Loud Clicking Noise

One thing I discovered during my initial examination of my CD Unit, (and inherent clumsyness) was a loud constant clicking noise when the unit was powered on. This only came about after I had inspected the original transport, but I think something like this could potentially occur in a unit anyway and can be fixed without replacing the transport (in most cases).

The cause of the clicking was determined by opening the door with no disc in the unit whilst the clicking noise was occuring. This revealed the laser vibrating next to the disc platter. What had happened was that whilst I examined the unit I accidentally snapped off one of the zero switches wires, this meant that the unit could no longer sence the laser was at it's most central position (zero position) and constantly tried to move it there, the result was a loud clicking caused by the gear mechanism clicking. I think leaving a unit to do this for long enough would stop it clicking but would also take the sharp edges off the gears too, so whilst it would be a tiny bit safer for small children, it would also be useless. So if your unit clicks like this TURN IT OFF :)



Here you can see the wire snapped off from the zero switch. To fix all you need to do is simply re-attach this wire to the point where it has been snapped off from (which is obvious as the other has already got a connection). As I replaced the whole transport I can only assume that it would be possible to repair this whilst the transport is still in the cradle, as the points are very accessible. Simply remove the transport as described in the Transport Replacement Guide and reconnect this wire with a small amount of solder, and rebuild the unit, which should now, be as good as new again.

There you go, nice and simple, and a lot cheaper than a new transport.

Copyright 2002 Graeme Hinchliffe