Cd player beginning to skip.... :(

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I really need some help here. I have a really nice sony CDP-CE305
cd player and it has excellent sound considering that it's just a consumer unit. When I first obtained the player (used), it worked very very well, it would even read badly scratched cd's with ease and you'd barely hear a slight ticking sound when the scratch went by.

After about a year, the cd player is now beginning to skip on almost every cd I put in there unless they are perfectly clean and very well recorded.

Can anybody help me with some procedures to get this thing in tune again? I think perhaps that the optics under the lens need cleaning, but if that's not the case, maybe it needs adjustment.

Any help is greatly appreciated... Thanks...
 
Hi,

Solid state lasers in CD players wear out. After some years the light output will drop and the EFM level (the analog signal read from the CD) and tracking signals can become too low. That causes often the skipping. On the Sony’s there is a little potentiometer on the laser head to adjust the laser level. But unless you are familiar and experienced, stay away from it. One tenth of a mm too far with this pot and you laser goes to walhalla. Anyway you need a scope to watch the EFM level. But it can be done. My old Sony served me 4 years further after such an adjustment.
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2002
Pjotr,

There's a dutch saying (translation) : exceptions confirm the rule.
Most lasers that are "turned up" don't last long. If the factory adjusted current was in fact maladjusted ( too low current ) you are lucky and turning it up doesn't result in a "burn out" of the laser.

I like this one:
One tenth of a mm too far with this pot and you laser goes to walhalla
:joker:
 
I don;t think "over tuning" will wreck the laser, I did it to my portable player to see if I could get it to read re-writable disks.. ALMOST!!!! ohh well.. it still works.. If I turned it too far, it would get distorted.. I have done the same to a friends Cdplayer that was getting weak.. not sure if its till going... but if it doesn't work properly in the first place, and a repair man is going to charge you like $1000000000000 just to look at it, why not just *TRY* to adjust it yourself???
 
" 14.8) Audio whine (not from speakers) and/or muddy sound with Sony CD players


Generally, the only symptom is a CD players that sounds unhappy - there are
no audio or tracking problems. However, in severe cases, there may also be
audio degradation described as "muddy sound".

(No doubt, a non-Sony approved weight would work equally well for the solution
below.)

(From: Lance Edmonds (lanceedmonds@xtra.co.nz)).

The whine problem usually occurs with KSS240A and KSS213A optical pickups, and
is caused by a mechanical resonance. There are at least 2 service bulletins
describing the fault and the cure.

Sony sells a special weight to fit to the pickup, and also a felt pad to add
to the bottom of the top clamp assembly. Both these items cure this problem.
Some machines may only require the weight.

In rare circumstances the resonance can interfere with the tracking/focus
servos enough to cause skipping. Usually the problem is not easily repeated,
however certain light weight disc's may trigger the problem repeatably.

Note that the resonance usually only occurs on the first few tracks if at all,
and some disc's will play with the problem never showing up. Seems to be a
disc weight/thickness/density problem.

Contact your official Sony service office for the part numbers etc."
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2002
you're not serious are you ?

:Pinoc:

Before I am being accused of threadjacking:

Duo, does the info Skinnyboy supplied apply to the laser of your Sony player ?
If not, what about buying a new laser ? They are not that expensive nowadays. Replacing them is not very hard to do.
 
BTW:

I got from a friend an Yamaha CDX-810 with a worn out "press plate" or what you call it. A mechanism which presses the CD towards the platter. The upper part has a single ball point bearing. When the press plate has got a pit from the steal ball, the laser starts to dance "jenka". If you make the press plate press harder, it won't help.

Have you checked the mechanism for holding the CD tight?
 
I have checked that the cd is held in firmly, it's actually quite solid for a magnetic holder.

I do see what you mean about current adjustments, I had a SS laser pointer that began do die after a while, it just got weaker and weaker.

First I'll attempt to clean out the whole optics of the thing, I think I got some bad dust in there cause I was stupid and sanded some wood near my listening room and made a big cloud of dust.

I found that cleaning the outer surface of the lens helped quite a bit, but I'll clean the rest before I make any adjustments.

I have a scope, a few for that matter. I'm quite electronically capable so if you guys know how to use the scope to make adjustments can you tell me? I'd like to make sure its calibration is good anyhow...


Thanks
 
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