Nakamichi CD Player 3 - needs to heat before it's able to re

Sat Nov 26, 2011 4:51 am   

Hi,



I have a Nakamichi CD Player 3, circa 1992, that is a terrific player, but
requires to be warmed up for about 1.5 hours before it is able to read the
disc; After this point, then it works fine.



I am not sure why the warm up needed, but it is drag when you have to build
in this lead-time into your CD listening.



Any thoughts as to why this is happening and steps to remedy will be most
appreciated..



Thanks

Sat Nov 26, 2011 5:04 am   

<andrewsave_at_hotmail.com>


** Might be sticky lubricant on moving parts.

Do not tackle it yourself - take it to an experienced audio tech.




..... Phil

Sat Nov 26, 2011 1:46 pm   

Why not just leave it on all the time?

You didn't indicate what happens when you load the disk from a cold start.
Does the disk spin up? If so, that suggests it might not be sticky
lubricant. (Phil, when was the last time you saw a consumer-electronics
product with sticky lubricant?)

My gut feeling is that it's an intermittant laser diode.

You might want to read through these postings...

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=279179

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=275220

You might also go to JustAnswer. The quality of their response varies, but
they do have some knowledgeable people.

Regardless, this could be the sort of problem that eats up huge amounts of
expensive diagnosis time, to no effect.

Sat Nov 26, 2011 3:18 pm   

"William Sommerwanker = Criminal TROLL


FOAD you stinking pile of autistic, sub human garbage.





... Phil

Sat Nov 26, 2011 3:59 pm   

On 26/11/2011 14:18, Phil Allison wrote:

For the google tape, Phil is knowlegable but has problems expressing
himself. Someone told him that he is a 'stinking pile of autistic, sub
human garbage' and this phrase has stuck in his memory as useful to be
fired back as insult.

He is unique. Googling finds no one else on the net has ever uttered
"stinking pile of autistic" other than him.

We should start a list of these 'insults', record the date and times and
corrolate them against phases of the moon, tides, hormones cycles or
something. Could there be a useful discovery?


BTW I feel valued items of audio equipment that the user has an obvious
personal relationship shouldn't be mucked about with as possible
heartbreak lies that way. The worst is to have some user let loose
lubricating it with WD40 or some other left-field third-hand cure, and
then have both user and machine spend some time with the applicable
medics, both having expensive repair sessions.

How much does/did Phil's treatment cost?

--
Adrian C

Sat Nov 26, 2011 4:16 pm   

"Adrian C" <email_at_here.invalid> wrote in message
news:9jcd5lFobqU1_at_mid.individual.net...


Phil didn't suggest any treatment, other than taking the unit to a qualified
service technician. (Just try finding one.) But unless the "warm up" problem
is known and well-understood, the technician is likely to spend a lot of
expensive service time tracking it down.

Sat Nov 26, 2011 5:58 pm   

<andrewsave_at_hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:7nZzq.3148$NZ7.1600_at_newsfe02.iad...

I would assume the focus voltage is drifting a bit and out of capture range
until warmed up. Find the power pot (preset) measure R both ways and mark
with pen and adjust lower first one way and try and then the other no more
than 5 percent and see if it makes a difference

Sat Nov 26, 2011 9:10 pm   

On Sat, 26 Nov 2011 07:16:08 -0800, "William Sommerwerck"
<grizzledgeezer_at_comcast.net> put finger to keyboard and composed:


The OP could try starting the unit upside down. This may shed some
light on the nature of the fault. He could also kickstart the disc by
spinning it manually.

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

Sun Nov 27, 2011 4:12 am   

"William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer_at_comcast.net> wrote in message
news:jaqn3m$fon$1_at_dont-email.me...

I have seen the main power supply filter cap open up on these.

Also shorted spindle motors.

Mark Z.

Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:11 pm   

And I've seen "bad" caps >temporarily< get better after a period of time.
Sounds like a good place to start checking. And PS caps are generally easy
to replace.

Mon Nov 28, 2011 12:41 pm   

"William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer_at_comcast.net> wrote in message
news:jat5ub$d48$1_at_dont-email.me...

I should have mentioned that the aforementioned filter cap can result in
symptoms similar to those reported by the OP.

In the particular one I had, the shrink wrap of the capacitor had this weird
bubbly texture. On close examination, the corrosion we often see underneath
these things had grown and spread like a cancer under the plastic wrap.
Weird.

Mark Z.

Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:00 am   

"William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer_at_comcast.net> wrote in message
news:jaqn3m$fon$1_at_dont-email.me...



Actually, Phil is quite right. I see sticky lubricant all the time on CD
player laser rails, swinging-arm idlers on cassette decks, bits of
autochange mechanism on phono decks ...


Arfa

Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:10 am   

"William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer_at_comcast.net> wrote in message
news:jaqvs7$49f$1_at_dont-email.me...

With all due respect William, that it utter nonsense. Any half way decent
technician, who understands the finer points of how a CD player works, will
have enough experience under his belt to readily get a handle on what is
causing the problem, whether he knows the specific player, or not. As you
very well know, there are sequences of well-defined events that all players
follow more or less, between inserting a disc, and actually playing it.
Whichever of the phases is failing in the case of this particular player,
will be readily identifiable to the experienced eye. The only way that could
then go tits up in terms of getting a fix, would be if the problem turned
out to be some really obscure electronic one, that isn't power supply
related. Such faults are actually exceedingly rare. In any case, as the
problem appears to be temperature related, even if it did turn out to be
electronic rather than mechanical or the laser itself, it should be able to
be found without fuss using a hot air source, and a can of freezer.

Arfa

Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:12 am   

"N_Cook" <diverse_at_tcp.co.uk> wrote in message
news:jar5q3$cpj$1_at_dont-email.me...

Or don't, unless you are thoroughly experienced in carrying out such
adjustments ... :-\

Arfa

Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:34 pm   

"Arfa Daily" <arfa.daily_at_ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:fggBq.64413$3Y.56467_at_newsfe18.ams2...


As you many years' more experience than I in practical servicing, I ought
not to defend my position, as you are much more likely to be "right" than I.
However...

I'm fond of pointing out that the "correct" path of diagnosis is not asking
what's wrong, but of asking what isn't wrong.

The analytical point that needs attention is the 90-minutes needed before
the unit starts operating. * If it's a conventional heat-related problem,
why does it take so long to appear? Ergo, it (probably) isn't a conventional
heat-related problem.

Please note what I said...

"...unless the "warm up" problem [with this unit] is known and
well-understood, the technician is likely to spend a lot of expensive
service time tracking it down."

I stand by that. Most electronic equipment reaches operating temperature
within 20 minutes or so. I suspect there's either some screwy problem with
an IC that's going to require a speculative replacement, or there's a flaky
cap or two in the power supply. (I'm leaning to the latter, because I've
seen it in my own equipment.)

I would very much like to know what it turns out to be. If I'm wrong, I'll
publicly apologize. If right, I will restrain my glee.

* The OP hasn't told us what happens when he turns the working player off
for a few minutes, the on again