Get Issues With Your Vintage Portable CD players?

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kaosun

Member
Joined 2011
#1
I have researched most of vintage portable cd players made by Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Denon, Aiwa, Citizen, Toshiba and Kenwood.
I will replay any technical question about the following models:
Sony: D50 D50MKII D55T D100 D150 D250 D350 D303 D555 D99 D90 D3 D2 D2T D66 D34 D33 D121
Panasonic: SL-XP7 XP5 XP3 S505 S900 S700 S470 S490
Philips: CD10 AZ6808 AZ6819 AZ6826 AZ6804 AZ6805
Denon: DCP50 DCP100 DCP150
Aiwa: XP50 XP66 XP77 XP6 XP7
Citizen: CBM1000 CMD3000
Toshiba: XR-P20 P21 P22
Kenwood: DPC-80 92 R7 7 77 92

Welcome any technical question!
 
#2
I have a Sony D-150 (US equivalent is D-15) that I adjusted carefully according to the service manual. But it is still very sensitive to shock: it skips when I knock it lightly. Someone recommended me to replace the spindle motor, what I did, but no improvement. The eye signal and the laser current is within tolerance. Is the shock sensitivity normal at this early model? My other question is the lead-acid battery BP2-EX (4V, 600mAh), is there any alternative for replacement?
 
#3
oshifis said:
I have a Sony D-150 (US equivalent is D-15) that I adjusted carefully according to the service manual. But it is still very sensitive to shock: it skips when I knock it lightly. Someone recommended me to replace the spindle motor, what I did, but no improvement. The eye signal and the laser current is within tolerance. Is the shock sensitivity normal at this early model? My other question is the lead-acid battery BP2-EX (4V, 600mAh), is there any alternative for replacement?
Click to expand...

Vintage cd players like D15 can tolerate a certain shock from outside. But only a little shock it can prevent. I think maybe you hope too much for it if your adjustment is correct. Motor should be replaced only when music track skips. In most situation replacing motor is unnecessary.
There is a solution about your dead battery. It can be replaced by a Li-On battery, uses same battery cartridge with the original battery. Common capacity is 4.2V 1000MA. Considering to its special demension, maybe it's hard for you to find one. If more than 10 batteries are needed, I'll consider to prepare a batch for you guys. Accordingly, charger circuit should be modified and maybe your transformer will be asked to check whether it will qualify for chargering a Li-on battery.
 
#4
Sorry if I'm stating the obvious here, but Sony players are common enough at thrift stores and yard sales that the cheapest solution may be to swap the spindle/pickup assembly from another player. If the assemblies are the same shape, they probably interchange, so you can keep a rarer model (wired remote, digital out, backlit car model, whatever) going by sacrificing a more basic model.
 
#6
Are you still offering help with old CD players? I have a Denon DCP 150 I bought new about 30 years ago, but it's been sitting on the shelf for a while and now it seems to be having trouble getting started. If I keep the lid open and give the disc a little push, it will usually start and play fine, but if the lid is closed it just clicks and does not spin. I cleaned off the lens with a microfiber cloth but no difference. I can't seem to find any specific angle of rotation where there is a bad contact in the motor. I can only find one site that appears to offer a new spindle motor for $45 but I don't know if that's the problem. Could it be the motor is just binding or has dust on the contacts? Is there some way to get in there and oil a bearing? I took off the case and some larger parts but still couldn't see how to reach the inside of the motor, and I just put it all back together again for fear of damaging something.
By the way I also have a Rotel RCD 855 that's even older, when I turn it on the red power light flashes, and it flashes again when I turn it off. I tried bridging the power switch, and I get the same effect when I plug it in and unplug it. The only progress I've made, if it can be called that, is to damage the power switch so it doesn't always stay in the on position.
Thanks for any help with either of these treasured companions.
 
#7
The Sony sounds like the tracking gain is too low. I used to repair them in the normal course of servicing audio equipment. The other option is low laser power, so your eye pattern might be low in amplitude.

kaosun, did you ever service these units working on the bench, or did you just read about them?

ehegenberger, sounds like the motor needs lubrication (hopefully), or the brushes are done. The lid closed switch has oxidized contacts.

-Chris
 
#9
Is it likely that nearly all portable CD players which are >20 years of age are full of dried-out or leaky SMD (surface mount) electrolytic capacitors?

From way back in the 1990’s I recall every major brand of camcorder was stuffed full of SMD electrolytic capacitors which failed at an age of about 3 years.
At one time I had a trash bag with 5 pounds of faulty SMD electrolytics in it.
I was in the retail electronic service business then.
Camcorder repair was a big thing.
The PC boards in portable CD players were very similar to the PC boards in camcorders.
Camcorders & other small portable electronic devices were among the first to adopt SMD (surface mount) PC board construction techniques.

I do remember replacing SMD electrolytics in portable CD players way back then.

-EB
 
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