"Angelo Campanella" wrote in message
...
I have an old stereo with a 5-disk player that I want to use for
general background music throughout the day.... but it skips badly on many
of my old favorite discs accumulated over the years. They all play well on
other single-CD players including in my car.

But this old 5-disk unit skips badly for most of those CD's. The
changing mechanism works well, but tracking is not nearly up to snuff.

One or two discs will work reliably. "Carmena Burana" (TELARC, Stero CD
80056) tracks well, but faint levels are too faint, I think. That leads me
to believe that the tracking mechanics, gears, etc are OK. But maybe the
amplifiers, Dolby or filters are not up to spec.

Other CDs including "Brandenburg Concertos", (TELARC 20 bit 2CD-80412)
are hopeless when cold, but about 60% trackable after long warm-up. Still
other CDs won't even lock in but jump quickly band-to-band until they run
out and the player trundles to the next disc.

On opening up and scrutinizing the optic head assembly (lens now wiped
clean of any dust) I see three miniature pots on the lens carriage... Do
those pots provide any useful adjustment?

Comments?

Angelo Campanella



STOP. Don't go adjusting anything except as a last resort. Clean the laser
lens, lubricate the spindle motor shaft where it enters the motor body. Do
the same for the sled motor and re-grease the gears and lubricate the slide
rail and over on the other side of the pickup where it slides along the
pickup base.
You have described a KSS 240 or 240A pickup. The flat cable they used to
connect the pickup to the board may have developed stress cracks from
flexing. This was a common problem and may require the cable be replaced.
The pickup itself is probably OK, but you never know; the 240's would
occasionally be intermittent.

Mark Z.