"Greg Bailey" wrote in message
. ..
I have a four-year old AIWA JAX-S5 stereo (3-cd changer, 2 cassetes, radio,
about a $150 unit). I have started getting a distinct whine with most every
CD I try to play. It seems to be particularly bad with CDs that seem to be
a bit lighter in weight than normal (which is a lot of them lately). It is
particularly bad, to the point of causing read errors, on the first three
or four tracks of a CD. On the later tracks, the whine doesn't appear.

I've done some homework online and it appears this is a resonance problem,
and there is a particular problem with a particular Sony optical pickup.
I'm not sure this is that unit, but being that Sony=AIWA at that point in
time, and I'm getting the symptoms that have been common to that pickup,
circumstantial evidence tells me it's likely to be that pickup.

I know there were Sony service updates put out about this problem
detailing the fix of putting a brass washer on the pickup and a felt pad
on the bottom of the top clamp assembly. That sounds simple enough to do,
except that I'm rather unmechanical and don't have a clue what to do,
which means taking it to a tech.

I'm not a cheapskate and am willing to pay a tech for good work ... a
couple of years ago I spent WAY more than the thing was worth to get a
tech to do repairs on my first CD player, a Magnavox boombox that was made
in Germany 20 years ago, because it was worth it to me ... and I'm willing
to spend a bit to get this fixed if it's not an arm and a leg. The thing
is, though, I've disliked this stereo since I got it and unless it's going
to be a cheap and quick fix, I'm almost inclined to ditch it and get
something else. I'm also concerned about being able to get the Sony parts
to fix this, since it seems like it's been a while since that service
update was put out and this unit is relatively old.

So, what am I looking at here?

Thanks in advance for any help.



Before doing anything else at all, clean the laser. These Aiwa 3 disc units
have got to be the worst example ever of a laser that gets really really
dusty. It is because the CD deck is located right over the power supply and
output stages, and the heat convection currents carry the dust up inside,
round over the deck, and then deposit it all over the upper surface of the
changer. I used to do a lot of work for a chain store here in the UK that
sold all variants of these units by the thousand, and over the years, I have
lost count of how many I have seen with extremely dusty lasers, causing all
manner of problems, including noisy play. Sometimes - 30-50% maybe - you
have to replace the laser, as enough dust has got inside the optics to
continue to cause trouble. Whilst your problem may not be one of dust, just
try giving it a clean first. It might just clear up its troubles ...

Arfa