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or CD-ROM Drive
KNOW YOU CAN’T WAIT TO GET TO THE GOOD STUFF AND
sits right between your ears.” In other working properly, a laser power meter is
words, do a bit of analytical thinking handy. Unfortunately, those instruments
before breaking out the spectrum gener- are expensive, but they are essential if
ators and such. Many problems do not you are to properly and safely adjust
require a schematic of the equipment laser power. Fortunately, that’s some-
(though one is always useful). The thing that does not have to be done too
majority of CD-player problems are often and for most common problems,
mechanical and can be dealt with using all you need to know is if the IR laser
little more than a set of precision hand beam is being emitted. An inexpensive
tools, some alcohol, degreaser, contact IR detector card or even some cam-
cleaner, light oil and grease, and your corders can handle that job.
powers of observation. A stereo amplifier with loudspeakers is
That said, a good or at least decent essential to allow your most important
test bench is an asset. Let’s look at some piece of audio test equipment-your
of the things that you might need to ears-to function effectively. A lot can be
repair a CD player or CD-ROM drive. determined by listening to the audio out-
Some you likely already own. Other put of a drive or player. Over time, you
pieces of gear might be a little scarcer, but will learn to distinguish between prob-
we’ll show you how you can work around lems caused by dirt, lubrication or lack
that in some cases. thereof, servo control, and other
One piece of equipment that you are mechanical or electronic problems. By
likely to own and need is a DMM or the way, when troubleshooting a CD
VOM to check power-supply voltages player or CD-ROM drive, I suggest that
and sensors, LEDs, switches, and other you avoid using headphones as a sudden
components. Since you will be depending burst of noise could blow out your
upon these readings, accuracy is impor- eardrums and spoil an otherwise perfect-
tant, yet many inexpensive meters will do ly good day.
the job nicely. An inexpensive test CD is also a nice 0
For other electronic problems includ- thing to have. It will let you play known
ing servo circuits, an oscilloscope is desir- frequencies and volume levels. Note that
able. However, it too does not have to a special test CD is not essential-just
have all the bells and whistles. A 10- to about any music CD will work just fine al
2O-MHz dual-trace scope with a set of for most tests. However, to fully exercise
10X probes is more than adequate for all the limits of the player, a disc with a full
but the most esoteric troubleshooting 74 minutes of music will be needed-
tasks. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is a good
To determine if the laser diode is choice (even if you are not into classical
music), since most recordings of it are
very close (or sometimes even over) that
length of time.
Hang on to old demo CDs and even
obsolete CD-ROM discs (like the ones
from AOL and MSN). They can be used
for testing. When an optical deck devel-
ops a servo problem, the disc can end up
spinning out of control. Stopping it sud-
denly can result in the CD scraping
against the drawer or the base of the deck
and getting scratched. Therefore, some
“garbage” discs are always handy when
testing.
To evaluate tracking and error-cor-
rection performance, any CD can be
turned into a test CD with strips of black
tape, a felt-tip marker, or even a hand
drill! In fact, some professional test discs
are made in exactly that manner.
CAUTION: The electronic compo-
nents-especially the laser diode-in CD
players, CD-ROM drives, and similar
devices, are vulnerable to ESD (electro-
static discharge). There is no need to go
overboard, but do take reasonable pre-
cautions like not wearing clothing made
of wool (which tend to generate static).
Get into the habit of touching a ground
like the metal chassis before touching any
circuit components. The use of an anti-
static wrist strap would be further insur-
ance, especially if the optical pickup
assembly needs to be unplugged for any
reason.