I have with me two units of Nakamichi CD4. Bought next to nothing because one of them doesn’t work but the case is nice. This unit is 230V, no voltage selector
The other unit works (as claimed by seller) but the case is all rusted to heck. This unit has a voltage selector.
So we know they’re from different markets.
Opening both of them I realised not just the transformer side is different; the main boards are also different.
While the layouts are the generally the same, the components are different. And the 230V unit has all the components soldered willy nilly and canted as if rushed.
The multi voltage unit board with nice components
The 230v unit board with not so nice components.
On the multi voltage unit we can see near the analog out section, there are rows of green Nichicon Muse capacitors. The 230v unit only has two of them.
230v unit also has a mixed bag of capacitors from different brands. The four power supply caps has 2 different pairs but all four are 3300uf 25v.
C122 near spindle motor is orange which sticks out, probably a better (?) one since if it fails the cd will only spin half a rotation and stops.
This fault actually happened to the multi voltage unit and thankfully someone here pointed out in an old thread that replacing C122 will help with the spindle motor issue.
Multi voltage unit now runs well and my friend will be picking it up soon after I’m done testing (playing, hehe) with it.
The 230v unit is dead for the most part. No display, buttons do not respond. But the cd motor and tray does jerk a little when turned on so there’s something going on there.
Voltages seem correct and all semis tested ok on diode mode.
Pulling hair a little but that’s how it goes.
Oh yes I’m using the Nakamichi CD Player 4 service manual since I can’t find one for the CD4. Internals look the same when compared to the service manual.
**minor edits for clarification.
The other unit works (as claimed by seller) but the case is all rusted to heck. This unit has a voltage selector.
So we know they’re from different markets.
Opening both of them I realised not just the transformer side is different; the main boards are also different.
While the layouts are the generally the same, the components are different. And the 230V unit has all the components soldered willy nilly and canted as if rushed.
The multi voltage unit board with nice components
The 230v unit board with not so nice components.
On the multi voltage unit we can see near the analog out section, there are rows of green Nichicon Muse capacitors. The 230v unit only has two of them.
230v unit also has a mixed bag of capacitors from different brands. The four power supply caps has 2 different pairs but all four are 3300uf 25v.
C122 near spindle motor is orange which sticks out, probably a better (?) one since if it fails the cd will only spin half a rotation and stops.
This fault actually happened to the multi voltage unit and thankfully someone here pointed out in an old thread that replacing C122 will help with the spindle motor issue.
Multi voltage unit now runs well and my friend will be picking it up soon after I’m done testing (playing, hehe) with it.
The 230v unit is dead for the most part. No display, buttons do not respond. But the cd motor and tray does jerk a little when turned on so there’s something going on there.
Voltages seem correct and all semis tested ok on diode mode.
Pulling hair a little but that’s how it goes.
Oh yes I’m using the Nakamichi CD Player 4 service manual since I can’t find one for the CD4. Internals look the same when compared to the service manual.
**minor edits for clarification.
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Finally both units works. The 230v unit was littered with cold joints especially on voltage regs. Some capacitors for the loading tray motor and spindle motor were replaced and it runs well.
Both still has the original lenses and they aren’t showing signs of failing yet.
The only thing I couldn’t save is the extremely corroded headphone output.
Either way I installed the bare headphone socket and volume knob to the front faceplate so it still looks stock.
All in all, I would recommend the Nakamichi CD4 if you can find them for cheap. Sounds great.