realligning cd player

[Lyle]

OK I've about had it with my CD player not finding tracks, skipping and not
liking any and all burned CD's. So before I chuck it I was wondering if it
would be worth a stab at realigning the head. Any ideas how this is done?
Do you need some sort of a calibration disk or just find a pot and twiddle?
Lyle

 

[Tim Hubberstey]

Lyle wrote:

OK I've about had it with my CD player not finding tracks, skipping and not
liking any and all burned CD's. So before I chuck it I was wondering if it
would be worth a stab at realigning the head. Any ideas how this is done?
Do you need some sort of a calibration disk or just find a pot and twiddle?

I don't believe what you're looking for exists. CD players use an
optical servo loop that locks onto information embedded in the disc. I
doubt there are any adjustments possible. This kind of problem is
usually the result of either a dirty/scratched lens on the pickup, or
the laser output degrading with age.

You can try cleaning the lens but be GENTLE, the assembly will be easily
damaged.

Not reading burned CDs is a common problem for old/cheap players. CD-Rs
don't meet the reflectance/contrast requirements specified in the "Red
Book", so there's no guarantee any CD-audio player will be able to read
them, unless they explicitly say they do.
--
Tim Hubberstey, P.Eng. . . . . . Hardware/Software Consulting Engineer
Marmot Engineering . . . . . . . VHDL, ASICs, FPGAs, embedded systems
Vancouver, BC, Canada . . . . . . . . . . . http://www.marmot-eng.com

 

[Adrian Tuddenham]

Lyle <walshlgNOSPAM@knology.NOSPAM.net> wrote:

OK I've about had it with my CD player not finding tracks, skipping and not
liking any and all burned CD's. So before I chuck it I was wondering if it
would be worth a stab at realigning the head. Any ideas how this is done?
Do you need some sort of a calibration disk or just find a pot and twiddle?
Lyle

Try cleaning the lens with a cotton wool bud soaked in Isopropanol.
(Water doesn't work)

--
~ Adrian Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

 

[cyBORG]

When i was younger, I took apart my Sony Discman (early, fairly heavy w/ lit
screen model) to repair it for the same problem; and found that there were
indeed little screws (orange head, plastic, I just guessed that maybe they
had something to do with it). There were like 6 of them. I played with
each one thoroughly; while skipping thru the whole disc and playing some
songs to see if it was fixing the problem. About 1 hour later, it did seem
to be working a bit better, albeit not perfect. No idea if this applies to
the more modern stuff, but might be worth a peek if it's almost junk
already.

Please note however, that I had no formal training of how to do this, nor do
I know to this day what the hell it was I was playing with exactly. (ie
potentiometer, whatever... I just messed with em). I did notice that there
were certain ones that did seem to make the skipping notably worse when
turned all the way one way or the other, and in some cases one would affect
the first few tracks (ie fix seeking etc) but mess up the seeking on the
last few tracks. It took time to figure out how to 'balance' all 4-5 of
them.

-cyBORG


"Lyle" <walshlgNOSPAM@knology.NOSPAM.net> wrote in message
news:11b0vjpffh518ee@corp.supernews.com...

OK I've about had it with my CD player not finding tracks, skipping and
not
liking any and all burned CD's. So before I chuck it I was wondering if
it
would be worth a stab at realigning the head. Any ideas how this is done?
Do you need some sort of a calibration disk or just find a pot and
twiddle?
Lyle

 

[Mac]

On Thu, 16 Jun 2005 08:44:24 +0100, Adrian Tuddenham wrote:

Lyle <walshlgNOSPAM@knology.NOSPAM.net> wrote:

OK I've about had it with my CD player not finding tracks, skipping and not
liking any and all burned CD's. So before I chuck it I was wondering if it
would be worth a stab at realigning the head. Any ideas how this is done?
Do you need some sort of a calibration disk or just find a pot and twiddle?
Lyle

Try cleaning the lens with a cotton wool bud soaked in Isopropanol.

Isopropanol = isopropyl alcohol = rubbing alcohol

(Water doesn't work)

--Mac