OK, my confidence was high as I installed a new Sanyo pickup in my Cambridge 340, it plays well, so I thought that.....
installing a new pickup in my old Adcom would do the trick! Not exactly.
Thought I'd ask before I throw in the towel on this unit.
New pickup reads the disc, e.g. tells me there are 12 songs on CD, I can manually select song 1 or 3 or 11; however, it doesn't play. The disc spins.
Anything I can do here, I don't have a scope.
Any chance new pickup is duff out of the box?
Thanks for any info.
Mike
installing a new pickup in my old Adcom would do the trick! Not exactly.
Thought I'd ask before I throw in the towel on this unit.
New pickup reads the disc, e.g. tells me there are 12 songs on CD, I can manually select song 1 or 3 or 11; however, it doesn't play. The disc spins.
Anything I can do here, I don't have a scope.
Any chance new pickup is duff out of the box?
Thanks for any info.
Mike
Hi Mike, if it reads the TOC then that at least shows the laser is alive.
Before you go any further double check that all connectors are fully home, clean and lightly lubricated the guide rod and make sure you haven't accidentally left any finger prints or dirt on the lens.
Before you go any further double check that all connectors are fully home, clean and lightly lubricated the guide rod and make sure you haven't accidentally left any finger prints or dirt on the lens.
If you power off the machine, place the laser assembly halfway across its travel, (halfway into a disc) then power up the machine. The travers motor should return the laser to the start position. If it doesn't, that could be your issue and not the KSS150.
I think maybe JonSnell is thinking of the KSS-151a which has a linear motor and the pick-up can be slid easily along the rails. IIRC the KSS-150 uses a geared mechanism so what I'd do is to take the lid off and try to observe the pick-up moving. The TOC will be the innermost portion of the disc and the last track will be on the outside.
Insert a CD and select a track towards the end of the disc. Does the pick-up move towards the outside of the disc?
Basically we're trying to find out if the mechanism which moves the laser head along to track the disc is working.
Insert a CD and select a track towards the end of the disc. Does the pick-up move towards the outside of the disc?
Basically we're trying to find out if the mechanism which moves the laser head along to track the disc is working.
Thanks for the replies, but yes the KSS 150 is gear driven. I can hit the button to advance to the next song and see the laser head move. It seems to know, for example, that it is at say song 5. Will double check all connectors, seems like I'm close here. thanks.
OK, if the laser head moves that's good. Did you try cleaning the metal rod and giving it a couple of drops of oil yet?
Don't look directly at the laser but looking from the side can you see the lens moving up and down as it focuses?
Does the player skip when playing or does it just refuse to play?
Don't look directly at the laser but looking from the side can you see the lens moving up and down as it focuses?
Does the player skip when playing or does it just refuse to play?
yes, I gave the rod a couple of drops of light machine oil. Player does not play at all. I see the lens come up when closing drawer with no disc, not sure how to see with disc in place. I also cannot see laser light on underside of disc, not sure that I would see it, but thought I'd mention.
OK good.
The laser beam might not be in the visible spectrum so you won't necessarily be able to see anything.
If the player can read the TOC, the laser moves to the selected track and the lens focus moves up and down then I suspect it needs an adjustment made to the fine tracking or focus.
What exactly happens if you ask it to play a track?
The laser beam might not be in the visible spectrum so you won't necessarily be able to see anything.
If the player can read the TOC, the laser moves to the selected track and the lens focus moves up and down then I suspect it needs an adjustment made to the fine tracking or focus.
What exactly happens if you ask it to play a track?
When you do this does the disc spin at a normal speed and can you hear the pick-up making a faint noise indicating that its trying to find the track?
Yes, disc spins at what appears to be normal speed. I can push the button to change songs and pick up moves to new location, can see gear shifting back and forth a bit after song is selected. If I let it continue disc will eventually stop, guessing after some time if it can't read/play is shuts down.
Yes, the disc spins at what appears to be normal speed. I can see/hear the pickup move when selecting a song. I can see the drive gear wiggle a bit, guessing it is trying to find the right spot for the song? Thanks for your help.
Well my best guess is that fine tracking or focus needs to be adjusted but that calls for an oscilloscope really.
The tracking gain and focus gain are probably set with a couple of small trim pots. I do not advocate messing with these but if you're desperate and got no other choice then it might be worth trying small adjustments either way to see if you can get it to work. It's crucial that you mark the exact position of each pot before you do anything so that you can return them to the original settings. The laser power might also be adjustable with another trimpot but do not change this!
Hopefully someone more experienced will be along shortly to offer some more authoritative advice.
The tracking gain and focus gain are probably set with a couple of small trim pots. I do not advocate messing with these but if you're desperate and got no other choice then it might be worth trying small adjustments either way to see if you can get it to work. It's crucial that you mark the exact position of each pot before you do anything so that you can return them to the original settings. The laser power might also be adjustable with another trimpot but do not change this!
Hopefully someone more experienced will be along shortly to offer some more authoritative advice.
Yes, I de-soldered it, made sure I was grounded and checked with a magnifier to make sure it was clear of solder. So, should not be the issue. Thanks.
You're going to need an oscilloscope.
But you can try moving the focus gain pot a little bit, but first mark the original position so if it doesn't help, you can return it to its original position.
Just listen to the sound that comes from the pick-up, it shouldn't be too noisy nor too quiet.
OK, cool, I've got nothing to lose, right? Just one dumb question, which is the focus gain pot and can this be done with a cd playing somehow. Thanks for all the help.
Mike
Mike
Sorry for the late reply.
The focus gain should be named FG on most players, if is not named find the schematic first.
And it must be done with a disc playing, otherwise you will not hear anything from the pick-up laser.
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