It's true that one is only cleaning the top surface of the top lens,
but that is the most exposed one. If the player was in a really horrid
environment, and you suspect problems below that, you might be right.

I have cleaned the under side of the upper lens on a couple of players
as a last resort before replacing the optical block, and have had some
success. It requires pulling the top dust cover (rather easy on a
typical Sony laser) and either lifting the lens up enough to get under
it, or having to lift the rubber suspension off its posts so you can
flip it over. NOT something I suggest to the average consumer who is
asking how to clean a lens.

Regards,
Tim Schwartz
Bristol Electronics


On 12/16/2011 1:37 AM, wrote:
On Dec 14, 5:43 am, Tim wrote:
On 12/13/2011 10:59 PM, micky wrote:





A friend bought an old used SONY Radio/CD/Cassette.

When he puts a CD in, it displays NO DISC, and ejects the CD.

He thinks it's dirty, and I'm in favor of cleaning things, and I even
have a CD Cleaning Disk, which I got for a dollar at a hamfest, have
never used, but have long wondered about.

a) If the CD cleaning disk doesn't touch the laser or anything else,
how can it clean anything????

b) Is there much chance using it will get the drive to accept and play
the CD?

P.S. The radio works well, AM and FM, and one of the 2 cassettes
plays, mabye too slow, but he was told they have belt drives and I can
replace the belts. There is an electronics store here that sells
pretty much all sizes .

My experience with cleaning discs is that they don't do much.

Since you are mechanically competent enough to change belts, you should
be able to open the machine up enough to get at the lens. Use a cotton
swab SLIGHTLY moistened with lens cleaning fluid if you have some, but
even even Windex will do. Gently roll the swab over the lens. Keep in
mind that the lens is on a suspension that allows it to move up and down
to focus. On most home players, removing the lid and opening the drawer
will give you enough access to clean the lens. Portables are all over
the place, from really easy to needing a Sawzall to get to the pick-up.

Regards,
Tim Schwartz
Bristol Electronics

So you can get the top of the lens but what about all the other
surfaces inside the optical block?

G²