Digital box with decidedly analogue problem...

[Rothchild]

I've got an Arcam Alpha One CD player

Like this: http://www.hifiengine.com/images/model/arcam_alpha_cd.jpg

I've had it since new and for my needs it sounds alright (especially all my cds are ripped and served anywhere via Madsonic on my Pi so playing a disk is just a occasional indulgence) but it has a distinctly analogue problem. There's a rubber band that drives the cog which transports the tray back and forth. When the tray returns in to the drive the final bit of the travel engages a lug on the front of 'sled' that holds the laser and motor which is 'screwed' up a slot on the block under the cog, dragging the drive motor and laser up in to the bottom of the disk and pinning it to the spindle at the top.

The problem (at least as far as I can tell) is that the belt has stretched so that it slips on the final bit of travel to turn the block and doesn't pull the 'sled' and the disk properly. If I offer it a bit of help by supporting the bottom of the transport (with the case off) or gently lift and drop the front of the player at the crucial moment when the tray slides back it lifts the sled all the way and the disk will load.

Neither of these solutions are ideal and I'd like to try changing the belt (I've already cleaned out all the dried up old, white 'lubricant' crap out of the slot) but I can't for the life of me work out how to remove the transport to get at the belt without destroying the whole shebang.

Does anyone know how to do this? The manual does say this part (the transport) is not serviceable and I did contact Arcam a while ago to ask if they could help but I didn't even get the politeness of a 'no' just radio silence (that doesn't count as customer service in my book - and they're only just up the road from me!)

Anyway if anyone knows how to safely dismantle the transport in an Arcam Alpha One CD player and replace the drive belt I'd love to hear from you!

[AlanS]

Hi

Have you ruled out search the world instead of asking AoS? A Google brought this up http://elektrotanya.com/arcam_alpha_one_cd_player.pdf/download.html
and I am sure the search I did

arcam alpha one cd player service manual

will get you closer to you goal. Maybe you prefer the personal touch

ATB

[Rothchild]

Err, hi, yeah, thanks Alan.

How else would I know that the service manual says that there are no user serviceable parts in the transport (section 3 for reference)?

(I'll presume you didn't read the manual or contact Arcam, as I did, prior to making your post - possibly you didn't even read my post).

Thanks to noticing a picture on the lampizator site I note that the transport looks exactly like the one in the Diva 73 for which there's a laser changing guide here: http://www.hifigear.co.uk/blog/repair-of-arcam-cd73-laser-mechanism/ but I've already got that far with dismantling it myself and it just stops short of how to get at the belt without ripping the transport frame from the case (it's got friction/pop fit plastic feet rather than screws).

[AlanS]

I'll resist the urge to offer something instead of nothing. I could not open that document on an iPad. There did seem to be others in the search result. You know what you are looking for. Better a drop in a desert than being dry.

ATB

[Rothchild]

Thanks, I looked up the Diva 73 on the site you linked to and there's no mention of the transport at all in the service guide, so yeah I need the personal touch of someone who knows how to do this, because it ain't on the internet (not anywhere I can find anyway).

[Pieoftheday]

i contacted arcam some years back, the lazer on my alpha 5,i think,failed , it was a about 5years old, they told me i was lucky it had lasted that long!! sorry i dont know how to disamantle the transport, i binned mine:)

[Pieoftheday]

marc, an old thread on avforum indicates that someone was able to purchase a new belt and fitting instructions from arcam, it may be worth contacting them again? jim

[Firebottle]

I'm guessing Marc that you are going to have to release some of the friction/pop fit lugs or feet. With a lot of the snap together mechanisms it's the only way :steam:

Just try and do it gently (SNAP - :doh:), you may have to try to slowly release two at a time. Lots of fine blade screwdrivers or a steel rule to provide leverage.

Good luck, Alan

[Rothchild]

Thanks all,

Jim, I must have missed the Avforum post, do you have a link please (given the response I have to date from Arcam I suspect I might get a better result with a random forumite!)

I guess I'm just going to have to be a bit braver and take a risk with getting the final part of the transport apart to get at the belt (and deal with the fact that if I break it I just junk the whole lot, it's a shame as there's a fair bit of sentimental value in it - was my first bit of real hifi when I was about 17 along with a Marantz PM40SE and pair of TDL NFMs

[Pieoftheday]

Marc, just found the post again, it was for an alpha5, sorry! I googled arc am alpha 1 belt replacement an came across it, not sure how to do a link to it, sorry for the confusion,jim:rolleyes:

[Macca]

It's a shame but budget CE stuff like this was never built to last or to be serviced/fixed.

Bin it and buy another one off eBay. Or forget about it altogether.

I can't bin stuff though so all my broken cd players live in a pile in the bedroom, awaiting a miraculous day that will never come when they can be fixed. A bit like people having their dead relatives cryogenically frozen. :)

[Rothchild]

Marc, just found the post again, it was for an alpha5, sorry! I googled arc am alpha 1 belt replacement an came across it, not sure how to do a link to it, sorry for the confusion,jim:rolleyes:

That's fine, the alpha 5 is incredibly close internally, I suspect it has the same transport, I think the main differences are that they 5 has an arcam branded toroidal transformer and a different DAC but otherwise they are very close siblings.

Macca, I kind of know you're right but it works enough to be a waste to get rid of (and actually it aint a half bad player really) so if I can fix it without breaking it any further I'm quids in.

[Rothchild]

Hmm, having played a bit more I think the single step I need to overcome to be able to progress my repair is working out how to release the tray from the mechanism, this would then give me ready access to the belt drive. I'm convinced it's just a 'knack' think to release it but I currently lack the knack!

Anyone know how to release the the tray / shelf from an Arcam cd mechanism?

[Firebottle]

Can you post a couple of close up photos? We can all have a guess at how to break, oh sorry, I meant release it :)

[rossman]

I've just had a quick search on t' net and the transport in the Arcam should be the CDM9 which should be similar to the earlier CDM4 which I have worked on a couple of times.

Looking at a Rotel 965 it appears that the sled needs to be lifted so that the belt can be removed and replaced over the cogged wheel. I have done this in the past by removing the front panel first. It is possible that you might be able to lift the sled off it's runner with the drawer in the open position and the player turned off then remove and replace the belt by the gap left that way. I have just tried this with the rotel and it will probably still be a bit awkward getting the belt in place but you should be able to manage it. An extra pair of hands would be useful though.

I hope this helps

[Rothchild]

Thanks Gents,

I'll try to snag some piccies later so we can confirm we're all talking about the same bits and then we can get in to collective, remote control destruction repair

Edit: it's not the philips transport, it's a sony laser. For reference it looks like this:

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/thanhtung13188/vnav%20shop/ArcamAlphaOnecdp011.jpg

[Rothchild]

Ok, here's some (not very good phone) pics:

This is a general view of what we're working with, as you can see I've removed the laser and it's containing 'sled' so we're just left with the drawer, top right is the motor with the belt and the black block in the middle is where the 'nose' of the sled fits in the slot and is corkscrewed up, picking up the cd as it does.

http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t575/elkhanos/IMAG0007_zpspezcvsx8.jpg

For the sake of completeness one with the tray back in its 'loaded' position

http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t575/elkhanos/IMAG0008_zpstjt1dnjj.jpg

Attempted close up of the works, the block with the corkscrew in and the main big black drive gear that both winds the tray and turns the corkscrew to lift the laser sled.

http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t575/elkhanos/IMAG0011_zpsrjlm7mq1.jpg

[Firebottle]

I remember fixing a similar drive to this. I had to force the side(s) of the tray carrier so that the tray could come further out of its slides.

I guess if you look closely there will be moulded lugs in the tray slides that cause the tray to stop at its extended position. The corresponding moulded 'stop' on the tray is probably shaped such that the tray can be initially fitted from the front but then cannot be removed, a type of ramp shape.

Careful bending of the tray slides enabled the removal of the tray, not easy unfortunately.

Hope this makes sense to you :scratch:

[Rothchild]

Thanks Alan, yes it does make sense. I'm just going to have to keep flexing and trying until it either breaks or comes free!

[Rothchild]

I've still not managed to get the tray out but I have managed to get the belt off and out, so I've measured it and ordered a (hopefully) suitable replacement, let's hope I can get the new one back in!

Anyone got any tips on what to lubricate the plastic on plastic parts with? There was a lot of white stuff in there originally but it had gone quite hard and pastey, I'm especially wondering for the slotted block that the 'nose' of the laser sled (under the big black gear in the middle on my pics above).

[mikmas]

Anyone got any tips on what to lubricate the plastic on plastic parts with? There was a lot of white stuff in there originally but it had gone quite hard and pastey, I'm especially wondering for the slotted block that the 'nose' of the laser sled (under the big black gear in the middle on my pics above).

I use Castrol Lithium (NLGI 2) for these applications ... but sparingly. I bought a pint tub a few years back for lubricating the helix in a couple of camera lenses I'd dismantled and have also greased nylon runners in film scanners and such with no adverse effect. I think I've used less than a thimble full to date ;)

[Rothchild]

Nice one, thanks.

I've got some Pace cycle bearing grease that looks very similar so I may give that a go in the first instance.

[Rothchild]

Well, second time lucky on the belt size!

Just to assist anyone else who might be trying to overcome this issue , it's one of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331571503696?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Pleasingly we're all back up and running now - I'm glad I persevered this is an incredibly good full range player, I'd forgotten quite how good the low end on it is!

[Macca]

Good job you didn't take my advice then ;)

[Rothchild]

Good job you didn't take my advice then ;)

lol yeah right, maybe my success could inspire you to resurrect some of your clunkers!

[Macca]

Even Jesus couldn't resurrect some of them