Since – oh – probably a couple of years now, the household’s CD player has sat mostly unused, because it had trouble closing the disc tray. Until recently I could make it work by being patient and close the tray over and over until it eventually would work.
But a couple of weeks ago that didn’t work either. So, what could the internet provide of clues? I am pretty sure I researched it when I encountered the issue first time, not finding anything useful but luckily I fared better this time. I almost instantly found this Youtube video:
Exactly my problem and while not the same model, the inside looked similar enough to proceed by the instructions. I didn’t have a new belt, but I found a rubberband that sat tightly on the belt wheels to allow a preliminar test.
So, with a rubberband in place of the old belt, the CD player was able to keep the tray closed and play CDs again, justifying a more permanent replacement. My searching brought up a link to German nanocamp.de, promissing to ship a replacement belt for my exact CD player model within three weeks of ordering and all that for a grand total of € 8,75. Yes, that includes shipping in EU.
The replacement belt arrived in my mailbox earlier this week, send by Deushe Post on July 22nd and thus not nearly three weeks underway – hat tip to both Deutsche Port and nanocamp! Today it was (again) pouring down, making the day a perfect DIY opportunity.
Taking time to clean the tray and chassis a bit more this time, it still didn’t take more than half an hour to replace the rubberband with a new improved silicone belt.
It’s rather amazing. The CD player was bought by my wife when she moved from her parents to her own appartment in 1996, so it is more than 29 years old and apparently ready for at least some more years.
Testing the new belt with some Georgia Satellites:
Closing note: Writing this blog article has taken much longer time than repairing this old CD player. Now I just have to wait for being home alone, so I can turn up the volume and enjoy my CDs.