Troubleshooting CD Players

Hey All, Hope your day is going well!
Anyone have any idea what size belt is needed for a Moon Simaudio CD3.3 player and where I can get one? A simple, but perhaps not easy answer. Any help appreciated.
 
Dutch Classics list says it's a Technics SOAD70A laser assy. That's a linear motion unit, so easy to distinguish from the CDM4 swing arm.
I Googled the model number and the word "laser" and the Aliexpress listing came up. Guess I should have looked at the service manual. So there is one
SOAD70A on ebay for $240. I don't think the player is worth that.
 
Hey All, Hope your day is going well!
Anyone have any idea what size belt is needed for a Moon Simaudio CD3.3 player and where I can get one? A simple, but perhaps not easy answer. Any help appreciated.
On an off brand like that you probably can't even get a service manual. You will have to measure the belt and buy one that is 20% smaller.
 
On an off brand like that you probably can't even get a service manual. You will have to measure the belt and buy one that is 20% smaller.
Thanks for this sound advice. Any recommendations as to where a good place to purchase said belt would be.
 
Thanks for this sound advice. Any recommendations as to where a good place to purchase said belt would be.
www.vintage-electronics.net lifetime guarantee on all belts. They are not listed by size so what you have to do is measure yours and look at this PRB belt cross reference under the section that has the type of belt you need; Square (cross section) or flat, they are listed by size. Find the closest size and look for 10% - 20% smaller circumference.
 
I have looked everywhere for a place to start a new post but I can't find a widget that would allow me to do so... sorry
I see that you are also in the process of excavation ;)
 
Sorry to be so long in getting back to this discussion, but as they say, things happen. Anyway, I had time today to dig into it. I pulled the cover and the laser was not working. The laser and spindle were at an angle below the disc (see photo) and didn't move when the disc came into position after I hit play. The carousel just paused for a couple seconds and moved on. Obviously that assembly with the spindle and laser needs to rise up somehow on the left side to play the disc, but it wasn't happening. A problem with gears or a belt? So I watched a youtube video to see how to get to the belts, which wasn't obvious. I discovered the belt that turns the carousel was kind of loose. It was just tight enough to turn the carousel but it was too loose to move a gear assembly that kicks the platform containing the spindle and laser up into place. I had exactly 2 belts laying around and one actually fit. I put everything back together and it's working again.

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dr*audio, I have I have a question: What is the reason one player spins the cd with abnormal speed? I mean really fast, damn fast. And of course, the laser doesn't read anything. This is my Bose Acoustic Wave II 5Disc changer. Everything else(the mechanical part and display) works great.
Thanks for any help!
 
Hello group, Has anyone placed an Adcom GCD-600 (CD Changer) into Service Mode? If so, can you please walk me through the process. Of course, I tried following the service manual instructions first but had no luck.

Thanks,

R
 
Tascam CD-301 with power supply problems.

I'm looking information and advice on a Tascam CD-301. It's a Pro model from circa 1990, single disc, with both Balanced XLR and Unbalanced RCA outputs. I can't really find any significant info about it so far. It has an intermittent power supply - once in a while it all lights up and functions, the rest of the time it stays dark and non-functional. The transformer and power switch check out, but the actual regulated power supply circuits are located on the main PCB which will require a ton of disassembly and the disconnection of many cable connectors to gain access to. If I can't find a service manual then I will dope it out, taking tons of photos along the way for reference, and then once I have access I hope to find a bad component in - or bad connection to - the regulated supply circuits.

Any special advice on CD player power supplies? Anyone know of a Tascam CD-301 service manual, or at least a schematic? Should I start a new thread about this? Thanks to all! - Steve
 
Hi all. Was shown this tread by another member (THANK YOU!).
I'll be reading thru to see if my issue is known/solveable but thought I would post my issues just in case.

I have a Musical Concepts Pioneer PD-65 CD Player.
Disk will not be read and the platter will not spin.
Laser does not light up at all even in test mode function.

I figured out the "TEST" functions via the jumpers on the Main Board and ran the procedures:
PLAY- without a disk installed a motor spins. With a disk in there is silence, no motor spin. Drawer closed without CD, servo will spin.
OUTPUT - all I hear is a tiny 'click' from I assume the laser head assembly area, but I see no light of any kind coming from the laser lens (lights off, looking up underneath with the drawer open).
FAST FORWARD/REVERSE - the laser head assembly will move back and forth.

I disassembled/removed the carriage and took the laser assembly board off:
- the lens is still firmly attached and installed.
- cleaned with small foam swab and 99% isopropyl alcohol.

It 'looks like' all the rubber belts are there, and seem taunt enough (not floppy, crumbly, missing but they are mildly elastic).
Am I correct that I can deduce at this point that the "FOCUS SERVO" isn't working at all and is the issue?
Do I need to take to a vintage stereo repair shop?
Does anyone know is this a part that can still be found and replaced easily, or am I in the land of "no one makes this part anymore" and I have to scavenge from somewhere else?

I'll post a pics of the inside cause.....man it's just so pretty!!!!
 

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Since the laser frequency is right at the visible/non visible range, a better way to tell if the laser is turning on is to aim your cell phone camera at the laser while it is supposed to be lit. You will see a spot of light on your screen if it's working.

Doug
 
Hello again Dr Audio, this time a Technics SL PS840 unit, sometimes it takes a long time to read the TOC, other times it reads it instantly, or when you press play it remains trying to play but never does, or if it does, it is lost when you are ordered to read another track. I have cleaned everything mechanically, the drops of lubricant on the CD motor shaft, a complete recap on the servo plate but the problem persists. Now comes the curious thing, for example when the CD enters and it cannot read the toc, I press EJECT 2 times without opening and closing the tray and it reads it there, another thing, I give it PLAY and it cannot read, I press STOP and PLAY again and it works, if I don't intervene during playback, it reads the entire disk. As a final piece of information, these days, I had the opportunity to place the laser pick up in another unit of the same model that works correctly and the fault is the same, everything seems to indicate that the problem is the laser unit, but the fact confuses me very much. that I can listen to complete albums without the slightest inconvenience. Any opinion on this?
 
Hello, I’m hoping one of you fine chaps can help provide some guidance. I did read the opening troubleshooting checklist, and many other posts, but couldn’t see anything which quite matched the symptoms I’m seeing - although that may be lack of understanding on my part, in which case apologies for going over old ground…

I recently bought a SONY CDP-S37, which was described as faulty. When I first fired it up it wasn’t even managing to read the TOC; but after giving the laser a clean with a cotton bud that solved that problem.

The problem I have now is that although I can select any track it will mostly just sit there spinning with the track time at 0.00. On occasions only, if I advance it to track 5 (e.g.) it will then play; but that’s the exception rather than the rule.

What I normally have to do to get the thing playing is to scan back and forth within a track until it ‘grips’ and then it will play absolutely fine thereafter - both for the rest of the specific track and the rest of the album - without skipping or any other problems.

It’s a lovely compact little unit, and with a nice SQ (to my ears), so I’d like to get the thing working normally if that isn’t going to require remortgaging the house…

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, and apologies again if this is the umpteenth time somebody has asked this.
 
I have a McIntosh MCD 7008 CD changer. I can load and store CDs, so it appears the belts are working fine, cassette raises and lowers, CD's get stored, etc. Problem is when I load a CD it moves into position, the CD starts to spin, the laser mechanism (gears) start to move ever so slightly, then everything stops. If I manually move the laser "sled" by rotating the gears, it will move back into the "home" position when I hit play. It seems to be controlled by a direct drive motor and gears, therefore nothing to do with belts? I can't "see" the laser (not looking down at it directly). So, is my laser dead? Can I get and install a replacement? I found 2 that I ordered on eBay, one is a "Mcintosh MCD7008 Musical Fidelity E600 FCD CD Laser Lens Pick up" and the other is a Lasereinheit für einen MCINTOSH / MCD-7008 / MCD7008 / MCD 7008 / . Are these the correct parts? And, is the mechanism easy to replace? It appears to be held in place just by the gear (pointed to in the following photo). Is that correct? And, do I need some fancy equipment or incantation to get it aligned? Thanks all!
 
This may not be the most elegant solution, but you can change the electrolytic caps on the board which controls the servo. I did that with a recent repair; worked for me. Also, you may try recapping the power supply caps?
 
Just FYI to Dr. Audio's recommendation for Liberty Electronics, I've had good luck buying from Dalbani on eBay, in particular their Hitachi HOP-M3 lasers have been good - and readily available. If I need another, I may give Liberty a try...

Also, I have found this laser list to be another pretty good reference:


None of them are 'complete'...
 
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