Hello, last week I did a couple of posts about my technics cd player showing no disc. Got a lot of useful replies but after trying few things realised it was no good trying to spend any more time trying to repair it.
So, saw two exact replacements on ebay. First said occasionally skips on first track but that sold. Second said it played fine but was sensitive to vibration. When I asked he said it would skip if it was knocked or the table it was on was knocked. I figured I wasn't going to knock it, so won it for 99p and £10 postage together with tape deck that I don't need.
However, on receipt of it I have found it has the same problem as the first one I saw, and quite often skips, but only on the first track, which I can live with for the price I paid.
Having experience of opening it up and accessing the components I wondered if anyone has any ideas? It seems strange that it can read the contents okay but skip only on the first track, quite often but not always.
Any comments greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Simon
So, saw two exact replacements on ebay. First said occasionally skips on first track but that sold. Second said it played fine but was sensitive to vibration. When I asked he said it would skip if it was knocked or the table it was on was knocked. I figured I wasn't going to knock it, so won it for 99p and £10 postage together with tape deck that I don't need.
However, on receipt of it I have found it has the same problem as the first one I saw, and quite often skips, but only on the first track, which I can live with for the price I paid.
Having experience of opening it up and accessing the components I wondered if anyone has any ideas? It seems strange that it can read the contents okay but skip only on the first track, quite often but not always.
Any comments greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Simon
Thanks for all your interesting replies. Hmm. The weird thing is some cds it does play the first track without skipping so surely if it was any of the above it wouldn't play any. Most it doesn't though. Today I noticed it slightly skipped on the second track of one cd.
I don't really want to have to go through the hassle like with my other player of unsoldering the motors to remove the circuit board then solder back again only to find it still doesn't work.
Maybe I should see if it gets worse for any more clues and then decide whether to attempt repair or just get a new one.
I don't really want to have to go through the hassle like with my other player of unsoldering the motors to remove the circuit board then solder back again only to find it still doesn't work.
Maybe I should see if it gets worse for any more clues and then decide whether to attempt repair or just get a new one.
I would tend to agree with percival , three separate units , same model , same age ( 20+ years ) all with the same issue .
The motors are simply getting past they're ' best before date '.
You have to consider that the model itself is part of a fairly cheap midi system and wouldn't have used high quality parts , to be honest 20 years is a pretty good lifespan , you wouldn't find much comparable nowadays that would last that long.
I do think if the suggestions above and in the other threads don't work it's time to invest in something a bit newer.
You said nothing you had heard to date sounded as good in the bass or treble , thats because Technics players of that era had a bit of boost applied at both extremes and over the years your ears have got accustomed to that sound .
If you plan on keeping the rest of your system theres no point in spending hundreds on a cd player as the system won't have enough resolution to highlight any benefits.
Looking around at a few of the ' budget ' players , getting few and far between now , one
model that may appeal is the new revised Teac 1260 mk ll , it even looks like it's from the same era and would be a good match in both sound and appearance.
Superfi have it reduced at the moment GBP 122 , worth a look ?
It you decide to buy one make sure it's the mk ll , much better transport than the original and a wolfson dac.
The motors are simply getting past they're ' best before date '.
You have to consider that the model itself is part of a fairly cheap midi system and wouldn't have used high quality parts , to be honest 20 years is a pretty good lifespan , you wouldn't find much comparable nowadays that would last that long.
I do think if the suggestions above and in the other threads don't work it's time to invest in something a bit newer.
You said nothing you had heard to date sounded as good in the bass or treble , thats because Technics players of that era had a bit of boost applied at both extremes and over the years your ears have got accustomed to that sound .
If you plan on keeping the rest of your system theres no point in spending hundreds on a cd player as the system won't have enough resolution to highlight any benefits.
Looking around at a few of the ' budget ' players , getting few and far between now , one
model that may appeal is the new revised Teac 1260 mk ll , it even looks like it's from the same era and would be a good match in both sound and appearance.
Superfi have it reduced at the moment GBP 122 , worth a look ?
It you decide to buy one make sure it's the mk ll , much better transport than the original and a wolfson dac.
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Would motor failure result in it showing "no disc" perhaps the cause of my original problem? Just wondered whether it's worth the effort of trying to fit my old motor into the new one if I can if the previous problem was laser failure and the motor is okay. I suppose I'll know if it's the motor if it gets worse, maybe track by track until it skips on all and fails completely.
I seem to recall it cost around £750 which was a lot twenty years ago. My sister had a cheaper normal size technics separates system and it sounds a lot better than hers. But on the other hand a friend's father had a top of the range technics normal sized separates system and that sounded much better than mine. So I know what a really good system should sound like.
A few years ago I went to an Indie and spent an hour or so listening to various types of set up at various prices and was quite disappointed at the sound of all of them, and I did the same at Richer sounds and again was very disappointed resulting in me keeping mine. I just got some stands for the speakers.
My speakers are the ones with the treble and mid at the front and the bass at the back. Not sure whether this was just a gimmick or whether normal front facing bass set up would in fact be better or just the same.
I seem to recall it cost around £750 which was a lot twenty years ago. My sister had a cheaper normal size technics separates system and it sounds a lot better than hers. But on the other hand a friend's father had a top of the range technics normal sized separates system and that sounded much better than mine. So I know what a really good system should sound like.
A few years ago I went to an Indie and spent an hour or so listening to various types of set up at various prices and was quite disappointed at the sound of all of them, and I did the same at Richer sounds and again was very disappointed resulting in me keeping mine. I just got some stands for the speakers.
My speakers are the ones with the treble and mid at the front and the bass at the back. Not sure whether this was just a gimmick or whether normal front facing bass set up would in fact be better or just the same.
Not all discs weigh the same and I am of the opinion that the 'heavy' ones are the ones that will make the problem show itself worse. The really heavy ones may make the player unable to get up enough speed to even read the TOC.
I have never done any tests to prove this but it seems a plausible explanation, to me anyway ;-)
P.
I have never done any tests to prove this but it seems a plausible explanation, to me anyway ;-)
P.
Some mechs will accept two discs stacked together.
If there is doubt over the spindle motor then quickly desoldering one connection (it must be isolated) and then applying a 9 volt battery to the motor (do it both ways) can in some instances clean up a grotty commutator.
Useful sometimes to see if it proves a point.
If there is doubt over the spindle motor then quickly desoldering one connection (it must be isolated) and then applying a 9 volt battery to the motor (do it both ways) can in some instances clean up a grotty commutator.
Useful sometimes to see if it proves a point.
So again... nothing definite.
I think as we mentioned in the other threads... you are really into territory that needs correct diagnosis using a scope to see what is going on with the recovered signal off disc.
It is still worth trying the battery.
Other tests (if the player allows) is to see if it plays better with it at an angle or even upside down. The lens suspension can alter/deteriorate over the years and that means the ballistics of it no longer match the servo design.
I think as we mentioned in the other threads... you are really into territory that needs correct diagnosis using a scope to see what is going on with the recovered signal off disc.
It is still worth trying the battery.
Other tests (if the player allows) is to see if it plays better with it at an angle or even upside down. The lens suspension can alter/deteriorate over the years and that means the ballistics of it no longer match the servo design.
Yes, I understand it's difficult to give an exact diagnosis without a more detailed examination of individual parts. I've just tried to give as much detail as I can. It's interesting that one theory is the motor is failing and thus finding it difficult to read the first track where it has to spin faster, yet when I put another cd on top when you'd expect it to struggle harder with the extra weight it works better! I've just tried one when it refuses to play the first track at all yet with one on top it works perfectly. If that's what it takes I'm happy with that, for now at least.
It could be that the laser is struggling to focus and can't read the toc hence displaying
'no disc' but the added weight is reducing the distance just enough for it to work.
I do think you are going to be constantly ' chasing your tail ' on these old units Simon .
It is either the age of the laser or motor most likely to be responsible for the issues and without replacements any ' fix ' is only going to be short lived.
'no disc' but the added weight is reducing the distance just enough for it to work.
I do think you are going to be constantly ' chasing your tail ' on these old units Simon .
It is either the age of the laser or motor most likely to be responsible for the issues and without replacements any ' fix ' is only going to be short lived.
Try tilting the CDP like 35 degrees or so, in any direction, not beign in the same position that has always runned helps the bearing to be a li'l bit steadier, if that helps replace the spindle motor, for technics CDP using RAE110, 113 and 150 the tray motors of computer cd drives has worked me fine
It was my original cd player that said no disc. The new player doesn't have that error, it just skips on the first track most of the time. I know it's not easy but I thought that may have been enough of a clue as to what's wrong together with the fact that it plays the first track fine with a second cd sitting on top.
I'll see how I get on, and if it gets worse or fails I can always fit the spindle motor from the old unit presuming that the no disc error was down to a failed laser unit and not the motor itself.
I'll see how I get on, and if it gets worse or fails I can always fit the spindle motor from the old unit presuming that the no disc error was down to a failed laser unit and not the motor itself.
Firdt of all.... English is not my first language, so hopefully you´ll get what I mean anyway 
.
Check your disc clamp. sometimes it has a little ball riding on a plastic plate. If by years of wear the ball has made a mark of the plate pressing on the ball, it can make the disc-spinning kind of resonate in an off frequency, thus vibrating with the disc rotation. Since the rotation lowers speed from start to finish, this will be worse in the beginning, then fade as you move to track 2-3-4 etc.
Check it out, it´s free
.Check your disc clamp. sometimes it has a little ball riding on a plastic plate. If by years of wear the ball has made a mark of the plate pressing on the ball, it can make the disc-spinning kind of resonate in an off frequency, thus vibrating with the disc rotation. Since the rotation lowers speed from start to finish, this will be worse in the beginning, then fade as you move to track 2-3-4 etc.
Check it out, it´s free
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