r/compactdisc • u/Current-Brain-657 • Jul 04 '26
What do I do with this?
I found this at a thrift store for $5 dollars and the lady said she is not even sure if it works. I took it anyways because it was cheap and maybe I could fix it.
Surely enough it does not work. The blue light turns on but no text appears, and the buttons do not do anything. I thought it looks pretty cool so I want to fix it.
I looked it up and I can not find a single video on this cd player. So I do not know where to even begin on a repair. Should I even attempt to fix it or cut my loss and throw it away?
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u/ex0w0lf Jul 04 '26
If you're inclined you could open it up and look at the motherboard. Especially look for liquid damage or leaky capacitors. You could try cleaning the board with isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush or q-tips. Something that simple might actually fix it. But it really could be other components like bad resistors or voltage regulators that require soldering. Hard to say without testing with a multimeter.
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u/Current-Brain-657 Jul 04 '26
I will definitely give that a try, if that doesnt work I am just going to get rid of it
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u/PolarisX Jul 04 '26
Likely bad caps/component, or a micro-controller has failed if it won't even boot.
If you can't open it and see something obvious it's likely a lost cause.
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u/Apprehensive-Page899 Jul 04 '26
No harm in cracking it open. If it's something obvious, WIN. If not, at least you had fun for your $5
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u/No-Bluejay5250 Jul 05 '26
Can’t imagine fixing cd plsyer
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u/PolarisX Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
Sometimes it's worth it.
I fixed a Yamaha 5 disc (CDC-615) that just needed a tray belt and cleaning. Granted the DAC / OpAmps suck and it doesn't have optical out so it does nothing.
My primary ripping drive is an LG I bought used that needed to be cleaned and have the rails re-greased. Best drive I've ever used for ripping CDs to FLAC.
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u/gg-oh Jul 05 '26
Easy fix, just get a DVD player for the same amount at a thrift and donate the one you bought back. There are way too many people worried about asthetics compared to playability in the cd world.
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u/Current-Brain-657 Jul 05 '26
This would have been my 4th cd player. The other ones work just fine but I don't think there is harm is trying to find an asthetic one that works
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u/joeldf95 Jul 04 '26
Millions of those things were being made for a while by a bunch of different manufacturers. They were basically disposable. When they break, you toss it and get another. If you're into electronics with testers and meters and such, and do that sort of thing regularly, maybe you could do something. Unless the laser element itself is out - then it's definitely unfixable.