? With a disc loaded but not playing, check the clearance between the metal disc and the plastic assembly. There should be some clearance, at least 1/16". If it rides too low it can scrape against the plastic. Listen while it plays to see if there is a scraping sound or ticking as it turns.
If it scrapes, the springs in the mechanism have sagged and need to be stretched out. If this is the case let me know and I will give you instructions. If the disc isn't scraping, apply 2 drops of light machine oil to the top bearing of the disc motor, where the shaft comes out. The disc motor is under the chucking magnet and you should be able to see it with the drawer in the out position. It's a thin motor shaft with a plastic and metal disc on top. The bearing gets dry and causes data errors.
juptonstone
Member at Large...
Dr*audio... Thank you for all the help... It worked! I finally got a small syringe minus the needle and put some sewing machine oil on the spindle that goes under the cd... After a lot of cleaning and oiling that part, my CD player is acting like it did a long time ago... It's nice and smooth... No more skipping and it runs quietly again! I love this player and I am glad that I don't have to replace it!
I'm going to add a little something here.
I just used M-kote EM-30L on the side rail of my KSS 151A. http://www.dowcorning.com/applications/search/products/details.aspx?prod=01843516&type=PROD
I purchased the M-kote thinking I was going to grease the plastic gears. I'm not going to grease the gears, because having it on the laser slide seems like its going to fix my skipping problem. A new belt fixed my draw close issue.
I'm currently working on a Tascam CD-401mkII.
I want to lube the top bearing on the spindle motor and metal rail with TriFlow teflon oil. It looks like there are several teflon oils made by TriFlow. Which should I use?
I guess this is the one: http://www.triflowlubricants.com/Tri-Flow_Superior_Drip_Lubricant.html
Other choices are Superior Dry with paraffin, and soy oils instead of petroleum. Use this one^^^?
I just used M-kote EM-30L on the side rail of my KSS 151A. http://www.dowcorning.com/applications/search/products/details.aspx?prod=01843516&type=PROD
I purchased the M-kote thinking I was going to grease the plastic gears. I'm not going to grease the gears, because having it on the laser slide seems like its going to fix my skipping problem. A new belt fixed my draw close issue.
I'm currently working on a Tascam CD-401mkII.
I want to lube the top bearing on the spindle motor and metal rail with TriFlow teflon oil. It looks like there are several teflon oils made by TriFlow. Which should I use?
I guess this is the one: http://www.triflowlubricants.com/Tri-Flow_Superior_Drip_Lubricant.html
Other choices are Superior Dry with paraffin, and soy oils instead of petroleum. Use this one^^^?
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That Moly Kote grease is not good for the slide rail. It is too viscous. Use the Tri-Flo that you showed a link to.