Mods please feel free to move if this is in the wrong place...
After quite a period of disuse, i fired up my Cambridge CD player this morning - with self-isolation I am revisiting my CD collection and felt like a bit of Simphiwe Dana - Live.
But the tray wouldn't open, and there was a whirring sound of a motor spinning. I opened it with a bit of help, and it sort of half-opened, motor carried on spinning. Pushed it closed, and it closed by itself but the motor carried on whirring. It would carry on even if I'd pushed the tray fully closed. Wouldn't play music.
So onto the workbench. The whirring is coming from a motor driving the tray open/close mechanism via a little toothed drive belt (below). Looking at what was happening, the motor was spinning, but the belt and pulley it is driving were not rotating. Giving the tray a bit of a shove helped it to open and close, but it would stop at either extent (not quite opening all the way) and carry on spinning. The tray also drives a mechanism that drops (when opening) or lifts (when closing) the plate upon which the drive motor and laser head are mounted. This needed a bit of encouragement too.
My first theory is that the belt is a bit loose and needs replacing - there isn't much tension at all. But as I carried on testing it and helping it along (probably 20-30 open/close cycles) it started working better and better. It is now at a point where it opens with no problem and just needs a bit of a nudge to close. The drive/laser plate engages and disengages without any issues, so I am now listening to the music. But it does need sorting.
So my question is does the player need a new belt, or is the mechanism a bit sticky and need lubrication, or is it a bit of both or even neither? The belts seem to be a bit pricey and hard to come by in SA. I'm also not sure if one can/should lubricate plastic, which most of the mechanism is made of. Any advice appreciated! I've never fiddled with CDP mechanisms before.
After quite a period of disuse, i fired up my Cambridge CD player this morning - with self-isolation I am revisiting my CD collection and felt like a bit of Simphiwe Dana - Live.
But the tray wouldn't open, and there was a whirring sound of a motor spinning. I opened it with a bit of help, and it sort of half-opened, motor carried on spinning. Pushed it closed, and it closed by itself but the motor carried on whirring. It would carry on even if I'd pushed the tray fully closed. Wouldn't play music.
So onto the workbench. The whirring is coming from a motor driving the tray open/close mechanism via a little toothed drive belt (below). Looking at what was happening, the motor was spinning, but the belt and pulley it is driving were not rotating. Giving the tray a bit of a shove helped it to open and close, but it would stop at either extent (not quite opening all the way) and carry on spinning. The tray also drives a mechanism that drops (when opening) or lifts (when closing) the plate upon which the drive motor and laser head are mounted. This needed a bit of encouragement too.
My first theory is that the belt is a bit loose and needs replacing - there isn't much tension at all. But as I carried on testing it and helping it along (probably 20-30 open/close cycles) it started working better and better. It is now at a point where it opens with no problem and just needs a bit of a nudge to close. The drive/laser plate engages and disengages without any issues, so I am now listening to the music. But it does need sorting.
So my question is does the player need a new belt, or is the mechanism a bit sticky and need lubrication, or is it a bit of both or even neither? The belts seem to be a bit pricey and hard to come by in SA. I'm also not sure if one can/should lubricate plastic, which most of the mechanism is made of. Any advice appreciated! I've never fiddled with CDP mechanisms before.
