Audio Note CD3.1x FAIL ... false alarm

[IslandPink]

I put some silicone grease on the rod ( as you do ) but it didn't help.
Just bought a new laser/motor assembly on EBay ( £7.70 ! ) , so we'll see if I can just drop in the whole thing next week without any dismantling etc and hopefully it will work .

[IslandPink]

Got the new module this morning and installed it as per the experience gained over the last couple of weeks . Still doesn't work This time it spins-up , reads the disc ( total time displayed ) but can't play track 1 properly - just does a lot of half-hearted spinning and burbling noises and can't get going .
Arse !
Arse !
Arse !
Fed up with this now.

[pre65]

Time to seek professional help ?

For the CD player I mean.

[IslandPink]

Yes, on both counts !
Been talking to Nick in the background. Possible a bloke at 'Londonsound' may be worth contacting . Any suggestions gratefully received. I have a feeling I'm not far from getting it right, but there's something non-obvious I've missed . There is a small pot on the PCB attached to the laser 'block' for instance. Maybe it needs some tweaking' ?

[Nick]

The laser current pot should have been set when the laser was setup, you run the risk of killing the laser if you alter that. Never had to change one of them.

[pre65]

I have heard of people compensating for a failing laser by tweaking the pot, but it seems very sensitive. A gnats could be too much.

[IslandPink]

OK thanks . Will leave that alone .

[IslandPink]

Ok, I posted the CD player off to Stephen Horowitz in London ( SH Audio) to see if he can sort it out.
I went to the Post Office. They offered to send it for £40 'king quid.
As a compromise they offered to send via Parcelforce for £33 'king quid . Can you believe those prices ?
I could drive down to London and back in the car & drop it off for not a great deal more ....
...and yet they haven't painted the post boxes for years - they are now pale red/brown and staring to rust in our area .

[shane]

Have you tried parcelmonkey?

https://www.parcelmonkey.co.uk/

[IslandPink]

No but that's a useful ink - thanks.
I did find the process for sending a parcel via DPD very confusing and time consuming when i did it earlier this year . All the online stuff, then their failed efforts to pick up from my work address etc, I had to print off ( from work , no printer at home ) paperwork in the end & take the parcel round to the depot ( Kinmel Bay ) myself , took me the best part of three days to sort it out .

[pre65]

I'd be loath to send something like that by any courier.

Personally, I prefer UPS if sending things.

[IslandPink]

It was worse than I expected . A repair bill of £200 plus another £30 for return postage . What we need is a CD player repairer who works in North Wales or South Yorkshire
I'll be lucky to make £250 on this (overall) by the time I sell this now !

[pre65]

What was the problem ?

[IslandPink]

"The laser you fitted was the wrong type, the KSS-213D instead of KSS-213D.

There were also issues with the mechanism, the belt is stretched.

Finally there are adjustments for the servo, namely tracking gain and focus gain which ensure the new pick up is optimised."

"I meant actually: The KSS-213D is the improved version of the KSS-213C"

"Quote to repair your CD player:

Laser assembly & belt: £35.00
Labour: £165.00
Total: £200.00"

I'm not really sure. Maybe the servo adjustments are the things I couldn't do . The belt is just part of the eject mechanism, could have been in need of changing, but not part of the tracking problem.
It's quite frustrating because I had it working at one point , although the carriage wasn't quite level at that stage.

[IslandPink]

OK, should just add that I sent the unit to Stephen and he did a good job in fixing things - the unit now works fine.