After a long time collecting disks, I finally found a player! $6.00 at Goodwill.

During the side b cycle the head carrage rotates complety to the top rail, where it then pops immediately out of it's stop. The motor then continues to hum... I lubricated the rails to no avail.
Any help here?

I have discovered that if I give the cam system...not sure if that is the correct term, the white plastic rails that I lubed...anyway, if I give them a jiggle to and frow against the spring tension during the cycle. It works.

Still not sure if this is a lubrication issue or a microswitch issue...hmmm think I'll get it working, and for six bucks I can't complain..

I will have to log in from a PC so I can post a video

the internet is amazing. technology connections posted a video on youtube showing the internal mechanism of this unit...what i assumed was a malfunction(the carriage lifting off the rack<pinion?> of the transport rail after reaching the side b home position) is normal....only after what i assume is a micro-switch becomes closed will the carriage finish the cycle. which explains why my jiggle worked. the player is expecting a set amount of force to actuate the mechanism but it isnt.....

assuming that this is a friction issue on one of the plastic rails...is lithium grease what i should have used to lube this behemoth?

im lost, but am still proud that i got this far.

White lithium is fine. Just don't get it on the rubber belt parts or it will slip and not work from that end.

Could be a bad switch, not a tech but I've heard about switch issues, and don't know if that means you have a switch issue or not.

Sounds like you just need a new loading belt.

It’s common to have Alpha, Gamma, and (to some lesser extent) Episilon Turn players to have side change issues when the belt stretches over time (in case you did not know, the 502 is an Alpha Turn unit).

PEB1013 should be the part number for a replacement belt (don’t think Pioneer has them in stock at the moment but might find them on eBay) or take the existing belt to a local repair shop (if one exist) and they can size up something equivalent.

The belt is located under the tray on the front left side (need to retract the tray to see it and gain access). You can also try cleaning the belt and the pulley mechanism w/ alcohol first to see if that might also give the mechanism more torque to make the auto reverse work (and it might for a short time).

I didn't know that, I knew that players like the 3070 era were alpha and players like the R7G were the fastest or epsilon.

I always thought that those mid range years were the gamma turn??

No matter the deal is that its really nice to have a flipper I'm find with the slower 3070 but I do miss the faster R7G whatever type of turning mech it had

In respect to the standard Pioneer player line, I believe that the CLD-3070 (2070) and CLD-3080 (2080) represent what would be a 1st generation Alpha Turn. At the start of the CLD-3090 (2090) and ending w/ the CLD-D702 (502), this is a 2nd generation Alpha Turn.

The Gamma Turn units start w/ the CLD-D703 (503) and end w/ possibly the D704 (and other higher end players of the era) and one can tell these can't be Alpha's due to the inclusion of the separate CD tray (that's the giveaway).

The Epsilon machines start w/ the CLD-D504 and CLD-D604 (same year as the 704) and carry on pretty much till the end since they were lower cost designs that incorporated the "U-Turn" style of auto-reverse found in Sony and Panasonic players. Supposedly, the reason that Pioneer never adopted this U-Turn style early on had something to do w/ the belief that Alpha and Gamma will keep the laser on both A and B sides pointing in the same direction vs. any U-Turn design reverses the laser's direction and that might compromise picture quality. Obviously, Pioneer had somewhat of a change of heart w/ Epsilon at least for their low to mid end machines.

From what I understood the 502 is indeed a sort of upgraded version of the original alpha turn, the gamma turn was introduced in the 503.

The gamma turn also was upgraded for the dvl players starting with dvl-700/90/9.

You want to put the lub on the metal rail.

Cleaned the belt. Fixed!

Ordered a new one as well.

ok well maybe not fixed. had to help it eject after disk one of the hunt for red October.

but the problem is diagnosed, thanks everybody. all should be well after i install a new belt.

Did you fix the side b issue?

I can't answer for the aaronaaudio but I'm sure the belt cleaning probably improved the side change issues on a temporary basis. Once a new belt is installed, the issue should go away completely.

Just have to remember that loading belts on auto-reverse machines serve the purpose of not just moving the loading tray but also adjusting the tilt of the carriage as the side change occurs and that is probably why it gets jammed (in other words; needs more torque to get over the hump). I find that most single side players have a bit more tolerance for a stretched loading belt since they just move the tray only (my Pioneer, CLD-3030 is still on its original belt @ 30 years now).




That's right.... I do recall that the DVL units having a modified gamma turn unit. KInd of neat seeing how they work in particular since it's carrying two separate laser pick-ups.

the new belt hasn't arrived but the problem is correctly diagnosed. After cleaning I watched several disks issue free. Side B included.

Then the belt started slipping mid eject cycle...

I'm confident...also, the belt can be changed on this model in under 5 minutes. Remove the front panel screws and there is plenty of room to change it without even disconnecting the ribbon cables.

Actually you can just take the top cover off, eject the tray, and then you can reach the belt from the top. It is definitely an easy player to work on.

even easier! i wasn't confident in removing the tray, which i had read as a needed step to replace the belt. never thought of just ejecting the tray. thanks!