Parts in Mumbai (India)

Thanks!

Thanks Ashok! Tried to grease the cd player laser
mechanism in a cheap way knowing that I will have to
replace the whole mechanism sooner or later. In fact,
getting the part from Marantz service centre in Mumbai
today. Otherwise, I had seen better (and expensive)
branded grease in elements14. But did not waste money...

Regards
Roushon.
 
Silicon lubricating oil was available in a small plastic bottle several years ago. Must still be sold in some smaller shops. It's transparent and possibly useful on a CD mechanism and moving parts. Gears etc. seem to use a white coloured grease or molybdenum based dark grey grease.

Replacement CD Laser assemblies for Marantz and Philips machines are still available. The VAM 12.02 series I think. About Rs500/-. However a friend bought one recently and it doesn't work. The laser doesn't come on. But it could be a problem with the main board in the player as the older mechanism appeared to have the same problem.
I replaced the laser assembly in my CD-67SE ( about 3 years ago ) and it worked fine.
 
This evening I received the Marantz laser mechanism. Before I replace the
older I played the player and the problem was there (two seconds pauses).
Then I put the new laser mechanism (I did remove the protective solder
blob), but it says `No disc'. Put back the older one and now `no disc'
although it was playing before I removed it. discussing the proble in another
thread for some help before I run to the service center.

Thanks and regards
Roushon.
 
Replacement CD Laser assemblies for Marantz and Philips machines are still available. The VAM 12.02 series I think. About Rs500/-. However a friend bought one recently and it doesn't work. The laser doesn't come on.

The Rs.500/- laser assemblies are from Philips China, but that's generally OK. As Roushon noted, you have to remove the protective solder blob or the laser diode won't work. In my experience, there are more problems with the ribbon cable contacts than with the laser assembly on most Philips/Marantz players - they often need a small mylar shim to make reliable contact.
 
Caution!

This is to caution you regarding the Marantz Service
center in Mumbai, MZ Audio distribution, Bandra. The
laser assembly they sold me is horribly bad. One motor is
dead and the laser circuitry is also wrong. Most likely
some used product was sold to me. Now they want me to
take the cd player to them so that they can check
themselves. I am afraid to do that suspecting they will
play some dirty trick with the existing good parts in my
player. Just wasted a non-trivial amount of money... I feel
like kicking myself to take this decision to try NOT TO
IMPORT the part directly from Marantz USA.

Regards
Roushon.
 
.... I am afraid to do that suspecting they will
play some dirty trick with the existing good parts in my
player. Just wasted a non-trivial amount of money... I feel
like kicking myself to take this decision to try NOT TO
IMPORT the part directly from Marantz USA...

Too bad:mad:
Even if you plan to give it to any 3rd party service centre in future, sign all critical parts / components with perm. marker as a precaution.
 
MZ Audio Distributor of Marantz and other products is a CHEAT!

Friends! This is to put on record that MZ Audio Distribution of Marantz and other products in India is a CHEAT! The name of the technician who cheated me in cool mind is Mr. Akbar Shaikh. Sold me a highly used laser assembly taking the price of a new one....

Roushon.
 
Too bad:mad:
Even if you plan to give it to any 3rd party service centre in future, sign all critical parts / components with perm. marker as a precaution.

Thanks for your concern. I do service my home electronics gadgets myself always and sometimes things zero down to the level of a single part when there is no choice but to replace. This is one such situation, I need a new laser head.

And such a well-established distributor MZ Audio of a premium product like Marantz has zero self-respect and did not think twice to send the overly used laser head and
said it is new.


One thing I have noticed in India. It does not matter how premium and how good a product or a service is, the moment it enters India it becomes `ordinary'. This is my country and they are my citizen brothers and still I had to write this, it pains a lot.

Regards
Roushon.
 
I hope you are not over reacting due to how the 'repair market' has been in the past. Some repair technicians are very good though they charge a lot compared to what they did several years ago. Sometimes they fix it without parts change and claim for parts that they 'did not change' ! But they do fix it. Removing chips or parts is not easy and they will not benefit from it ! Unless of course the machine is declared dead and useless.

I think this is nothing new in the global scenario. You have the honest ones and the dishonest ones. Bottom line is if they fixed the problem or not !

The VAM 12.02 mechanism is used in several CD players. The spare mechanism ( laser assembly ) is available in most local electronics spares market. They used to cost Rs 325/- a few years ago and now it costs Rs 500/- . They have always been made in China , even units from several years ago!

You will find this unit being referred to in several old threads with some users claiming that the Chinese made ones are flaky or do not work. I have bought at least six units over the last several years for friends and all were Chinese made and all of them worked. We bought one a few weeks ago and it works partially. But I think the machine has an inherent problem on the main board as the laser doesn't come on and that was the reason why we changed it !

You cannot buy the laser module or just a small part . It comes as a full assembly that goes into your CD mechanism. You can find the laser assembly WITH the mechanism listed on ebay.
vam 12.02 cd laser mechanism | eBay

Do note that Singapore forum members did complain about mechanism's they bought there . Some worked and some did not. So this isn't an Indian problem. It was much more expensive in Singapore. Replacement is tricky but easy.

1. You need to disconnect one plugin multi-pin terminal and two plug in connectors on the main board. Then remove the three mounting screws to remove the full CD mechanism from the machine. The front edge of the mechanism also has to be removed. It is clipped in and you need to pull it off from the bottom edge. Look at it carefully and you will see how.
2. You need to desolder the two motor leads ( NOTE which lead goes to which terminal...write it down !)
3. You need to disconnect a brown flat cable connector on the mechanism.
3. You need to remove the laser assembly from the flexible rubber ( plastic?) attachments (x4). If you are careless you can cut them and spares are not available !
4. Replace with the new mechanism.
5. Connect the flexible cable connector.
6. Resolder the motor leads.
7. Make sure the laser assembly is properly attached . All four rubbery mountings should be attached properly.
8. Put back the full assembly into the machine. Reconnect the flat connector and the two other main board connectors.
 
Hi Ashok,
I am assuming you directed your posting for me. If not, then please ignore this. In the present case of mine, the guy sent me the laser mechanism saying it is brand new. If you look at the mechanism your reaction will be the same as mine. This is not an issue of repairing, rather dishonesty, because he did not repair anything, just sold the part to me. In brief, I write what I found in the part:

1. Dry solders. 2. The connector connection tracks cut at several places, which can happen only if it is used for many years. 3. The place around the laser head and circuitry is full of dust and grease, again a sign of long time use.

He sold me exactly the following Sanyo part, but used one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SF-P101N-16...Sanyo-Laser-Lens-SFP101N-16-PIN-/400416627168

Regards
Roushon.
 
Hi Roushon,
Yes I was partly referring to your problem. However it hadn't occurred to me that you were talking about the 'unused' part that was sent to you. As you have described now ,it certainly looks like you have been conned.
New Vam mechanism's come packed in bubble pack in a small white cardboard box. The market here gets them from Mumbai I think. I've never seen a used mechanism in the market !

You said you had a Marantz CD-63. This Sanyo part you have shown is not the replacement part you need ! Buy a VAM 12.02 from Lamington road. Someone will have it. I've attached a picture of it.
 

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OK. I goofed that. I guess that I see so many references to the CD-63/67 that I did not notice your machine was different.
Maybe you should just buy it from Ebay unless you can find a new one somewhere on Lamington road. Better to try and get it across the shelf so that you can check it visually before buying it.
 
Every time I bought something, or anything for that matter, from food processor to car, quality was like 'made on footpath'

Gajanan Phadte

Absolutely. Agree 100%. I waste lots of time just to fix (and make it safe) newly
purchased things. Over that, the customer services of companies (some are famous and
established e.g., IFB) are nightmare, they serve your product in such a way that you need
to call them back soon and finally they will ask you to get an AMC. I stopped taking
AMC years back for any of the machine we use. Just a waste of money.

Do not want to change the policy of this thread, but I must say this here, so that people
can be careful.

Recently, our IFB Microwave oven went wrong and I called the IFB service center. The
technician checked and told that the main PCB board (Rs 3500/-) has gone bad and need
replacement. But it was an old model so need some time to procure the board. After
about 10 days I was frustrated calling them and opened the machine myself. After
carefully examining, did not find any problem with the PCB, but the main problem was
with the door lock. I solved the problem with a piece of plastic and Rs 5/- FeviQuick. The
machine is back to its original self.

Sorry for the long story. This is my India.

Regards
Roushon.
 
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Hey guys don't crib too much. Many repair guys overseas are also like this. As usual there are the good guys and the not so good guys. It's a human trend. You should try to locate the good guys . Ask around or check the forums .
You will find reliable people.
In our city independent service guys appear to be better than company service centers. They usually depend on word of mouth for advertising. So if you hear of one note it down in your diary. Never know when you will need him.The problem could be if you need a part that only the company can provide!

I once had to fix my Thomson TV ( no picture). I took it to the Thomson service center. They did fix it. They told me they had to replace the main chip and charged me a ridiculous amount. Much later I opened up the set and found that there was only one large chip inside ( and some much smaller ones)and it wasn't replaced. In fact it couldn't have been removed without specialised equipment which I know for sure they did not have. I found some resistors that were replaced ! The solder work was so poor ! There's nothing one can do about such situations.
 
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