Author Topic: Old CD player won't turn on  (Read 1446 times)

Old CD player won't turn on
« on: 09 November, 2020, 10:37:56 am »
I have a fairly old, sorta 20ish year 3 CD multi changer with a CD burner that was revolutionary when I got it. Till all computers did.

Anyhow its not been used for around 18 months and when plugged in it lights up, makes the usual sounds but won't actually turn on. Is there likely to be anything I can do other then take it to the electrical recycling

Kim

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Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #1 on: 09 November, 2020, 11:25:04 am »
With something like that my suspicion would be power supply capacitors or possibly dry solder joints.  Usually what happens is an electrolytic capacitor dries up and the power supply circuit stops regulating properly, depriving the logic circuitry of the power it needs to boot up properly.

Further diagnosis involves poking around likely looking circuitry with a meter and/or oscilloscope, looking for bulging capacitors with a Mk 1 eyeball, possibly the sniff test, and possibly digging out the ESR meter to test individual caps.  Which means it's beyond economic repair unless you're an electronics hobbyist.

Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #2 on: 09 November, 2020, 11:53:25 am »
It could also be corrosion on the buttons. Repeated pressing, pressing harder than normal or applying contact cleaner can help.

Kim's answer covered all the likely scenarios.
Quote from: Kim
Paging Diver300.  Diver300 to the GSM Trimphone, please...

Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #3 on: 09 November, 2020, 03:51:33 pm »
Also if it lights up and makes mechanical noises it has turned on.
Do you mean it wont play a CD which is different. Some CD players won't play if their lens cant track the CD. Maybe dust on the lens.
Don't try cleaning it with anything without doing a bit of research. A gently blow with a lens blower (camera type) might help.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Kim

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Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #4 on: 09 November, 2020, 04:02:00 pm »
Also if it lights up and makes mechanical noises it has turned on.

Might just mean the backlight and mechanics are happy with out of spec power, while the processor isn't.  Or they're driven from a different voltage rail that isn't affected.

Diver300's point about switch problems is a good one.  In addition to switches, there might be one of those horrible flatflex / ribbon cable connectors as found under the keyboards of laptops, which might benefit from re-seating or a squirt of contact cleaner.  (Taking care not to break it.)

Similarly, there might be the possibility that it's working, but the display isn't?  Same sort of causes...

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #5 on: 09 November, 2020, 04:03:30 pm »
The most common fault on old electro-mechanical devices is the rubber bands rotting.  If that is the case replace and clean the old rubber off the capstans.

In my case my first hi-fi cd player made by Trio (Kenwood) stopped working.  As it was very old I bought a newer model,  As I had a new one I felt safe to open the old one. I quickly found all I needed to do was put that loose rubber band that after thousands of movements had worked its way off its capstans back in postion.

Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #6 on: 09 November, 2020, 05:19:00 pm »
Sorry I wasn't clear. When it lights up its on standby. It won't come on from standby

Feanor

  • It's mostly downhill from here.
Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #7 on: 09 November, 2020, 05:31:27 pm »
The standby power supply is usually separate from the main PSU.

it's a tiny low power single-chip thing, which keeps a minimal number of things on, eg the remote control receiver.
When you try to bring it out of standby, it tries to start up the main PSU.

Sounds like the main PSU is failing to start up, likely for one of the reasons stated already.

Do you have a model number we could use to google for a schematic?

Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #8 on: 11 November, 2020, 05:32:51 am »
Don't expect you will find many rubber belts and capstans Inna CD player. About 30 years ago when CD players were quite a 'new thing' and spares and schematics were available plus diagnostic tools in the firmware I researched and  attempted to repair a Philips player with a laser fault. Was a waste of time and money. Unless it's something obv. then I'm afraid it's just WEE.

Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #9 on: 11 November, 2020, 06:49:34 am »
Before "Lockdown I: The Incarseration" we had a Repair Cafe spring up in Rugby to which folk would take all manner of things like your CD player.  I am amazed and delighted at the ingenuity and ability of many a fettler to breathe life back into older devices.

A friend of mine volunteers there and seems to be "Sourcer in Chief" of obscure replacement parts.  The advent of 3D printing has also helped apparently.

Kim

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Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #10 on: 11 November, 2020, 12:25:07 pm »
In general, and discounting actual mechanical problems like drive belts, electronic device failures are usually:

- Knackered batteries
- Dry capacitors
- Bad connections
- Software problems

Most of these are eminently fixable if you know what you're doing, but in order to diagnose and repair them you have to get past the plastic tabs and/or glue that modern devices are inevitably held together with, which is often destructive.  Which means that 90% of consumer electronics problems come down to whether you're able to repair or replace:

- Snappy plastic parts

Which is where the 3D printing comes in.

I've lost count of the times I've fought my way inside some failed device, diagnosed the failure with little more than a Mk 1 eyeball, and promptly given up because I've destroyed the case to get to it, so now the buttons won't work or it isn't waterproof any more or whatever.  The world would be a better place (at least in WEEE terms) if people just used fucking screws.

Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #11 on: 11 November, 2020, 04:15:31 pm »
Which is where the 3D printing comes in.
I was told that if you wanted to do a 3D print of, say, a cup, you'd need software for it.
How would you go about it?

So, Person A has a 3D printer. I ask Person A to replicate my favourite cup. How would I get
software for my favourite cup? ???

Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #12 on: 11 November, 2020, 04:22:43 pm »
I guess you'd have to get a digitised design of the cup done.  Or download a close approximation.

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/home/cup-sammy3
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Kim

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Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #13 on: 11 November, 2020, 04:59:52 pm »
They'd need a suitable file that describes the object.  Which either means obtaining the original design files for the object (if it was something that was originated in CAD), taking measurements and replicating the design by hand, or possibly scanning the object in 3D somehow (lasers, cameras, x-rays, whatever) to create one automagically.

Obviously replicating objects in CAD requires software, skills and effort.  Like repairing consumer electronics, it's economically marginal unless the relevantly skilled person's time is free.  It does seem like a great way to make a replacement pingfuckit for the catch on your well-loved widget though.  Especially if you can then upload your pingfuckit design to some website to save other widget owners from having to replicate the work in future.

Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #14 on: 12 November, 2020, 04:03:53 pm »
Thanks for the advice. I've not had a chance to look at it properly yet but seem to remember it is screwed together with torx or similar so will get it apart, see if anything obvious and if not it's unlikely to not end up in the electrical cage at the tip unfortunately

Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #15 on: 12 November, 2020, 05:06:41 pm »
They'd need a suitable file that describes the object.  Which either means obtaining the original design files for the object (if it was something that was originated in CAD), taking measurements and replicating the design by hand, or possibly scanning the object in 3D somehow (lasers, cameras, x-rays, whatever) to create one automagically.
Extremely complicated. So, I won't be getting one to replace my Hewlett Packard C3180.

ppg

Re: Old CD player won't turn on
« Reply #16 on: 12 November, 2020, 05:48:40 pm »
Maybe not relevant in this case, but if it's sufficiently old and classic then before binning it, try putting it on thiefbay and see what bites.

I sold my much loved Sony Walkman WM-DC2 cassette player whose whirring widgets had retired of old age, and was staggered on how much someone paid for it (clue - more than it cost me new a couple of decades prior)

I was also very pleased when he emailed me a couple of weeks later to say he had tracked down a replacement for the recalcitrant widget and it now worked perfectly.