Rotel RCD-855 Help Needed

My beloved Rotel RCD-855, purchased new around 1990, has 'died'. My stereo is left powered on all the time and the power went out for less than two seconds the other night. A while later I noticed the all the display's segments were lit up.

I powered it off and back on with the same symptom. I powered it off for a few minutes and when I powered it on again, the display was/is completely dark though I can here some activity immediately after powering on. Nothing works, not even the drawer.

Confused (by changing display symptoms) and bummed. It's not worth having someone even look at it, I'm sure. But, it still sounded so great, I want to try and fix it myself. No idea where to start.

 

On Wednesday, November 6, 2013 3:58:37 PM UTC-8, ra...@thelampards.net wrote:

My beloved Rotel RCD-855, purchased new around 1990, has 'died'. My stereo is left powered on all the time and the power went out for less than two seconds the other night. A while later I noticed the all the display's segments were lit up.



I powered it off and back on with the same symptom. I powered it off for a few minutes and when I powered it on again, the display was/is completely dark though I can here some activity immediately after powering on. Nothing works, not even the drawer.



Confused (by changing display symptoms) and bummed. It's not worth having someone even look at it, I'm sure. But, it still sounded so great, I want to try and fix it myself. No idea where to start.

200,000 hrs on time? Bad capacitors almost guaranteed. When you buy the replacements don't look for the cheapest junk you can find. I buy thousand of caps for my employers and look for highest ripple currents (lowest ESR) and longest hours at 105C.

Also, you need a good soldering iron AND the skill to use it. I spent a chunk of time yesterday replacing caps on a broadcast video tape recorder motor drive board and that machine has just under 78,000 power on hours and some of those caps were terrible. Poor workmanship can turn a simple repair job into a nasty mess pretty quickly.

You say you want to do it yourself and with some help from a skilled tech you can probably learn in about hour or two. Note that you will NOT be a troubleshooter in a short time but basic soldering skills are not all that difficult to master.

You have to ask yourself if a 20+ year old CD player is worth the bother. You say it sounds good and I'm sure it's fine but you can buy a cheapy DVD player that will play CDs for $30-$40 and it will sound fine too.

G˛

 

[Trevor Wilson]

On 7/11/2013 10:58 AM, rand@thelampards.net wrote:

My beloved Rotel RCD-855, purchased new around 1990, has 'died'. My stereo is left powered on all the time and the power went out for less than two seconds the other night. A while later I noticed the all the display's segments were lit up.

I powered it off and back on with the same symptom. I powered it off for a few minutes and when I powered it on again, the display was/is completely dark though I can here some activity immediately after powering on. Nothing works, not even the drawer.

Confused (by changing display symptoms) and bummed. It's not worth having someone even look at it, I'm sure. But, it still sounded so great, I want to try and fix it myself. No idea where to start.

**Start by obtaining a service manual and look at the power supplies.

--
Trevor Wilson www.rageaudio.com.au

 

On Wednesday, November 6, 2013 6:58:37 PM UTC-5, ra...@thelampards.net wrote:

My beloved Rotel RCD-855, purchased new around 1990, has 'died'. My stereo is left powered on all the time and the power went out for less than two seconds the other night. A while later I noticed the all the display's segments were lit up.



I powered it off and back on with the same symptom. I powered it off for a few minutes and when I powered it on again, the display was/is completely dark though I can here some activity immediately after powering on. Nothing works, not even the drawer.



Confused (by changing display symptoms) and bummed. It's not worth having someone even look at it, I'm sure. But, it still sounded so great, I want to try and fix it myself. No idea where to start.

I found the service manual in PDF form - so far, so good.

Yes, somewhere around 200k hours on time. I'd guess no less than 175k.

I do have soldering skills though the patience where's quickly at times. Learned a long time ago to just walk away for a bit.

Funny thing, today they wife emailed me at work to tell me the power went out again and that the CD player 'is on'. Come home to see that display completely lit like when this first started. Regardless, time to read through the manual before I pull it out of the rack and have at it.

 

[Trevor Wilson]

On 8/11/2013 8:19 AM, rand@thelampards.net wrote:

On Wednesday, November 6, 2013 6:58:37 PM UTC-5, ra...@thelampards.net wrote:
My beloved Rotel RCD-855, purchased new around 1990, has 'died'. My stereo is left powered on all the time and the power went out for less than two seconds the other night. A while later I noticed the all the display's segments were lit up.



I powered it off and back on with the same symptom. I powered it off for a few minutes and when I powered it on again, the display was/is completely dark though I can here some activity immediately after powering on. Nothing works, not even the drawer.



Confused (by changing display symptoms) and bummed. It's not worth having someone even look at it, I'm sure. But, it still sounded so great, I want to try and fix it myself. No idea where to start.


I found the service manual in PDF form - so far, so good.

Yes, somewhere around 200k hours on time. I'd guess no less than 175k.

I do have soldering skills though the patience where's quickly at times. Learned a long time ago to just walk away for a bit.

Funny thing, today they wife emailed me at work to tell me the power went out again and that the CD player 'is on'. Come home to see that display completely lit like when this first started. Regardless, time to read through the manual before I pull it out of the rack and have at it.

**Check out the connections where the display connects to the PCB. The
firt and last pins are the suspects.

--
Trevor Wilson www.rageaudio.com.au

 

[Adrian C]

On 08/11/2013 00:33, Trevor Wilson wrote:

On 8/11/2013 8:19 AM, rand@thelampards.net wrote:
On Wednesday, November 6, 2013 6:58:37 PM UTC-5, ra...@thelampards.net
wrote:
My beloved Rotel RCD-855, purchased new around 1990, has 'died'. My
stereo is left powered on all the time and the power went out for
less than two seconds the other night. A while later I noticed the
all the display's segments were lit up.



I powered it off and back on with the same symptom. I powered it off
for a few minutes and when I powered it on again, the display was/is
completely dark though I can here some activity immediately after
powering on. Nothing works, not even the drawer.



Confused (by changing display symptoms) and bummed. It's not worth
having someone even look at it, I'm sure. But, it still sounded so
great, I want to try and fix it myself. No idea where to start.


I found the service manual in PDF form - so far, so good.

Yes, somewhere around 200k hours on time. I'd guess no less than 175k.

I do have soldering skills though the patience where's quickly at
times. Learned a long time ago to just walk away for a bit.

Funny thing, today they wife emailed me at work to tell me the power
went out again and that the CD player 'is on'. Come home to see that
display completely lit like when this first started. Regardless, time
to read through the manual before I pull it out of the rack and have
at it.


**Check out the connections where the display connects to the PCB. The
firt and last pins are the suspects.

Also check PSU capacitors for drying out. I have a Rotel tuner RT-930AX
of the same vintage that internally was always powered even though
switched off. The main reservoir cap was cooked. There are many power
rails in the item all related to each other including the VFD drive
voltage, if one rail is out, others will be erratic to cause malfunction.

--
Adrian C

 

On Saturday, November 9, 2013 7:24:40 AM UTC-5, Adrian C wrote:

On 08/11/2013 00:33, Trevor Wilson wrote:

On 8/11/2013 8:19 AM, rand@thelampards.net wrote:

On Wednesday, November 6, 2013 6:58:37 PM UTC-5, ra...@thelampards.net

wrote:

My beloved Rotel RCD-855, purchased new around 1990, has 'died'. My

stereo is left powered on all the time and the power went out for

less than two seconds the other night. A while later I noticed the

all the display's segments were lit up.







I powered it off and back on with the same symptom. I powered it off

for a few minutes and when I powered it on again, the display was/is

completely dark though I can here some activity immediately after

powering on. Nothing works, not even the drawer.







Confused (by changing display symptoms) and bummed. It's not worth

having someone even look at it, I'm sure. But, it still sounded so

great, I want to try and fix it myself. No idea where to start.





I found the service manual in PDF form - so far, so good.



Yes, somewhere around 200k hours on time. I'd guess no less than 175k.



I do have soldering skills though the patience where's quickly at

times. Learned a long time ago to just walk away for a bit.



Funny thing, today they wife emailed me at work to tell me the power

went out again and that the CD player 'is on'. Come home to see that

display completely lit like when this first started. Regardless, time

to read through the manual before I pull it out of the rack and have

at it.





**Check out the connections where the display connects to the PCB. The

firt and last pins are the suspects.





Also check PSU capacitors for drying out. I have a Rotel tuner RT-930AX

of the same vintage that internally was always powered even though

switched off. The main reservoir cap was cooked. There are many power

rails in the item all related to each other including the VFD drive

voltage, if one rail is out, others will be erratic to cause malfunction.



--

Adrian C

coming back to my thread fairly late but, it's had to sit while other life events take priority.

Good news! The unit now works as it should. Turns out it was within the voltage selector switch. Some good spritzes of DeoxIT, a few sweeps back and forth, and a few more spritzes and it came back to life. Found this by accident while probing for voltages from start to end. Nudged the terminals just the right way to get the unit to start functioning (much to my surprise).

On to the next project - Adcom GFA-535 with no sound from the right channel but loads of DC voltage (46!).

Thanks for the info. It might not have 'fixed' it but, it was useful just the same.

 

Verify that the CD lens is clean first. If that is not the problem, post hte Philips mechanism number. I still have some NOS optics and may have the one you need.

Dan

 

[J.B. Wood]

On 06/24/2014 04:19 PM, rand@thelampards.net wrote:

coming back to my thread fairly late but, it's had to sit while other life events take priority.

Good news! The unit now works as it should. Turns out it was within the voltage selector switch. Some good spritzes of DeoxIT, a few sweeps back and forth, and a few more spritzes and it came back to life. Found this by accident while probing for voltages from start to end. Nudged the terminals just the right way to get the unit to start functioning (much to my surprise).

On to the next project - Adcom GFA-535 with no sound from the right channel but loads of DC voltage (46!).

Thanks for the info. It might not have 'fixed' it but, it was useful just the same.

Hello, and I, too, have a non-functional 20+ year old RCD-855. It
performed perfectly until about a year ago when it apparently failed to
read the TOC of an inserted CD and always ends up with an error message
on the display. Insert/eject are fine and the spindle motor runs.
Perhaps a bad laser and/or something in the read circuit. Just haven't
gotten around to looking inside the unit yet. The transport mechanism
was made by Philips and (not surprisingly) is no longer in production.
It may be 2014, but I sure would like that CD player functional again.
Sincerely,

--
J. B. Wood e-mail: arl_123234@hotmail.com

 

[Mark Zacharias]

<rand@thelampards.net> wrote in message
news:75e5a211-320e-4bd2-804b-c3a1de739b51@googlegroups.com...
On Saturday, November 9, 2013 7:24:40 AM UTC-5, Adrian C wrote:

On 08/11/2013 00:33, Trevor Wilson wrote:

On 8/11/2013 8:19 AM, rand@thelampards.net wrote:

On Wednesday, November 6, 2013 6:58:37 PM UTC-5, ra...@thelampards.net

wrote:

My beloved Rotel RCD-855, purchased new around 1990, has 'died'. My

stereo is left powered on all the time and the power went out for

less than two seconds the other night. A while later I noticed the

all the display's segments were lit up.







I powered it off and back on with the same symptom. I powered it off

for a few minutes and when I powered it on again, the display was/is

completely dark though I can here some activity immediately after

powering on. Nothing works, not even the drawer.







Confused (by changing display symptoms) and bummed. It's not worth

having someone even look at it, I'm sure. But, it still sounded so

great, I want to try and fix it myself. No idea where to start.





I found the service manual in PDF form - so far, so good.



Yes, somewhere around 200k hours on time. I'd guess no less than 175k.



I do have soldering skills though the patience where's quickly at

times. Learned a long time ago to just walk away for a bit.



Funny thing, today they wife emailed me at work to tell me the power

went out again and that the CD player 'is on'. Come home to see that

display completely lit like when this first started. Regardless, time

to read through the manual before I pull it out of the rack and have

at it.





**Check out the connections where the display connects to the PCB. The

firt and last pins are the suspects.





Also check PSU capacitors for drying out. I have a Rotel tuner RT-930AX

of the same vintage that internally was always powered even though

switched off. The main reservoir cap was cooked. There are many power

rails in the item all related to each other including the VFD drive

voltage, if one rail is out, others will be erratic to cause malfunction.



--

Adrian C

coming back to my thread fairly late but, it's had to sit while other life
events take priority.

Good news! The unit now works as it should. Turns out it was within the
voltage selector switch. Some good spritzes of DeoxIT, a few sweeps back and
forth, and a few more spritzes and it came back to life. Found this by
accident while probing for voltages from start to end. Nudged the terminals
just the right way to get the unit to start functioning (much to my
surprise).

On to the next project - Adcom GFA-535 with no sound from the right channel
but loads of DC voltage (46!).

Thanks for the info. It might not have 'fixed' it but, it was useful just
the same.

***********************************************************************

(Windoze mail not quoting correctly)

The most common problem on the Adcom GFA-535 is actually just one or more
bad fuses on that particular amp board. Could still be a blown channel,
though. Don't know where you measured the 46 volts.

Mark Z.

Mark Z.

 

On Thursday, June 26, 2014 5:08:16 AM UTC-4, Mark Zacharias wrote:

rand@thelampards.net> wrote in message

news:75e5a211-320e-4bd2-804b-c3a1de739b51@googlegroups.com...

On Saturday, November 9, 2013 7:24:40 AM UTC-5, Adrian C wrote:

On 08/11/2013 00:33, Trevor Wilson wrote:



On 8/11/2013 8:19 AM, rand@thelampards.net wrote:



On Wednesday, November 6, 2013 6:58:37 PM UTC-5, ra...@thelampards.net



wrote:



My beloved Rotel RCD-855, purchased new around 1990, has 'died'. My



stereo is left powered on all the time and the power went out for



less than two seconds the other night. A while later I noticed the



all the display's segments were lit up.















I powered it off and back on with the same symptom. I powered it off



for a few minutes and when I powered it on again, the display was/is



completely dark though I can here some activity immediately after



powering on. Nothing works, not even the drawer.















Confused (by changing display symptoms) and bummed. It's not worth



having someone even look at it, I'm sure. But, it still sounded so



great, I want to try and fix it myself. No idea where to start.











I found the service manual in PDF form - so far, so good.







Yes, somewhere around 200k hours on time. I'd guess no less than 175k.







I do have soldering skills though the patience where's quickly at



times. Learned a long time ago to just walk away for a bit.







Funny thing, today they wife emailed me at work to tell me the power



went out again and that the CD player 'is on'. Come home to see that



display completely lit like when this first started. Regardless, time



to read through the manual before I pull it out of the rack and have



at it.











**Check out the connections where the display connects to the PCB. The



firt and last pins are the suspects.











Also check PSU capacitors for drying out. I have a Rotel tuner RT-930AX



of the same vintage that internally was always powered even though



switched off. The main reservoir cap was cooked. There are many power



rails in the item all related to each other including the VFD drive



voltage, if one rail is out, others will be erratic to cause malfunction.







--



Adrian C



coming back to my thread fairly late but, it's had to sit while other life

events take priority.



Good news! The unit now works as it should. Turns out it was within the

voltage selector switch. Some good spritzes of DeoxIT, a few sweeps back and

forth, and a few more spritzes and it came back to life. Found this by

accident while probing for voltages from start to end. Nudged the terminals

just the right way to get the unit to start functioning (much to my

surprise).



On to the next project - Adcom GFA-535 with no sound from the right channel

but loads of DC voltage (46!).



Thanks for the info. It might not have 'fixed' it but, it was useful just

the same.



***********************************************************************



(Windoze mail not quoting correctly)



The most common problem on the Adcom GFA-535 is actually just one or more

bad fuses on that particular amp board. Could still be a blown channel,

though. Don't know where you measured the 46 volts.



Mark Z.



Mark Z.

when I first powered it up, no sound from the right channel. found one of the two fuses for the right channel blown. installed another fuse and that's when I get a huge, instant, large blast of tone. that was with volume at zero. shut everything off, check all connections, removed right speaker's grille. switch everything on again, another blast of tone, see the woofer extend about 3/4" and stay there until I switched off again. Measured the DC offset (at speaker connectors of amp) as written up on Audiokarma. Left channel ~ 9 millivolts. Right channel ` 46 (forty-six) volts!

 

[Maynard A. Philbrook Jr.]

In article <9bd01f4f-6e10-4a3f-b120-9762cfbf4b69@googlegroups.com>,
rand@thelampards.net says...

when I first powered it up, no sound from the right channel. found one of the two fuses for the right channel blown. installed another fuse and that's when I get a huge, instant, large blast of tone. that was with volume at zero. shut everything off, check all connections, removed right speaker's grille. switch everything on again, another blast of tone, see the woofer extend about 3/4" and stay there until I switched off again. Measured the DC offset (at speaker
connectors of amp) as written up on Audiokarma. Left channel ~ 9 millivolts. Right channel ` 46 (forty-six) volts!

Sounds like a good avalanche!

Jamie

 

I agree, this should be a fairly simple repair. If you need assistance, perhaps noting your location would help to provide recomendations for assistance.

Dan

 

[Mark Zacharias]

<rand@thelampards.net> wrote in message
news:9bd01f4f-6e10-4a3f-b120-9762cfbf4b69@googlegroups.com...
On Thursday, June 26, 2014 5:08:16 AM UTC-4, Mark Zacharias wrote:

rand@thelampards.net> wrote in message

news:75e5a211-320e-4bd2-804b-c3a1de739b51@googlegroups.com...

On Saturday, November 9, 2013 7:24:40 AM UTC-5, Adrian C wrote:

On 08/11/2013 00:33, Trevor Wilson wrote:



On 8/11/2013 8:19 AM, rand@thelampards.net wrote:



On Wednesday, November 6, 2013 6:58:37 PM UTC-5,
ra...@thelampards.net



wrote:



My beloved Rotel RCD-855, purchased new around 1990, has 'died'. My



stereo is left powered on all the time and the power went out for



less than two seconds the other night. A while later I noticed the



all the display's segments were lit up.















I powered it off and back on with the same symptom. I powered it off



for a few minutes and when I powered it on again, the display was/is



completely dark though I can here some activity immediately after



powering on. Nothing works, not even the drawer.















Confused (by changing display symptoms) and bummed. It's not worth



having someone even look at it, I'm sure. But, it still sounded so



great, I want to try and fix it myself. No idea where to start.











I found the service manual in PDF form - so far, so good.







Yes, somewhere around 200k hours on time. I'd guess no less than
175k.







I do have soldering skills though the patience where's quickly at



times. Learned a long time ago to just walk away for a bit.







Funny thing, today they wife emailed me at work to tell me the power



went out again and that the CD player 'is on'. Come home to see that



display completely lit like when this first started. Regardless, time



to read through the manual before I pull it out of the rack and have



at it.











**Check out the connections where the display connects to the PCB. The



firt and last pins are the suspects.











Also check PSU capacitors for drying out. I have a Rotel tuner RT-930AX



of the same vintage that internally was always powered even though



switched off. The main reservoir cap was cooked. There are many power



rails in the item all related to each other including the VFD drive



voltage, if one rail is out, others will be erratic to cause
malfunction.







--



Adrian C



coming back to my thread fairly late but, it's had to sit while other life

events take priority.



Good news! The unit now works as it should. Turns out it was within the

voltage selector switch. Some good spritzes of DeoxIT, a few sweeps back
and

forth, and a few more spritzes and it came back to life. Found this by

accident while probing for voltages from start to end. Nudged the
terminals

just the right way to get the unit to start functioning (much to my

surprise).



On to the next project - Adcom GFA-535 with no sound from the right
channel

but loads of DC voltage (46!).



Thanks for the info. It might not have 'fixed' it but, it was useful just

the same.



***********************************************************************



(Windoze mail not quoting correctly)



The most common problem on the Adcom GFA-535 is actually just one or more

bad fuses on that particular amp board. Could still be a blown channel,

though. Don't know where you measured the 46 volts.



Mark Z.



Mark Z.

when I first powered it up, no sound from the right channel. found one of
the two fuses for >the right channel blown. installed another fuse and
that's when I get a huge, instant, large blast >of tone. that was with
volume at zero. shut everything off, check all connections, removed >right
speaker's grille. switch everything on again, another blast of tone, see
the woofer extend >about 3/4" and stay there until I switched off again.
Measured the DC offset (at speaker >connectors of amp) as written up on
Audiokarma. Left channel ~ 9 millivolts. Right channel ` >46 (forty-six)
volts!

Yup. Blown channel. Couple of output transistors, possibly some other small
parts.

Best left to a technician with some skill on audio amps.

Are you a technician?

mz