How to adjust your PCDPs tracking and focus

[vwap]

... and yet another PCDP is saved as a result of mekanoplastik, LamerD, and puppyslug!


I'm still working on my D-777..

 

[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

Quote:

Originally posted by 00940 indeed, the focus improved the things a lot. Only the big scratches are problematic now.

Cool! That's great to hear! I guess nothing can really be done about the large scratches.

I have a D-100 that won't recognize any discs, I adjusted the pots one by one, but none of them made a difference.

I thought it might be the ball-bearing of the motor causing too much vibration, tried to open it, which instead removed the motor from the assembly. I then realised it wasn't attached directly to the spindle. Now the whole spindle isn't rotating anymore

I guess it was belt-driven and I would have to take apart the whole laser assembly to fix that. Doh!

 

[vwap]

Quote:

Originally posted by LamerDeluxe (tm) I then realised it wasn't attached directly to the spindle. Now the whole spindle isn't rotating anymore I guess it was belt-driven and I would have to take apart the whole laser assembly to fix that. Doh!

Heh.. I don't know if mine was belt-driven or what not.. but on my Optimus CD-3400.. I managed to go from spinning motor to non-spinning motor, and I can't figure out why..

... so if you ever find a cure for that... lemme know.

I'll take a chance after finals to click through that CD repair FAQ..

 

[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

Quote:

Originally posted by vwap Heh.. I don't know if mine was belt-driven or what not.. but on my Optimus CD-3400.. I managed to go from spinning motor to non-spinning motor, and I can't figure out why.. ... so if you ever find a cure for that... lemme know. I'll take a chance after finals to click through that CD repair FAQ..

Are the wires to the motor of that one still okay? (no internal wire breakage). You could test the motor itself by applying a voltage to it, start with a low voltage.

 

[vwap]

Quote:

Originally posted by LamerDeluxe (tm) Are the wires to the motor of that one still okay? (no internal wire breakage). You could test the motor itself by applying a voltage to it, start with a low voltage.

Well, they should be.. I've swapped two motors, and neither work.. but I'll attempt to apply some voltage to it...

Any ideas on the easiest way to apply voltage? Can I jus stick a battery with paperclips sticking out of it onto it?

[I don't have anything that can supply voltage..

]

ANyhow.. thanks for the ongoing stream of suggestions!

 

[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

Quote:

Originally posted by vwap Well, they should be.. I've swapped two motors, and neither work.. but I'll attempt to apply some voltage to it... Any ideas on the easiest way to apply voltage? Can I jus stick a battery with paperclips sticking out of it onto it? [I don't have anything that can supply voltage.. ] ANyhow.. thanks for the ongoing stream of suggestions!

Well, if you swapped motors, there's no need to apply a voltage to it, the motor is probably okay, either that or both are broken.

If you have a multimeter you could measure the resistance between the start and the end of each wire, it should be about zero. You also might measure the voltage going to the motor when the player is trying to play.

It could be a power problem, one of the components on the PCB could be failing so no power gets to the motor or circuits that are supposed to be activating the motor. If you could bypass the electolytic caps near the powersupply connector (you know, those large cylindrical things) by touching their contacts with the feet of a working capacitor (mind the polarity), you could find out if any of those caps are bad. (Do this while the player is supposed to be playing a disc).

 

[vwap]

Quote:

Originally posted by LamerDeluxe (tm) I hope this information will help other people out in saving their PCDPs. It already helped VWap save his D-35 and hopefully his D-777 as well.

I've rescued another D-35 from the dumps!... while the D-777 is still deep in it's grave..

But.. another D-35 works.

 

[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

Quote:

Originally posted by vwap I've rescued another D-35 from the dumps!... while the D-777 is still deep in it's grave.. But.. another D-35 works.

Great to hear that, well done, congrats!

 

[Duncan]

okay... I'm going to bite here...

two questions for the PCDP rescuers amongst us...

Rubber feet for the laser assembly of the D777, apart from buying a junked player, and doing a transplant... anyone know of any supplements?

and secondly, I'm hopefully receiving a D555 on Tuesday... its reported to play perfectly through the line out, but is misbalanced on the headphone out... any idea what controls the balance on PCDPs?

Thanks

 

[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan okay... I'm going to bite here... two questions for the PCDP rescuers amongst us... Rubber feet for the laser assembly of the D777, apart from buying a junked player, and doing a transplant... anyone know of any supplements? and secondly, I'm hopefully receiving a D555 on Tuesday... its reported to play perfectly through the line out, but is misbalanced on the headphone out... any idea what controls the balance on PCDPs? Thanks

Don't know about the rubber feet.

Balance is either a dirty volume dial or bad headphone-out caps. I even had blown caps in my D-555 and probably a bad cap in another one.

 

[Duncan]

LamerDeluxe...

Did you ever take the D555 apart? - Did you / Do you know the cap you'd need to replace, and its rating?

Seeing that the D555 is supposed to be at the very pinnacle of portable (erm... kinda

) players... i'd love to get this one to be fully working when it arrives...

One thing i'll do is clean the contacts inside the jack with something alcohol based... and maybe try to pry them out with a toothpick or something, incase there is a poor connection...

Here's hoping

 

[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan LamerDeluxe... Did you ever take the D555 apart? - Did you / Do you know the cap you'd need to replace, and its rating? Seeing that the D555 is supposed to be at the very pinnacle of portable (erm... kinda ) players... i'd love to get this one to be fully working when it arrives... One thing i'll do is clean the contacts inside the jack with something alcohol based... and maybe try to pry them out with a toothpick or something, incase there is a poor connection... Here's hoping

Improving the connectors is indeed a good idea.

One of the SMD caps in my D-555 was burned to a crisp, so it was easy to locate. The hp-caps in the D-555 are SMD.
I just bridged the gap with a few regular electrolytes and ended up with a 100uF one which sounded the best IMO. There was enough room left in the casing to neatly store it.

Puppyslug told me a trick, which is to bypass all caps with a working one (mind the polarity, just touch the bridged components feet with the feet of that cap). Then listen to the headphones to see if anything improves.
Replaced two bad HP caps in my JVC pcdp that way.

Haven't fixed the other D-555 yet; I'm not sure which SMD components are caps and which are other components.

Too bad I can't find any SMD replacement caps.

 

[Duncan]

vwap...

Are you aware there is a D777 of Ebay at the moment - even if it is DOA, you could get the readings for 502, 503, 504 from the dead PCDP, and swap the assemblies, and mirror the readings?

 

[vwap]

Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan vwap... Are you aware there is a D777 of Ebay at the moment - even if it is DOA, you could get the readings for 502, 503, 504 from the dead PCDP, and swap the assemblies, and mirror the readings?

SHhh!!

 

[Omari149]

I have a D-465 that won't play CD-R's but it'll play the originals, can you all tell me which pot to adjust?