Thanks for all that detailed information. It is almost too bad that it doesn't have the same problem. Mine died over time, I did put a lot of hours on it, mainly recording all of my vinyl collection. I do have a working pdr-509 as well. I have a rare cdr that won't play on my computer (due to an alarming amount of C1 and C2 errors), or on my blu-ray. The only things that can play it are an old boombox, and the 509. I really wanted to make a digital copy, from 509 to 509. It isn't the end of the world if I can't.
I've found that Lite-On DVD and CD drives are better at reading media with problems than most other drives - if you have any handy you could try that. Or pick up another 509 - there are a few on eBay right now at pretty reasonable price. Or if you like I'll be glad to try to copy it for you (I could go from 509 to 555...).
I wish I would have kept every piece of stereo and computer equipment (I go back to the vic20!). I did happen to keep an old JVC dvd player. A large, bulky one, and surprisingly it had a digital output. At the time I did not have a receiver that was digital or the 509, so I completely forgot. That did the trick. I really appreciate your offer though. I have learned a lot in the past few days.
My next project is getting music from a 5.25" floppy to something modern. If you can believe it, this was released as part of a new album, with the first 100 getting this bonus floppy. If things start coming out on 8-track, I will give up...
Great site! I've been reading about this similar problem which I'm currently experiencing on my 555RW but never took the initiative to register. Well, finally, here I am.
A little background regarding my unit:
I bought it new back in '96 and it's been working fine for more than 12 years. I can still record to CD-R/W discs but it won't recognize any of my commercial CDs. The tray also works erratically and keeps on cycling open/close. I took the unit apart last year and saw that the ELNA cap had crusted a bit but nothing leaked around the board, or at least none that I can find so I just left it in there. I did cleaned the surrounding areas thoroughly with MG Chemicals Super Contact Cleaner but didn't experience any significant changes.
Currently, I am using the unit as a D/A A/D converter. For digital music recordings (if any) I use a toslink and digital coax hooked directly in to my Professional Marantz CDR631's digital end, and the other end goes back to the 555's digital end. Although there's a 'digital' level control on the 631 but somehow I prefer the 'analog' level control knob from the 555 as a 'fader' while the 631 is recording (vinyl transfers). The 555 is also being utilized for live concert recordings from cable tv programs.
I haven't really thought about snipping off the ELNA cap but I am seriously looking into it since I truly missed how the 555 used to work. I'd like for her to at least come back to life once again.
A little background regarding my unit:
I bought it new back in '96 and it's been working fine for more than 12 years. I can still record to CD-R/W discs but it won't recognize any of my commercial CDs. The tray also works erratically and keeps on cycling open/close. I took the unit apart last year and saw that the ELNA cap had crusted a bit but nothing leaked around the board, or at least none that I can find so I just left it in there. I did cleaned the surrounding areas thoroughly with MG Chemicals Super Contact Cleaner but didn't experience any significant changes.
Currently, I am using the unit as a D/A A/D converter. For digital music recordings (if any) I use a toslink and digital coax hooked directly in to my Professional Marantz CDR631's digital end, and the other end goes back to the 555's digital end. Although there's a 'digital' level control on the 631 but somehow I prefer the 'analog' level control knob from the 555 as a 'fader' while the 631 is recording (vinyl transfers). The 555 is also being utilized for live concert recordings from cable tv programs.
I haven't really thought about snipping off the ELNA cap but I am seriously looking into it since I truly missed how the 555 used to work. I'd like for her to at least come back to life once again.
Hello again all!
After a long delay, I've finally got around to having a look at my HHB CD recorder, which has suffered the dreaded capacitor leakage.
I removed the offending capacitor several months ago, and I have now given the board a thorough clean and removed all trace of the capacitor gunk. The board now looks clean, and the only obvious damage is to C207 (a surface-mount cap that was right beside the offending Elna cap). This has corrosion to its contacts, but is apparently still good (although it is hard to be sure without removing it from the circuit). It's certainly not short-circuit, and it doesn't look as though open-circuit would matter.
I re-assembled the unit, and the tray loading is no-longer erratic, but the machine still won't record. It still gives the dreaded "CHECK DISK" display when attempting any record operation.
I've tested a number of the "through-holes" in the immediate vicinity of the leaky cap with a multimeter, and to be honest they all seem continuous between sides of the board. I am therefore highly sceptical that soldering through these holes will actually do any good.
I now wonder if the actual fault may lie somewhere else?
After a long delay, I've finally got around to having a look at my HHB CD recorder, which has suffered the dreaded capacitor leakage.
I removed the offending capacitor several months ago, and I have now given the board a thorough clean and removed all trace of the capacitor gunk. The board now looks clean, and the only obvious damage is to C207 (a surface-mount cap that was right beside the offending Elna cap). This has corrosion to its contacts, but is apparently still good (although it is hard to be sure without removing it from the circuit). It's certainly not short-circuit, and it doesn't look as though open-circuit would matter.
I re-assembled the unit, and the tray loading is no-longer erratic, but the machine still won't record. It still gives the dreaded "CHECK DISK" display when attempting any record operation.
I've tested a number of the "through-holes" in the immediate vicinity of the leaky cap with a multimeter, and to be honest they all seem continuous between sides of the board. I am therefore highly sceptical that soldering through these holes will actually do any good.
I now wonder if the actual fault may lie somewhere else?
FIXED!
Ignore my last post - my unit is now FIXED!
I systematically went round each through-hole checking continuity, and found just two that were discontinuous. They seemed to be connected to fairly broad tracks, and went to large "power" type components (big transistors etc) rather than logic circuits, so rather than solder through the hole, I traced the tracks to the next nearest available solderable point, and connected a wire around the side of the board to interconnect the two board sides.
With a very low degree of hope, I reassembled the machine and gave it a try, and to my amazement it actually worked! Well, I didn't have a handy source of audio in the workshop, so I recorded 20 seconds of silence, but it successfully finalised the disc, and it plays back on both itself and another CD player. So I have no reason to suspect it won't record audio perfectly now.
All I have to do now is figure out where all the different types of screw are supposed to go to hold the various boards in place
Anyway, MASSIVE thanks to all the contributors to this thread, and particularly to stephensank! You've just rescued another HHB CDR-850 from the scrap heap
Ignore my last post - my unit is now FIXED!
I systematically went round each through-hole checking continuity, and found just two that were discontinuous. They seemed to be connected to fairly broad tracks, and went to large "power" type components (big transistors etc) rather than logic circuits, so rather than solder through the hole, I traced the tracks to the next nearest available solderable point, and connected a wire around the side of the board to interconnect the two board sides.
With a very low degree of hope, I reassembled the machine and gave it a try, and to my amazement it actually worked! Well, I didn't have a handy source of audio in the workshop, so I recorded 20 seconds of silence, but it successfully finalised the disc, and it plays back on both itself and another CD player. So I have no reason to suspect it won't record audio perfectly now.
All I have to do now is figure out where all the different types of screw are supposed to go to hold the various boards in place
Anyway, MASSIVE thanks to all the contributors to this thread, and particularly to stephensank! You've just rescued another HHB CDR-850 from the scrap heap
I'm just a day late and a dollar short, but am happy to report that the laser I got from afecu works great. I installed it and set the pots on my mainboard to match the lovely picture that afecu took of the mainboard in the donor machine. I'm fairly certain that it is the volcanic sulfur in the air that ate the laser assembly.
Hey Stephen, are you still out there? Some folks on the NakTalk (Nakamichi enthusiasts) are wondering if you are still out there and if you still repair/refurbish Nak cassette decks.
Yes, still here. I stopped participating in the naktalk forum due to it causing me to get too darn inundated with work. But I do still service Nak decks, all the time, and it's not as if I'm hard to find(can it get easier than stephensank.com?), so puzzles me that Naktalk people would not know I still exist.
Thanks to this thread, I saved one of these units that I had just bought at a thrift store. Briefly testing in the store, it seemed to play a CD. Got it home, of course it didn't.
My unit would not open/close the tray properly and it would display CHECK DISC (as others here describe).
If I hadn't read through this thread, I would have wasted my money! I'd like to share some pictures from my repair process to possibly help others visualize the process described by Stephen in post #14:
First I identified and pulled the faulty capacitor. At first glance it seemed fine, but then I saw the slight bulge and leakage!
I flipped the board and examined the damage caused by the leakage. Parts of the track turned dark and I gently scraped at them with an Xacto knife. I had to expose copper around the through holes for the third step.
I used a pin to poke at the holes then pushed single strands of wire through them (but don't try to put that many in at once... it's a soldering nightmare):
The near-finished soldering above where the removed cap rested. The strands of wire needed snipped after soldering, and I tried to scrape up the excess flux:
This pic puts the "micro surgery" into perspective. Wow it is small, but it is very possible. Make sure nothing shorts out!
And... it works!
Ok, well it didn't work on the first try. I had to take it apart again, clean up my tracks, re-heat some solder. Once more I had to take it apart, because it then repeatedly would flash CHECK DISC (but the tray now functioned properly). It turned out that the jumper between the main board and adjacent board was not inserted properly.
This wide jumper with fine pins must be re-inserted very carefully, or the pins will bend and short.
I never had to do anything else to repair it (namely, I did not have to touch the front panel board for cleaning).
Thanks everybody for making such great posts in this thread. I want to give back by helping others with my post. Best of luck with this rewarding repair!
My unit would not open/close the tray properly and it would display CHECK DISC (as others here describe).
If I hadn't read through this thread, I would have wasted my money! I'd like to share some pictures from my repair process to possibly help others visualize the process described by Stephen in post #14:
First I identified and pulled the faulty capacitor. At first glance it seemed fine, but then I saw the slight bulge and leakage!
I flipped the board and examined the damage caused by the leakage. Parts of the track turned dark and I gently scraped at them with an Xacto knife. I had to expose copper around the through holes for the third step.
I used a pin to poke at the holes then pushed single strands of wire through them (but don't try to put that many in at once... it's a soldering nightmare):
The near-finished soldering above where the removed cap rested. The strands of wire needed snipped after soldering, and I tried to scrape up the excess flux:
This pic puts the "micro surgery" into perspective. Wow it is small, but it is very possible. Make sure nothing shorts out!
And... it works!
Ok, well it didn't work on the first try. I had to take it apart again, clean up my tracks, re-heat some solder. Once more I had to take it apart, because it then repeatedly would flash CHECK DISC (but the tray now functioned properly). It turned out that the jumper between the main board and adjacent board was not inserted properly.
This wide jumper with fine pins must be re-inserted very carefully, or the pins will bend and short.
I never had to do anything else to repair it (namely, I did not have to touch the front panel board for cleaning).
Thanks everybody for making such great posts in this thread. I want to give back by helping others with my post. Best of luck with this rewarding repair!
I took it apart today and removed the board for inspection but couldn't find much leaks nor residue on both sides. I did scrape some off but I doubt those were caused by leakages. The Elna cap didn't look too bad but I still went ahead and thoroughly cleaned the surrounding area with 70% isopropyl alcohol and MG Chemicals Contact Cleaner. Put the thing back together and still no go. The tray kept on cycling back in and it takes multiple pushes for me to remove a disc -- frustrating! Would it make a difference if I remove the cap? Should I dab some solder over the removal area? I wasn't sure what CAT6a was doing with those wires and solder since he didn't provide any post-soldered pics.
Please review my other posts in this thread. The Elna damage isn't easily seen until you get the hang of the sort of discolorations you're looking for. Your symptoms are totally typical of damage to the through-hole connections from the Elna timebomb. And that cap should absolutely be removed.
De-soldered the Elna Cap; removed and re-soldered the holes but didn't work, same state. I'm using the deck as an A/D-D/A converter unit. Not too long ago (a few months) it was able to at least read/play CD-R discs, but now nothing except 'Check Disc'! Sad, because the unit is in mint condition. I'm sure the culprit inside that's causing this malfunction is worth no more than 0.85¢ .
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