[catscratch]

My newly-aquired D311 has decided to call it quits. It worked beautifully for two days and then last night it has kicked the metaphorical bucket. I have no clue what's wrong. It will not spin disks most of the time, and when it does, it will play for about 10 seconds, then I hear static, then it starts jerking around (What?), after which point it dies. And back to square 1. Before it died, I heard occasional static, then the amounts of static increased, and then it stopped playing. This happened after I changed the batteries in the battery pack, though I doubt that could have possibly had anything to do with it. At times, I get a "no disk" error message even though there's a disk in it, though most of the time it simply won't play.

Are there any places that will do repair jobs on old PCDP's like this? Is it worth it to bother Sony regarding this? I really like the player, and I don't want another one unless it's the same model - and good luck trying to find one. Besides, I only just got it, and I don't want to have wasted the money.

Do I have any options or am I SOL? I'm willing to spend some money to get it back on its legs.

 

[warubozu]

First you could try and check the DIY discman repair thread to see if there has been a similar problem as yours that has been posted. I'm not sure what the exact cause of your problems are. But have you tried cleaning the laser lens. Sometimes a dirty laser lens will cause the player not to read the cd or play the cd with some static.

As far as finding a place to repair your D-311 should you decide to do so, I would try and take it back to your local Sony repair center or to a electronic repair shop that has experience and are willing to do repairs on PCDPs. Unfortunately most electronic repair shops don't do repairs to PCDPs in which case you need to take your D-311 back to Sony. Be advised that it might cost you some money to have your D-311 repaired depending on what needs replacing. In some cases Sony might not be able to repair your D-311 because the part that they need is no longer in stock. I would take the D-311 back to Sony and have them look at it and give you an estimate on how much it will cost you to have it fixed and if they can do it. If the cost is more than $230 to have your D-311 fixed, I would not bother to have the repairs done because chances are you can probably find another D-311 for less than $230 on Ebay or in the FS forum.

 

[Filburt]

Ah, I'm familiar with this. Too bad I don't live near you, as I could then just work on it myself.

I'd try opening it up and adjusting the potentiometers on it. There's a thread in the portable forum about it made by LamerDeluxe on what to do. On my PCDP, I ended up having to adjust every one of the pots to get things working just right. The weird spinning issues + loss of tracking could be influenced by the focus bias/focus gain, tracking gain, and phase lock although I'm not positive since I haven't had to solve this problem on a Sony.

It's hard to diagnose it when it's not in front of me. I've fixed many PCDPs now so I'm pretty decent at it these days

 

[catscratch]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Filburt, I'll look up that thread but I really have no idea what I'm doing, and I would probably do more damage poking around inside things I can't possibly understand

If I can't find any way to diagnose the problem and address it, off to Sony it goes. Let's just hope that they can do something about it if I can't.

Two days and I'm in love with the player. Now, it's cheating on me. Why can't my relationships last?!?

 

[Filburt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch Thanks for the suggestions guys. Filburt, I'll look up that thread but I really have no idea what I'm doing, and I would probably do more damage poking around inside things I can't possibly understand If I can't find any way to diagnose the problem and address it, off to Sony it goes. Let's just hope that they can do something about it if I can't. Two days and I'm in love with the player. Now, it's cheating on me. Why can't my relationships last?!?

Well, repair by Sony may be extremely costly, assuming they'll actually take it. It may be best to send it to a knowledgeable head-fier for repair if cost is a concern. I don't know for sure, though.

 

[picklgreen]

I had the same problem with my D-311. I sent it to SONY and they repaired it. It cost a lot. A LOT! like $300. They replaced the laser assembly.

Dont have $300? Sell it to me. I will buy it from you and get it fixed.

 

[rab10]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Filburt I'd try opening it up and adjusting the potentiometers on it. There's a thread in the portable forum about it made by LamerDeluxe on what to do.

The D-311 is a different animal. I opened up my faulty D-311 and I couldn't find any potentiometers on it.

I am sure the potentiometers fix was for an earlier sony discman and not the D-311.

Catscratch, go to the STICKIED: "The DIY Discman Repair Thread" and perform a "search this thread" on D-311 or D311 and you will find other posts for this player.

The tricky part is trying to find a SONY CERTIFIED REPAIR CENTER that know somewhat about the players, the local electrical fix it shop I don't think will be able to fix my D-311. Or maybe find another D-311 and transplant working parts and have someone do it for you.