Hello everyone,
I've received the Audio Alchemy DDS transport and controller from ebay seller. Unfortunately "semi" dead on arrival. It powers up but does not function.
"0" zero on the display, the CD motor doesn't spin. When i press "play" button - play and dashes appears for few seconds on the display and zero again.
I've checked connections, checked the motor (it works) . Smiled when noticed the same transistor very hot. Unfortunately have no schematics. Where to start fixing the problem? Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.
I've received the Audio Alchemy DDS transport and controller from ebay seller. Unfortunately "semi" dead on arrival. It powers up but does not function.
"0" zero on the display, the CD motor doesn't spin. When i press "play" button - play and dashes appears for few seconds on the display and zero again.
I've checked connections, checked the motor (it works) . Smiled when noticed the same transistor very hot. Unfortunately have no schematics. Where to start fixing the problem? Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.
Hi shizaudio, Did you ever get this problem sorted? I have a DDS Pro Transport which is doing the same thing so I'd love to know if you got yours working again.
The DDS-Pro is a WHOLE different unit than the DDS. Yours is a Pioneer PD-S703, with a very good clock/power regulator board added, plus the external main supply box. I think I have written about this elsewhere on this forum, but to describe basically, EVERY DDS-Pro that I have yet seen, which is a lot of them, has about half a dozen caps on the clock/reg board in a dangerous state, that may or may not yet be causing the problem. These are the pre-regulator caps for the various +/-12V regs that are fed about +/-23VDC from the external supply, but these caps are only rated at 16V. The only reason that they have not all exploded yet is that they are nice Nichicons. Any other brand, and they would have exploded within original warranty period, rather than an astonishing 20 years in. Even if your caps are not yet the problem, THEY MUST be replaced with 25V-rated Nichicons(please stay with that brand) of same or higher capacity. If left unchanged, I have seen the supply board actually catch fire as a result of these caps finally shorting. Your current fault may actually be just needing to shoot a quick spritz of (specifically) silicone-based spray lub into the top(as it sits) little slot openings in the platter motor to dislodge carbon buildup, or could be a fairly rare case of a bad laser, as the PEA1179 laser does have a 5-10% failure rate at this age. But it's vital to get those caps changed before even thinking about what else needs repair.
Hi Stephen. I would need to get help from a tech savvy friend but I will look into your suggestions. Any idea of parts cost? Thanks for your advice.
As far as cap cost, under 10usd. If it happens also to have a failed laser, that would pretty much mean finding a good working PD-S703/503 to scavenge.
Again thanks. I posted a new thread with pics of the laser popping out but it may still be in the lap of the moderators before going live. Is the lens something which can be re seated? I pushed it in with a cotton stem but it plops out on one side.
Usually lens fallout only happens with the earlier Pioneer lasers, PEA1030 + previous. But, yes, it's just as easy with the PEA1179 to remount the lens. I'm sure I've written about this on other Pioneer threads, but it's basically just a matter of applying a tiny amount of silicone around the outside edge of the part of the lens rim that sets down into the actuator ring, then make sure the lens is fully set into the ring, and letting it set for at least an hour before flipping the mech back into the unit.
Hi, Andystam, Yes I've fixed my DDS, and as stephensank said your DDS Pro is totally different transport, and I would say a bit better.
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