Marantz CD52 (again!) tray disassembly help

[Nijinsky]

Hi all,

could someone, by any chance, provide me with instructions for replacing the loading tray gear mechanism on a Marantz CD52 MkII (teeth chewed up on the pinion, as usual).

I have the service manual (in pdf) but the pictures aren't that clear. It looks like I have to take the disc player off its mountings to release the gear, but I'd prefer not to do that if there's an easier way.

I'd appreciate some advice from anyone who's done this successfully.

Thanks,

Nijinsky

[amc184]

Heaps of Philips based CD players have this problem, but the only one of mine that I've had to replace the gear on was coincidentally a Marantz CD 52 mkII.

- Take the top cover off (four side screws, two at back)
- Remove the disc clamp by swinging it vertical, where it will lift out
- Slide the disc tray out a couple of inches
- Remove the disc tray faceplate by pushing on the top of the faceplate while pulling at the bottom lip of it
- Remove the front panel of the player by undoing the three screws along the top of it and unsnaping the clips on either end. It will hinge away from the base of the player
- Pull the disc tray all the way out
- Slip the belt of the tray gear, and lever apart the two plastic supports to remove the gear
- Put the new gear in, and reassemble the player in reverse order to that above

A couple of hints on reassembly:
- To put the faceplate back on, press in on off centre to the left by half an inch or so, then slip it to the right. It should latch.
- The leftward disc tray guides are spring loaded, and need to be depressed somewhat to put the disc tray back in.

Have you got a replacement gear yet? I've got one for you if you don't.

Good luck,
Anton

[Nijinsky]

Hi Anton,

Thank you so much for your clear instructions and generous offer of a replacement part.

I have already ordered a replacement on eBay from "tube-buyer" in Hong Kong.

Probably paid over the odds at US$20, but if it does the job then I've saved money by keeping my perfectly good machine working.

I will read your instructions carefully before installing it!

Thanks again,

Nijinsky

[Nijinsky]

Operation completed successfully.

Here's an update.

Everything as Anton suggested except:-

For the lid
2 screws on each side (Ph 1)
1 screw (only) at the back (T10)

For the front panel
3 screws along top (PH1 as I remember)
PLUS 1 machine screw, underside, bottom right (T10 as I remember)
Also, remove the (pull-off) headphone volume knob.

The front panel doesn't hinge forwards but instead, it comes away forwards. Mine was fiddly because the detach path was snagged (at the tray port) by the edge of what seemed to be an oversize circuit board attached to the back of the panel. The edge of the board broke away in the process. Maybe I was too rough, but equally, maybe the board should have been trimmed at assembly because there was a channel in it for (perhaps) that purpose. No harm done as it was just pc board edge with no copper track on it. Phew.

CD52 back together now and sounding sweet ...

[amc184]

Cool, I'm glad it worked. I didn't have my CD52 mk2 handy when I wrote those instructions, but my memory wasn't too bad!

Anton

[Uncle_Monty_SQ]

I did this repair on my own CD52 mk2 SE recently trying to use the service manual, and I'd echo the revisions Nijinski made to amc184's original procedure.
Removing the front panel was my biggest problem perhaps because the underside Torx-headed screw doesn't appear in the service manual instructions. There was no need to take off the headphone volume knob (although I did it too, in desperation). On mine the 3 screws along the top of my panel were Torx-headed rather than cross and I managed to turn them by jamming a regular flat-blade screwdriver into the head. The panel seemed to be mostly retained by some large plastic clips along the bottom in preference to the minor ones on the side. I also heard a worrying crack when I broke into the perforated section of PCB during the repair and I suspect the original assembly wasn't done in this sequence. A small amount of filing was required on the axle pin of my replacement gear wheel to mount it satisfactorily into the smaller hole of the two supports, but no real problems.
Anyway, little else seems to go wrong with these players, so (touch wood) I can look forward to many more years listening to the old lady duetting with her Pioneer A400 husband and of course watching the tray glide smoothly in and out.

[amc184]

In fairness, I did this while I didn't have my own CD52 Mk2 handy, so they were all from memory.

There seems to be a systematic fault with the drive gears the CD52 uses. I've never seen any other players with that style of CDM-4 loader with broken drive gears, yet I've never seen a CD52 where the drive gear was intact. Other players seem to use a translucent white nylon drive gear, but these Marantzes use an opaque brown one that seems to be much more brittle.

Also, do yourself a favour, splash out and get a Torx T10 screwdriver. I hated them too when I first came across them (mainly because I didn't have a driver). All Philips players, and many Philips-based players, use them, and they actually work really well. They drive better than any other pattern of screw head, and they cant be stripped.

[Nozzer]

Thanks for giving me confidence to try this repair and save me a few bob. Took less than 30 mins.
The drive wheel was extremely worn. Also very brittle - edges breaking off as I removed it. No problem with circuit board etc.
I took the advice from elsewhere and didn't bother with the £15 for a new drive gear - instead I simply attached some black insulating tape to the underside of the tray to act as a handle - works a treat.
p.s. I took out far more screws than I needed to and even managed to have one left over when I put it all back together again - oops!

[UV101]

Originally Posted by Nozzer

Thanks for giving me confidence to try this repair and save me a few bob. Took less than 30 mins.
The drive wheel was extremely worn. Also very brittle - edges breaking off as I removed it. No problem with circuit board etc.
I took the advice from elsewhere and didn't bother with the £15 for a new drive gear - instead I simply attached some black insulating tape to the underside of the tray to act as a handle - works a treat.
p.s. I took out far more screws than I needed to and even managed to have one left over when I put it all back together again - oops!

How did this "fix" the problem??? I can't believe you joined this forum to explain proudly how you bodged the player with tape and failed to put all the screws back!

My advise to anyone with the gear issue is to read up and replace the gear with a chinese plastic CDM4 gear on ebay (check international sales if you can't find one). Its relatively straight forward to replace and you'll have a decent player working exactly as it should after about 30 mins messing!!

[Nozzer]

@UV101 - It fixed it in that I can now operate the CD player without suffering the horrendous racket that comes with a worn gear that fails to operate the tray. I simply pull the tray open manually and push it shut. I may treat myself to the CDM4 gear sometime, but meantime I've got a CD player that meets my needs. Sorry if this offends the sensibilities of the forum. I only posted initially to offer my thanks.