NAD C540 CD Player No Disc

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Does the lens bob up and down when the tray is closed with no disc inserted... that's the focus search operation.

During those few seconds can you see the laser lit... dull red glow, view from at least 30cm away.

Is the laser assembly at the correct rest position ? If moved away from that point and then power reapplied does it move back to the rest position ?

Is the turntable free ?

What pickup does it use ?

Has it worked and just suddenly failed or has it "got history" such as off ebay :)
 
I have a similar (but different) problem with mine, tray retracts but does not appear to understand when to stop trying to retract - eventually it spits the tray out again. This only happens with a disc in the tray.

Sanyo make (made, at least) rubbish transports, clearly. I'll be more careful next time I spend good money on what has turned out to be unreliable hardware.

Hopefully the new Rotel RA-1520 amp (picked up today!) will last as long as my now defunct Hitachi HA6 amp did - 28 years - with only minor repairs.
 
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Probably the lens, yes, but I would want to do more tests. Lasers don't usually fail "intermitant" so I would want to confirm it either does or doesn't light.

When it does play is the quality of signal OK, amplitude OK etc for which you need a 'scope.

Without and it's all guesswork :)
 
Fixed my problem (not the same as rkay5's issue), seems the tray had become misaligned with the tray drive mechanism. Removing the tray and manually (trial and error) finding the right spot by adjusting where the tray started in relation to the driving gears did the trick.

It turned out that although the tray was fully retracted, the gears hadn't rotated far enough to actuate the mechanism which lifts the lens assembly.
 
Reviving an old thread, but thought this info may prove useful.

There is a mod for these players, re discs skipping / no disc errors.

Service Hint

C521/C541
C522/C524
C520/C540

If the customer has a complaint about a CD Player not being able to play a CDR or out of tolerance discs, try replacing these capacitors with the following values. This will also provide a cure on some players for “NO DISC” message.

C520/C521 /C522/C524 C540/C541

C122 is changed to 2.7pF C122 is changed to 2.7pF

C123 is changed to 0.01uF C123 is changed to 0.01uF

C124 is changed to 22pF C124 is changed to 22pF

C311 is changed to 220pF


Production:

This change has been implemented in production from serial number:
G19C52113901 - C521/C
G19C54108101 – C541/AH

G19C54108401 – C541/C
 
Thanks for the service information!

Hi Tony:

I finally got to a NAD C540 which had been patiently waiting on my "projects-to-do-one-day" shelf for a while. It was in excellent cosmetic condition, but with the infamous "no disk" error.

I replaced the 3 capacitors as per the Service Hint you posted above. It works perfectly now and is now a part of my main living room set up :)

Thanks for sharing the info.

Rgds
Mayank

PS I also remember reading another thread where one of the members had also recommended upgrading the main power supply capacitor C529 (3300uF/16V) with 10000uF/16V and replacing the 4 diodes D515-517 (1N4001) with faster 3A diodes. I haven't done this as yet.
 
<snip>
PS I also remember reading another thread where one of the members had also recommended upgrading the main power supply capacitor C529 (3300uF/16V) with 10000uF/16V and replacing the 4 diodes D515-517 (1N4001) with faster 3A diodes. I haven't done this as yet.

Happy to help.

I have also upgraded the main smoothing capacitor and fitted a 25A bridge in mine.

I don't honestly know if it made any difference though, because mine has sat on the shelf unused ever since!
 
Reviving an old thread, but thought this info may prove useful.

There is a mod for these players, re discs skipping / no disc errors.

Service Hint

C521 / C541
C522 / C524
C520 / C540

If the customer has a complaint about a CD Player not being able to play a CDR or out of tolerance discs,
try replacing these capacitors with the following values. This will also provide a cure on some players for
“NO DISC” message.

C520 / C521 / C522 / C524: - - C540 / C541:

C122 is changed to 2.7pF - - C122 is changed to 2.7pF

C123 is changed to 0.01µF - - C123 is changed to 0.01µF

C124 is changed to 22pF - - C124 is changed to 22pF

C311 is changed to 220pF



Production:

This change has been implemented in production from serial number:
G19C52113901 - C521/C
G19C54108101 – C541/AH
G19C54108401 – C541/C

Does this also apply to the NAD 522 (no 'C', predesessor of the C series) ??

:confused::confused::confused:

The NAD 522 came with the nasty Sanyo SF-P101 transport too.
 
Last edited:
Does this also apply to the NAD 522 (no 'C', predesessor of the C series) ??

:confused::confused::confused:

The NAD 522 came with the nasty Sanyo SF-P101 transport too.

It doesn't look as though it applies to the '522'.

I have attached the bulletin for the mods I mentioned - and another bulletin to solve skipping in other models - maybe this will help you.
 

Attachments

  • NAD-522,524,520,540_Page_5-00-01.pdf
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  • NAD-svbC520-C540_playability.pdf
    51.4 KB · Views: 211
UPDATE: It installs "kingsoft antivirus" which is all in Chinese (I think!). It also installs a downloader called "tencent".

It also installs "Kingsoft Internet Security" and tries to mimic Microsoft Security Essentials by the look of it.

I managed to clean up my virtual machine - but I'm a seasoned IT professional - others may not be so lucky!
 
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