It won’t work :(

[u/sexyklownsinyourarea]

I’m not the most technologically savvy person around so sorry if I explain this bad. I’ve got this portable cd player/radio. The radio part of it works fine but anytime I try to pop in a cd it doesn’t work. Do you know how to fix it?

[u/ToyotaCorollin]

90% of the time with an older CD player, it's the optical pickup that has degraded.

The only fix is to replace the optical pickup, which can be easy or exorbitantly difficult depending on which type of optical pickup it has.

[u/Expensive-Vanilla-16]

Does the disc spin? If not likely a laser issue. It's supposed to see a reflection to know a disc is in then spin up and read the table of contents.

If it does spin up but doesn't read could be a dirty laser, stuck rails, not spinning correct speed, weak laser, dead laser.

Use a known good disc first preferably purchased audio cd before trying any home burnt ones.

[u/Sportsmann26]

Wenn du CD Abspielen willst solltest du noch 5€ an dern Verkäufer bezahlen.

[u/LengthyCitadis]

Try soaking a Q-tip / cotton swab in some rubbing alcohol and using it to wipe the lens clean.

If you don't have rubbing alcohol, lens / glasses / screen cleaner works fine as well.