UPDATE: Philips "Docking Entertainment System" Model DCM230,

Guest
On Wed, 01 Jan 2014 14:20:55 -0500, in sci.electronics.repair you wrote:
Hi,

I use to be in consumer electronics repair service for many years.

My Philips "Docking Entertainment System" Model DCM230
(Ipod(s) dock, USB port for USB flash drives, CD player, AM/FM
radio, plus Aux input) has a problem with the CD player. I found
out that the CD motor is not spinning the CD after it is loaded.
The motor is not "stuck".

After inserting a CD, the display keeps displaying "Reading", "Reading",
...... This can go on for a long period of time without an error message!

Did anyone have this same issue with your Philips DCM230/37 model
system?

Hi,
Click to expand...

Above is from my original post a couple months ago.

I received responses and was told the problem may be the laser pickup.
I wasn't convinced that it was since I did not use the CD player often.

Recently I inserted a CD and of course the endless "Reading, Reading...."
occurred. I decided to let it continue and left the room. An hour or more
later, I noticed the unit turned itself off. The next day I decided to try
again, but to my surprise, after a short period of "Reading", the display
changed to a tracks count. I pressed the "Play" and by golly, it works!!!

"Loose what you don't use for a long time". I made up my mind that I
will use the CD player more often. My problem occurred after a very long
period of not using the CD player. I remember when doing service work,
I serviced a turntable(s) or VCR(s) that was not used for a very long time by
a customer(s).
John
 
There are a couple of explanations for this behavior...

1) The pickup may have had some dust on it which with repeated use and additional air flow due to heat, may have cleared itself enough to allow a "good read".

2) The more likely is that the grease on the sled rail has dried up a bit. Repeated attempts to read the disk will cause the sled to move. Over time hitting the "grease spot" probably moves it a bit each time. With the unit on, the ambient heat may also loosent he grease.


I would suggest that you clean the lens using a cotton swab and alcohol. Also, use another swab to clean off the sled rail.

Dan
 
On 03/03/2014 05:48 AM, jaugustine@verizon.net wrote:
On Wed, 01 Jan 2014 14:20:55 -0500, in sci.electronics.repair you wrote:
Hi,

I use to be in consumer electronics repair service for many years.

My Philips "Docking Entertainment System" Model DCM230
(Ipod(s) dock, USB port for USB flash drives, CD player, AM/FM
radio, plus Aux input) has a problem with the CD player. I found
out that the CD motor is not spinning the CD after it is loaded.
The motor is not "stuck".

After inserting a CD, the display keeps displaying "Reading", "Reading",
...... This can go on for a long period of time without an error message!

Did anyone have this same issue with your Philips DCM230/37 model
system?

Hi,

Above is from my original post a couple months ago.

I received responses and was told the problem may be the laser pickup.
I wasn't convinced that it was since I did not use the CD player often.

Recently I inserted a CD and of course the endless "Reading, Reading...."
occurred. I decided to let it continue and left the room. An hour or more
later, I noticed the unit turned itself off. The next day I decided to try
again, but to my surprise, after a short period of "Reading", the display
changed to a tracks count. I pressed the "Play" and by golly, it works!!!

"Loose what you don't use for a long time". I made up my mind that I
will use the CD player more often. My problem occurred after a very long
period of not using the CD player. I remember when doing service work,
I serviced a turntable(s) or VCR(s) that was not used for a very long time by
a customer(s).
John
Click to expand...
You can buy CDs with little tiny brushes for cleaning CD players and old
style DVDs. Not for blu
ray
 
On Mon, 3 Mar 2014, dansabrservices@yahoo.com wrote:

There are a couple of explanations for this behavior...

1) The pickup may have had some dust on it which with repeated use and
additional air flow due to heat, may have cleared itself enough to allow
a "good read".

2) The more likely is that the grease on the sled rail has dried up a
bit. Repeated attempts to read the disk will cause the sled to move.
Over time hitting the "grease spot" probably moves it a bit each time.
With the unit on, the ambient heat may also loosent he grease.


I would suggest that you clean the lens using a cotton swab and alcohol.
Also, use another swab to clean off the sled rail.
Click to expand...
That blu-ray player I found on the sidewalk certainly worked after I
cleaned the lens. I got it home, plugged it in, it nominally worked, and
did play DVDs, but once I found a blu-ray disk to put in it, the machine
told me there was no disk. A lens cleaning fixed that.

I was shocked, that the lens could get so dirty that it didn't work at
all, but did work after cleaning, and also that I ended up with a working
and decent blu-ray player simply because the lens was dirty.

Michael
 
On Wed, 5 Mar 2014, Arfa Daily wrote:

"Michael Black" <et472@ncf.ca> wrote in message
news:alpine.LNX.2.02.1403031413390.24064@darkstar.example.org...
On Mon, 3 Mar 2014, dansabrservices@yahoo.com wrote:

There are a couple of explanations for this behavior...

1) The pickup may have had some dust on it which with repeated use and
additional air flow due to heat, may have cleared itself enough to allow a
"good read".

2) The more likely is that the grease on the sled rail has dried up a bit.
Repeated attempts to read the disk will cause the sled to move. Over time
hitting the "grease spot" probably moves it a bit each time. With the unit
on, the ambient heat may also loosent he grease.


I would suggest that you clean the lens using a cotton swab and alcohol.
Also, use another swab to clean off the sled rail.

That blu-ray player I found on the sidewalk certainly worked after I
cleaned the lens. I got it home, plugged it in, it nominally worked, and
did play DVDs, but once I found a blu-ray disk to put in it, the machine
told me there was no disk. A lens cleaning fixed that.

I was shocked, that the lens could get so dirty that it didn't work at all,
but did work after cleaning, and also that I ended up with a working and
decent blu-ray player simply because the lens was dirty.


Whyyyy .... ?? It's a precision piece of optics. It really doesn't need to
get "so dirty" to cause problems. It's not actually all that easy to get a
laser to read a CD. It's worse with a DVD. Worse yet with a dual layer DVD,
and frankly indistinguishable from magic when you get to BluRay ...
Click to expand...
I would have expected some reading, the fact that it failed completely and
then came to life after cleaning just seems too binary.

And I realize it's a different mechanism, but the thing actually did play
DVDs, and I find it hard to believe that one lens could be so dirty that
it couldn't read blu-rays, but the other lens clean enough that it could
read DVDs.

Michael
 
"dave" <ricketzz@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:yJ-dnf3nHKIzOonOnZ2dnUVZ_q6dnZ2d@earthlink.com...
On 03/03/2014 05:48 AM, jaugustine@verizon.net wrote:
On Wed, 01 Jan 2014 14:20:55 -0500, in sci.electronics.repair you wrote:
Hi,

I use to be in consumer electronics repair service for many years.

My Philips "Docking Entertainment System" Model DCM230
(Ipod(s) dock, USB port for USB flash drives, CD player, AM/FM
radio, plus Aux input) has a problem with the CD player. I found
out that the CD motor is not spinning the CD after it is loaded.
The motor is not "stuck".

After inserting a CD, the display keeps displaying "Reading",
"Reading",
...... This can go on for a long period of time without an error
message!

Did anyone have this same issue with your Philips DCM230/37 model
system?

Hi,

Above is from my original post a couple months ago.

I received responses and was told the problem may be the laser
pickup.
I wasn't convinced that it was since I did not use the CD player often.

Recently I inserted a CD and of course the endless "Reading,
Reading...."
occurred. I decided to let it continue and left the room. An hour or
more
later, I noticed the unit turned itself off. The next day I decided to
try
again, but to my surprise, after a short period of "Reading", the
display
changed to a tracks count. I pressed the "Play" and by golly, it
works!!!

"Loose what you don't use for a long time". I made up my mind that
I
will use the CD player more often. My problem occurred after a very long
period of not using the CD player. I remember when doing service work,
I serviced a turntable(s) or VCR(s) that was not used for a very long
time by
a customer(s).
John




You can buy CDs with little tiny brushes for cleaning CD players and old
style DVDs. Not for blu
ray
Click to expand...

Never ever use these in a DVD player. I have seen several cases over the
years where the brushes have become caught in the delicate lens suspension
of DVD lasers, and torn them to pieces. They really don't work anyway, even
in CD players, because if you look at a typical lens, it has a 'wall' around
its edge which is at least as tall as the business part of the lens. Just
put "CD laser lens" into Google images, and you will see many examples of
what I am talking about.

This wall deflects the bristles so that at best only the very centre of the
lens is going to see any brush action, and that just isn't good enough. If a
laser is dirty enough to need cleaning, then it should be done properly with
alcohol, by a person who has the necessary skills and understanding to do
the job without causing further problems ...

Arfa
 
"Michael Black" <et472@ncf.ca> wrote in message
news:alpine.LNX.2.02.1403031413390.24064@darkstar.example.org...
On Mon, 3 Mar 2014, dansabrservices@yahoo.com wrote:

There are a couple of explanations for this behavior...

1) The pickup may have had some dust on it which with repeated use and
additional air flow due to heat, may have cleared itself enough to allow
a "good read".

2) The more likely is that the grease on the sled rail has dried up a
bit. Repeated attempts to read the disk will cause the sled to move.
Over time hitting the "grease spot" probably moves it a bit each time.
With the unit on, the ambient heat may also loosent he grease.


I would suggest that you clean the lens using a cotton swab and alcohol.
Also, use another swab to clean off the sled rail.

That blu-ray player I found on the sidewalk certainly worked after I
cleaned the lens. I got it home, plugged it in, it nominally worked, and
did play DVDs, but once I found a blu-ray disk to put in it, the machine
told me there was no disk. A lens cleaning fixed that.

I was shocked, that the lens could get so dirty that it didn't work at
all, but did work after cleaning, and also that I ended up with a working
and decent blu-ray player simply because the lens was dirty.
Click to expand...

Whyyyy .... ?? It's a precision piece of optics. It really doesn't need to
get "so dirty" to cause problems. It's not actually all that easy to get a
laser to read a CD. It's worse with a DVD. Worse yet with a dual layer DVD,
and frankly indistinguishable from magic when you get to BluRay ...

The slightest bit of dust or cigarette smoke contamination on either the
internal or external optics, is enough to at least compromise performance on
any of the platforms, and easily stop playing altogether on some
manufacturer's efforts. Some are better than others in this regard, but all
will fall over eventually, as the level of contamination builds.

Over the years, most of us in the trade have made very good money from
professionally cleaning disc optics. It is the single most common failure on
players, although it is less common on DVD players because the high
rotational speed of the disc compared to a CD, drags a thick 'wodge' of air
round with it, that tends to blow any dust from the lens before it has a
chance to build up.

Arfa
Michael
Click to expand...
 
On Tue, 4 Mar 2014 22:46:33 -0500, Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> wrote:

On Wed, 5 Mar 2014, Arfa Daily wrote:



"Michael Black" <et472@ncf.ca> wrote in message
news:alpine.LNX.2.02.1403031413390.24064@darkstar.example.org...
On Mon, 3 Mar 2014, dansabrservices@yahoo.com wrote:

There are a couple of explanations for this behavior...

1) The pickup may have had some dust on it which with repeated use and
additional air flow due to heat, may have cleared itself enough to allow a
"good read".

2) The more likely is that the grease on the sled rail has dried up a bit.
Repeated attempts to read the disk will cause the sled to move. Over time
hitting the "grease spot" probably moves it a bit each time. With the unit
on, the ambient heat may also loosent he grease.


I would suggest that you clean the lens using a cotton swab and alcohol.
Also, use another swab to clean off the sled rail.

That blu-ray player I found on the sidewalk certainly worked after I
cleaned the lens. I got it home, plugged it in, it nominally worked, and
did play DVDs, but once I found a blu-ray disk to put in it, the machine
told me there was no disk. A lens cleaning fixed that.

I was shocked, that the lens could get so dirty that it didn't work at all,
but did work after cleaning, and also that I ended up with a working and
decent blu-ray player simply because the lens was dirty.


Whyyyy .... ?? It's a precision piece of optics. It really doesn't need to
get "so dirty" to cause problems. It's not actually all that easy to get a
laser to read a CD. It's worse with a DVD. Worse yet with a dual layer DVD,
and frankly indistinguishable from magic when you get to BluRay ...

I would have expected some reading, the fact that it failed completely and
then came to life after cleaning just seems too binary.

And I realize it's a different mechanism, but the thing actually did play
DVDs, and I find it hard to believe that one lens could be so dirty that
it couldn't read blu-rays, but the other lens clean enough that it could
read DVDs.

Michael
Click to expand...
Greetings Michael,
Blu-Ray uses a much shorter wavelength than DVDs use. This corresponds
to smaller pits in the disc. I wonder if the reason the DVD part
worked is because it takes a larger dust particle to occlude the beam
than it does for the Blu-Ray.
Cheers,
Eric

---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com
 
On 03/05/2014 06:24 PM, etpm@whidbey.com wrote:
On Tue, 4 Mar 2014 22:46:33 -0500, Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> wrote:

On Wed, 5 Mar 2014, Arfa Daily wrote:



"Michael Black" <et472@ncf.ca> wrote in message
news:alpine.LNX.2.02.1403031413390.24064@darkstar.example.org...
On Mon, 3 Mar 2014, dansabrservices@yahoo.com wrote:

There are a couple of explanations for this behavior...

1) The pickup may have had some dust on it which with repeated use and
additional air flow due to heat, may have cleared itself enough to allow a
"good read".

2) The more likely is that the grease on the sled rail has dried up a bit.
Repeated attempts to read the disk will cause the sled to move. Over time
hitting the "grease spot" probably moves it a bit each time. With the unit
on, the ambient heat may also loosent he grease.


I would suggest that you clean the lens using a cotton swab and alcohol.
Also, use another swab to clean off the sled rail.

That blu-ray player I found on the sidewalk certainly worked after I
cleaned the lens. I got it home, plugged it in, it nominally worked, and
did play DVDs, but once I found a blu-ray disk to put in it, the machine
told me there was no disk. A lens cleaning fixed that.

I was shocked, that the lens could get so dirty that it didn't work at all,
but did work after cleaning, and also that I ended up with a working and
decent blu-ray player simply because the lens was dirty.


Whyyyy .... ?? It's a precision piece of optics. It really doesn't need to
get "so dirty" to cause problems. It's not actually all that easy to get a
laser to read a CD. It's worse with a DVD. Worse yet with a dual layer DVD,
and frankly indistinguishable from magic when you get to BluRay ...

I would have expected some reading, the fact that it failed completely and
then came to life after cleaning just seems too binary.

And I realize it's a different mechanism, but the thing actually did play
DVDs, and I find it hard to believe that one lens could be so dirty that
it couldn't read blu-rays, but the other lens clean enough that it could
read DVDs.

Michael
Greetings Michael,
Blu-Ray uses a much shorter wavelength than DVDs use. This corresponds
to smaller pits in the disc. I wonder if the reason the DVD part
worked is because it takes a larger dust particle to occlude the beam
than it does for the Blu-Ray.
Cheers,
Eric
Click to expand...

Sort of. The dust is further out of focus in a DVD, because (for good
optical reasons) the data layer is closer to the surface of the disc.
See e.g.
http://www.blu-raydisc.com/Assets/Downloadablefile/general_bluraydiscformat-15263.pdf
..

Cheers

Phil Hobbs


Cheers

Phil



--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net
 
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