Background
My friend has a Radio/CD player which she purchased a few years ago. It was not an expensive unit and was purchased for the radio with the occasional use of the CD in mind. Unfortunately the CD tended to skip or stop playing. Then just after the warranty period expired the CD player stopped playing altogether. I said i would have a look at it to see if it was repairable.
The mounting plate of the CD drive unit needed to have a washer and screw installed and a new aerial had to be purchased and installed as the original one had been snapped off.
The mounting plate of the CD drive unit needed to have a washer and screw installed and a new aerial had to be purchased and installed as the original one had been snapped off.
I tested the CD player and as soon as the CD was installed it was obvious there was a problem.
The CD sat at an angle and rubbed on the blue case surface.
When the 'Play' button was pressed the spindle motor was unable to spin the CD.
From the photograph the black plastic CD drive module can be seen to be lying at an angle when it should be level with the blue casing.
I was able to use sellotape to hold the black plastic drive module in its correct place and play a CD successfully.
This proved that the system was working and was possibly worth repairing if the underlying damage was not too great.
The Radio/CD module was dismantled quite easily with relatively few screws securing the casing parts together.
The main electrical components were connected to the main PCB with plugable connectors which made getting access to the internals easier than expected with these low cost units. Often these low cost units are designed to be assembled once and not designed to be repaired or maintained.
The problem was diagnosed as being a missing screw and washer which meant that the CD drive module was not securely held in place.
The screw is missing from the corner of the CD drive module mounted on the corner with the pink rubber mounting.
I searched for the screw inside the casing but there was nothing there. I checked the plastic mounting post and found that it had no screw thread marks which would suggest that there was never a screw installed when the unit was manufactured.
This would explain the poor performance of the CD from the day it was originally purchased.
This picture shows the CD drive module with a new screw and washer installed which should allow the module to rest on the rubber mountings correctly when the drive is positioned the correct way up.
The main PCB was reinstalled and the components re-connected.
The CD was then successfully tested with a number of CD's.
This shows the remains of the old aerial removed from the casing and the replacement one side by side. The correct diameter and length had to be purchased so that it would fit the mounting hole in the case.
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Here the aerial has been installed and secured to the case and the aerial lead(white cable) re-attached. The aerial is shown in its stowed position.
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With the new aerial installed it was now possible to pick up the weaker more distant stations and with the stronger nearer stations the stereo indicator lights up where it did not when the aerial was broken so many more stations can be heard in stereo. I cleaned up the casing and returned the Radio/CD player to my friend.