Carver SD/A-490t problems

[Dennis47]

My SD/A-490t CD player has developed control button problems. After loading a CD and pressing PLAY it
intermittently hesitates for 15 to 60 seconds before playing. Once it starts its fine except occasionally when
I press PAUSE then Play it will skip (randomly) forward. If I press SKIP (+) or (-) the display indicates the
command is recognized but it will not play. Has anyone experienced similar symptoms with a 490t? If so.
what was the cause of the problem? Is this a fix that could be trusted to a local electronics repair shop
or would the recommendation be to send it to Roland for repairs?

Since the 490t will be out of service I'm thinking a CD tray belt replacement is in order. Anyone know
where a belt (not a rubber band or hair band) can be obtained. Also, I read that lubricating the moving
tray parts should be done when changing the belt. Is there a specific type and brand of lubricant that
should be used?

Thanks for the response/advice in advance.....

[Eddie]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Belt-for-Carver ... 2024258716

[radioeng2]

I've always cleaned off the old crusty lube and hairs etc on the rails and gears with a q tip. Pay attention to not leaving fragments of the q tip behind.

Same places you find old lube, gently deposit a small amount of new white lithium grease. Fire up and cause the sled to move back and forth and watch what gets touched and make sure you haven't missed anything and that you see free movement without any sign of hanging anywhere. If you see a larger amount squeezed up from the movement, then you may remove just a little bit of that.

As a safety precaution, do keep your eyes away from being directly above the laser lens assembly. That is unless you're a qualified eye surgeon...

If you see debris on the lens, it should be cleaned off...carefully! A slightly damped q tip with Windex is what I've used. Consider it like a camera lens with special coatings on it. Touch the damped q tip to the debris and attempt to NOT press down on the lens. It's a moveable device and you don't want to spring it out of it's normal movement. So do not press. Just gently, carefully wipe across to get the debris without pressing down.

If you do the clean and lube, clean the lens and replace the belt and still have trouble, then the laser has lost output and it's past time to find a new player. Laser assemblies have a certain number of hours of use and as they get old the output starts fading and they require replacement and realignment when that's possible.

Good luck with it!

Mark

[Shortcake]

I had the same thing happen to mine, skipping randomly forward, not playing or reading the disc and skipping discs entirely until I turned it off and back on, and found that cleaning the lens, and making sure the random hair is removed as Mark said worked. Amazing how that cat hair gets inside that little bugger and inside the cd slots etc, and static has it also stick to the CDs that are loaded, so I blew out the entire thing with an air compressor. Also the disc holder (?) for lack of a better word, needed to be wiped with q tip and alcohol. I found the skipping, slipping was when that mechanism holding the disc while playing actually had the disc slipping in it because of dirt. I still have issues with the random skipping ahead during play with burned CDs, but works better with all others.


I have a sony 300 disc changer with a vertical load and play of the CDs. I could actually see the slippage while playing with the lid off and gave me my ah ha moment.


I have looked into changing the lens myself - maybe during Carverfest next year where my guys can watch and supervise lol.

Good luck.

[radioeng2]

I was going to say something about compressed air and forgot. I would not recommend air being used. A can of air with a straw on it can put way too much pressure on a lens and possible damage things.

Usually players don't have fans or even much in the way of vents. So most dirt comes in thru the drawer. So cleaning that area with a Windex dampened Q tip, or at most a damp paper towel, usually is good.

Mark

[Dennis47]

I cleaned the laser lens with Windex and guess what......IT WORKED!
No more lag time after pressing PLAY and both SKIP (+) and (-) are
functioning as they should.

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical that the lens was the problem
as I had all but convinced myself that the problem was with the
circuitry which supports the the control buttons and a trip to a
repair shop was in order. I'm feeling like a dunbass now...

Special thanks to radioeng2 for the solution......

I have also, ordered a new belt and white lithium grease to
complete the repair.

You guys are the greatest..........................

Thanks again.

[kingman]

Yea!!!!!

[BrianT]

Dennis

Glad you got it going

Brian

[radioeng2]

Good deal! Always nice to hear of a little more life out of a piece. Excellent.

Mark

[Magnaryder]

Way to go guys!!

ray

[Snoop65]

My 390t was having issues reading cd's and I tried the q tip and Windex and it works perfectly now.

[peck555]

Glad it worked, enjoy those tunes

[radioeng2]

My 390t was having issues reading cd's and I tried the q tip and Windex and it works perfectly now.

Awesome! A little more life for only a little bit of effort. Good deal...glad to hear it!

Mark