CD Player Repair Advice

[lovinthehd]

I recently ran across this similar thing to play/rip cds https://brennan.co.uk/pages/b3-specifications

 

[m. zillch]

I hardly consider a cheap CD player a proper replacement for a 300 disc CD carousel.

Just to clarify, my position is your point is valid but only because of the number of discs they play. The sound quality of competent cheap players, even (some) small ones, is audibly perfect and just as good as full size machines.

 

[lovinthehd]

Just to clarify, my position is your point is valid but only because of the number of discs they play. The sound quality of competent cheap players, even small ones, is audibly perfect and just as good as full size machines.

Simpler machines I think were just more reliable than the carousels/changer. I have a Sony 5 disc still, but haven't used in years. The several hundred disc models never appealed.

 

[m. zillch]

I had a 100 CD player mounted in my car trunk. It was a clever compact elevator-style Aiwa meant for home use but I modified it and built an IR relay system to control it from the cockpit.

Other than that one I never bought any disc player that held more than one disc.

 

[Mark B]

Yes, hard to know at this point if the main control IC has current sensing and is shutting off the relay due to a power draw issue elsewhere in the circuit but that is likely the issue. This is one of those high capacity CD changers, so I would disconnect all of the motors in case the unit has some kind of mechanical startup procedure that it goes through on power up. Just leave the electronics connected and see if it will power on.

The unit has a lot of small circuit boards but there are only 3 or 4 larger circuit boards of consequence that could cause an issue. Could be an issue with the power supply itself but that is less likely. Need to isolate the main circuit boards and see if one is causing a large power draw.

Thank you for all of the tips everyone. Throwing it out isn't an option for me yet. I have a tendency to go too far in trying to save something worth more to me than what others might see as junk due to time spent. My labour is free and worth the challenge. I will open it back up in the next day or two and see if I can power it up without some of the big draws of power. I will update.

 

[m. zillch]

I haven't seen one of these machines in decades but upon initially powering up did it used to rotate the carousel to quickly asses which disc slots were loaded? If it did do that but no longer, perhaps it needs some manual help to rotate the carousel because its motors are week or there is an object causing a jam which you can dislodge?

I've seen old CD players where they won't spin however if you help out manually and start their rotation with your fingers as a "kick start "they then work! [For that play at least.]

UPDATE: Usually problems are common ailments so checking out what others with this machine are saying may help.

Not your exact unit but perhaps of interest:

 

[Happy89]

Hello Everyone!

I’m not sure this is the right thread to post my question, but I’give a try.

I have an old Denon DCD-1450AR cd player. It has problem with some of my cd, it doesn’t read the end of them (from around the middle of the disc). In these case I can hear it is searching, the disc try to spin up, but it can’t find the track. Or sometimes in the middle of a song it starts to “jump”, and skips a sec or jump back a few sec.

The lens is cleaned, the pickup should be new (I bought it from Dönberg electronics), I replaced all of the capacitors in the player, I cleaned and lubricated the sled, I did a built in automatic adjustment (with a cd that it csn play and also with one it has problem with too), I checked the HF signal with scope (unfortunatelly I couldn’t do an eye pattern review, because of my scope) and the signal is strong enough compares sith the service manual.

What else can I do, to solve this problem? Can the spindle or sled motor couse a problem like this?

I hope someone can give me some advice! If my post is not in the right thread, please help me to find the right one!

Thank you for your help!

Regards,
Tamás

 

[TLS Guy]

Hello Everyone!

I’m not sure this is the right thread to post my question, but I’give a try.

I have an old Denon DCD-1450AR cd player. It has problem with some of my cd, it doesn’t read the end of them (from around the middle of the disc). In these case I can hear it is searching, the disc try to spin up, but it can’t find the track. Or sometimes in the middle of a song it starts to “jump”, and skips a sec or jump back a few sec.

The lens is cleaned, the pickup should be new (I bought it from Dönberg electronics), I replaced all of the capacitors in the player, I cleaned and lubricated the sled, I did a built in automatic adjustment (with a cd that it csn play and also with one it has problem with too), I checked the HF signal with scope (unfortunatelly I couldn’t do an eye pattern review, because of my scope) and the signal is strong enough compares sith the service manual.

What else can I do, to solve this problem? Can the spindle or sled motor couse a problem like this?

I hope someone can give me some advice! If my post is not in the right thread, please help me to find the right one!

Thank you for your help!

Regards,
Tamás

It sounds like a mechanical problem to me. I would bet there is bearing ware. Time to recycle and get a new player.

 

[Eppie]

Hello Everyone!

I’m not sure this is the right thread to post my question, but I’give a try.

I have an old Denon DCD-1450AR cd player. It has problem with some of my cd, it doesn’t read the end of them (from around the middle of the disc). In these case I can hear it is searching, the disc try to spin up, but it can’t find the track. Or sometimes in the middle of a song it starts to “jump”, and skips a sec or jump back a few sec.

The lens is cleaned, the pickup should be new (I bought it from Dönberg electronics), I replaced all of the capacitors in the player, I cleaned and lubricated the sled, I did a built in automatic adjustment (with a cd that it csn play and also with one it has problem with too), I checked the HF signal with scope (unfortunatelly I couldn’t do an eye pattern review, because of my scope) and the signal is strong enough compares sith the service manual.

What else can I do, to solve this problem? Can the spindle or sled motor couse a problem like this?

I hope someone can give me some advice! If my post is not in the right thread, please help me to find the right one!

Thank you for your help!

Regards,
Tamás

Sounds to me like you have already covered the most common issues with CD players. The one thing you have not mentioned is replacing the belt on the sled. Check for any plastic components that had been lubricated with grease as it can turn hard or sticky with age. Clean all of the old grease off and apply new synthetic grease. If you really get stuck with the repair, I follow the Spare Time Repair channel on Youtube. He is one of the most experience repair techs when it concerns CD players. You can watch his videos for repair tips or maybe try and contact him directly for repair advice.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=spare+time+repair

 

[Happy89]

Sounds to me like you have already covered the most common issues with CD players. The one thing you have not mentioned is replacing the belt on the sled. Check for any plastic components that had been lubricated with grease as it can turn hard or sticky with age. Clean all of the old grease off and apply new synthetic grease. If you really get stuck with the repair, I follow the Spare Time Repair channel on Youtube. He is one of the most experience repair techs when it concerns CD players. You can watch his videos for repair tips or maybe try and contact him directly for repair advice.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=spare+time+repair

Thank you for your advice! I will check the videos!

The sled motor moves the laser by gears.

 

[Eppie]

Thank you for your advice! I will check the videos!

The sled motor moves the laser by gears.

The sled my be gear driven but it is rarely direct drive and usually has a small belt driven by the motor. It sounds like a tracking issue though. If the player consistently loads the CD and displays the contents, then the loading mechanism is probably ok. If it can read the start of the discs but not the end, then the laser is loosing tracking precision as it moves towards the outside of the disc (they track from the inner edge to the outer.) Being able to do an eye pattern check would be a big plus because that is the only way to tell whether it is tracking properly. If you are heavily invested into this player, there are digital scopes available now at quite a reasonable cost (plenty of reviews of Youtube). I think asking Graham at Spare Time Repair for advice would be your best option.

 

[Happy89]

The sled my be gear driven but it is rarely direct drive and usually has a small belt driven by the motor. It sounds like a tracking issue though. If the player consistently loads the CD and displays the contents, then the loading mechanism is probably ok. If it can read the start of the discs but not the end, then the laser is loosing tracking precision as it moves towards the outside of the disc (they track from the inner edge to the outer.) Being able to do an eye pattern check would be a big plus because that is the only way to tell whether it is tracking properly. If you are heavily invested into this player, there are digital scopes available now at quite a reasonable cost (plenty of reviews of Youtube). I think asking Graham at Spare Time Repair for advice would be your best option.

The biggest question for me is that the problem with reading is depends on cd’s. There isn’t any problem with some, it can read properly them without any malfunctions even if it has 20+ tracks on it, and there are some (about 1/3 of my collection) where it is stuck somewhere in the middle of the cd.

I think I will connect with Graham!

 

[TLS Guy]

The biggest question for me is that the problem with reading is depends on cd’s. There isn’t any problem with some, it can read properly them without any malfunctions even if it has 20+ tracks on it, and there are some (about 1/3 of my collection) where it is stuck somewhere in the middle of the cd.

I think I will connect with Graham!

In that case is it years of manufacture? Can you you tell if it is older ones that play and newer ones don't.

There have been drastic changes in the way CDs are manufactured over the years. No CDs are made like they used to be, using glass mastering. They are now made basically like making a CD on a computer drive. Older players don't like those CDs and generally will not play them. Very likely it is variation in the manufacturing process that is your problem. Older CD players are not much use any longer.

 

[Happy89]

In that case is it years of manufacture? Can you you tell if it is older ones that play and newer ones don't.

There have been drastic changes in the way CDs are manufactured over the years. No CDs are made like they used to be, using glass mastering. They are now made basically like making a CD on a computer drive. Older players don't like those CDs and generally will not play them. Very likely it is variation in the manufacturing process that is your problem. Older CD players are not much use any longer.

Yes, It makes sense. I have problem typically with newer cd-s, but not with all of them.

 

[Eppie]

Yes, It makes sense. I have problem typically with newer cd-s, but not with all of them.

If you end up not having any luck with the repair, I would recommend a blue-ray player over an older CD player. Blue-ray players are made to a tighter tolerance so they can play pretty much any CD.