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How long is a CD transport supposed to last? Mine is something
like 20 years old, still going strong, although I recently dealt with a second (albeit mild) bout of mistracking. This time I knew going in that the problem was
not old sticky grease on the reader rails, since I just fixed that (2 1/2 years ago...). I did some
reading and was mildly surprised to find out that many manufacturers lubricate plastic-on-plastic
and plastic-on-metal moving parts in motors and gear trains, etc. I also read
that Philips had originally lubed all the CD Pro 2 gears and slipping
components during assembly, including metal-on-plastic and plastic-on-plastic moving
parts. After some time spent researching I decided to get a small pot (~ 2 oz.)
of silly-expensive, specialty ”grease” for this purpose, specifically Dow
Corning M-kote EM-30L, NLGI #1. I took the
entire laser mechanism out of the transport again, and this time I entirely detached
the thick green PCB from the drive unit, so I could get a good look at and access
the relevant moving parts. Note: I strongly recommend watching the relevant Enco
video a couple of times before diving in. In particular, take very seriously
the cautions about the two circuit connector tapes that go between active optical
reader parts and the PCB. Be very, very careful not to break, pinch, fold, cut, kink
or mis-align these tapes, and be very sure you well understand how the little tape/PCB
connectors work (and how they don’t work) before you try to disconnect the
tapes. I messed up and damaged tiny plastic ribbon connector parts while trying
to disconnect the ribbons, and after I did the lube job I wound up closing and re-opening
the transport twice more before I got the tapes properly re-connected, so the transport
could work again. Back to the grease job, I looked carefully but saw no signs
that anything in the unit had been greased before I did it, apart from the old,
sticky grease I had already removed from the sled rails during my first skipping
reader fix (qv). Still, I used parts cleaner on everything I thought I wanted
to grease, and I loosened the little clip that holds the sled motor in place
so I could (gently…) pry up the motor/pinion gear, in order to be able to move
the sled on its rails without forcing anything. Then I used an artist’s brush
to very sparingly apply grease to gears, rails, all interactive clips,
retainers and sliding parts. This grease is super slippery, and it is remarkably
light. It was easy to brush on a very thin film of lubricant exactly where
I wanted without any extra grease clumping anywhere or otherwise sticking
around. After all this work, I was annoyed and discouraged that the drive was
dead after I got it back together. I figured the problem was a crooked tape
connection, so I took it all apart again and re-connected the connector tapes, then
I put it all back together again. Still dead. My third time around I was yet
more careful, and I figured out a couple of controls to keep the ribbon traces
lined up with the clip/connector traces while I re-closed the clips. Once again
I put it all back together, and after tweaking the black shroud under and around the drive
spindle, making sure it is well clear of a CD, this old transport works
fine and it sounds great again, no trace of mistracking or any sort of
transport problem, still using original parts. I actually like my old 16/44 transport, have not heard a "new and improved" unit I like as well, let alone better.>>
> >
Paul S>>
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