The Black Vault

I've fixed a lot of CD players by cleaning the lens with alcohol or ammonia.

That's good for over half of them but if this won't do it then I have usually bunged them out.

But today I made a special effort. The CD was telling me one of two messsages:- one was 'can't read,' and the other was 'no disk.' So I carefully took it to bits and cleaned the mirrors under the lens and the underside of the lens.

It was a bit fiddly. The other thing I did was to put a little drop of rubbery glue on the hinges of the plastic support of the lens/coil assembly. - I mean the lens moves up and down - right? Well I noticed it was dropping to the base when it was off and I figured it should be floating somewhere around the middle - in the middle of the magnets on each side which have the coils facing them.

I was a bit surprised, but it worked! I think the lens assembly support was weakened by age and heat, and I believe this is what really fixed it.

So now you can try my idea and I hope it works for you.

* Watch ya don't tear the film-connecting 'wires.' It's easy to do and well-nigh impossible to fix them.

I used a tooth pick to apply the glue, and the best way I found to support the lens assembly in the right area was to leave it upside down until the glue had set. (Rubbery stuff OK! Not hard stuff).

Thank you.

You're welcome.

will that work for a DVD player?

DVDs are a kind of Compact Disc, DVD players, CD players, MP3 players (that read from disk), even HD DVD and Blu-ray are all based on the same technology. There are variations, but typically all that's different is the format of one reader to the next as well as some other specs that are different, BUT they do all use lasers, and those lasers all have lenses, and I'd assume that most, if not all, of the other hardware inside would be the same.

NOW!
Obviously there is the exception to the rule and I imagine that there are a plethora of different mechanical means to achieve the same end, and may in fact be employed for all I know, I just have an inkling otherwise.

Tairaa wrote:DVDs are a kind of Compact Disc, DVD players, CD players, MP3 players (that read from disk), even HD DVD and Blu-ray are all based on the same technology. There are variations, but typically all that's different is the format of one reader to the next as well as some other specs that are different, BUT they do all use lasers, and those lasers all have lenses, and I'd assume that most, if not all, of the other hardware inside would be the same.

NOW!
Obviously there is the exception to the rule and I imagine that there are a plethora of different mechanical means to achieve the same end, and may in fact be employed for all I know, I just have an inkling otherwise.

A simple yes or fucking no would have done.

Tairaa wrote:DVDs are a kind of Compact Disc, DVD players, CD players, MP3 players (that read from disk), even HD DVD and Blu-ray are all based on the same technology. There are variations, but typically all that's different is the format of one reader to the next as well as some other specs that are different, BUT they do all use lasers, and those lasers all have lenses, and I'd assume that most, if not all, of the other hardware inside would be the same.

NOW!
Obviously there is the exception to the rule and I imagine that there are a plethora of different mechanical means to achieve the same end, and may in fact be employed for all I know, I just have an inkling otherwise.

I'd like some cliff notes for whatever the hell that is up there.

K, basically it means that the same method will most probably work with all things that read CDs (Be them DVDs, blu-ray, etc), but there is a chance that it won't work with all manufacturers, even though I don't think that it's likely that would be the case.

And you couldn’t have just said that because?

Lashmar wrote:will that work for a DVD player?

Yeh I think so.

Just don't get pissed-up before you start taking it to bits and be very careful.

In the newer ones I think it might be impossible to separate the lens assembly from the mirrors below. In that case you'll have to blow it with compressed air and use a flexible soft thingy to wipe the surfaces.

But as I said, it was levelling the support for the lens assembly which dunnit. - That'd be easy on any DVD/CD/MD etc... . Just use something rubbery and not something which sets hard and go easy on the amount you put on - just a tiny drop should do it. - And you'll find the support for the lens assembly is shaped like a rectagle when viewed from the side, and so it's a double hinged joint. - And the lower two points which can be dabbed with glue are difficult to get at without getting glue on the wiring strips.

If you manage to glue the thing solid then I will know you were drinking when you attempted it.

Oh! And try to avoid using your mum's cutlery to undo any screws. Try at least to find the right tools for the job.

If it doesn't work then take a sledgehammer to it.

mael wrote:If you manage to glue the thing solid then I will know you were drinking when you attempted it.

That would be something I'd do to be fair.

It's about four/five years old, does that count as new?

Lashmar wrote:

mael wrote:If you manage to glue the thing solid then I will know you were drinking when you attempted it.

That would be something I'd do to be fair.

It's about four/five years old, does that count as new?

I've got CD players and the like which must be over twenty years old. I think the older they are the more likely they can be serviced. The newer ones would be cheaper in every way and probably fall to bits if you touch them. But as I said, levelling the lens assembly in the middle of the magnets seems a job you can do to any machine - old or new. - It's disassembling the unit to get at the mirrors which might be difficult on newer ones , and this may not really be necessary providing it has been looked after reasonably.