Have recently obtained a LaserJuke system, with an LD-LCV2 player inside an LC-V20K auto-changer, and have a few questions for anyone who might have something similar.

Firstly, as expected, it doesn't work - at least everything works as far as OSDs, disc selection, claw, trays and so on goes, but when it pops the disc on the turntable and slams down the disc clamp, the disc spins up, but then instead of the speed remaining steady it oscillates (ie slows down a little bit and speeds up again) for a while (no picture on screen) and eventually gives up.

Any thoughts on what might cause that?

If it's a duff laser, are spares available in any other types of machine? I note it's a "Class 3B" laser, which is a bit more powerful than the traditional Class 1 in most players... a VWY-097, the same as used in a LD-707, but if that's used in other players too it would be useful to know the model numbers...

I guess there is no service manual available for this as any maintenance would have been done solely by Pioneer themselves?

On the circuit board on the inside wall of the changer, there is a bright two-digit LED display that (on my player) always displays "56" - or possibly "S6" - any idea what that means?

I notice some images of the player on the internet show it with a "disc" which is a black plastic spoked disc, as in this video:

I can't find any reference to this "disc" in the manual, what purpose does it serve? It would certainly be useful to have one to see if the laser carriage is moving and the laser tilting in my machine the way it does in that video...

Just to follow up, I've found out a bit more since this original posting.

Firstly, there is a Service Manual on this very site! LDDB comes up trumps again!

Although my laser is stamped "VWY-097", the service manual says it should be a "VWY-1005" - perhaps the two are interchangeable?

Concerning the "56" being displayed, the service manual suggests this display is used for error messages - but then, it should flash the number alternately with "Er.", rather than just display it continuously as mine does. Anyway, 56 means "turnover trouble at the rack side", but the changer has no problem flipping discs.

The plastic disc is in the service manual as "DEC-137 Dummy Disc" - still not clear on its purpose though.

But there's a lot in that service manual to digest!

Continuing on with my LaserJuke saga, for anyone who's interested!

I didn't mention earlier that I actually bought two 'autochangers' and one 'selection commander' unit. And when I tried the second autochanger, it worked - sort of. After much cleaning of corrosion around the tilt motor worm, and lubrication of the rest of it, and swapping the spindle motors between the two autochangers, I now get a decent picture.

Was initially a little disappointed by the amount of crosstalk on the picture, but this seems to be confined to certain of my juke discs which I suspect are warped. Have now created my own 'disc press' with the weight of 32 cans of baked beans (the British culinary delicacy) bearing down on them.

I mentioned the 'dummy disc' in the previous post - I've now obtained one. Although the manual isn't clear on what it's for or what to do with it, it should go in the bottom tray of the changer. When the door is opened, it's retrieved and placed on the spindle, and (my guess is that) its purpose is to protect the laser when disc-swapping is being performed by the pub/bar/diner owner...

So spent a lot of time restoring it. A lot of cleaning needed, a new backplate fabricated for the changer (who knows what the previous owner did with this, but it was missing) and the removal and replacement of a lot of foam 'draught excluder' which had melted into a horrible sticky black mess. Thankfully no electronic faults (bar a non-functioning beeper (piezo buzzer) that I haven't looked at yet, and a slightly dicky dip switch on the front panel). There's a 3V battery on the main board which I assume is still working, as the player seems to remember inhibited tunes, for example, after being powered on and off.

There is no back cover on the Selection Commander, but this seems quite common (I've yet to find a picture of one with this on the internet).

I haven't yet tried out the amplifier (Pioneer SA-V190), and the original speakers (Pioneer CS-V150) weren't included sadly. These appear to be as rare as hen's teeth, so will probably (if the amp. works) just look for something similar in size - the Kenwood CM-7ES looks eminently suitable.

It looks as though the SA-V190 had a wired remote volume control, but I've been unable to find any details of it (or a picture, other than the line drawing the manual), which connects to a small jack on the rear panel. My guess (not having a service manual to check) is that this will simply be two switches, connecting the pins of a three-contact jack together so should be simple to fabricate a replacement. My ideal remote control will also have a stop button, connected to the micro-switch S3 in the controller, as it is annoying being unable to stop a song otherwise...

Still one or two puzzling things - the user guide has a page on setting 'expansion rates' without any explanation of what they are! Maybe something to do with the costs/number of coins to be inserted? So not of much interest. Also 'registration of identification numbers' which is similarly unexplained.

Some other options are a little gnomic - "BREAK-IN - A special mode for aging that operates while reducing the stand-by time for promotion play and playing time to 1/10 (In other cases normal operation is carried out)" - so if I read this aright, it actually causes the player to do more work - why would one want the player to age quickly?

The changer has an 'hour meter' on the front panel. This looks like an electrical fuse but with a scale marked along the silver wire. I have no idea how to 'read' it - I can only assume both my players have exceeded 10,000 hours of use and so the meter shows nothing...

There is an internal lamp in the autochanger, but it's a 12V "grain of wheat" bulb with a blue filter that is so dim you can barely discern it with the door shut. I'm not sure if it's intended to be decorative, or to assist when the owner is changing discs, but either way it's too feeble.

Finally, a little plea - I'd love to find a copy of juke disc Laser Juke: Music Compilation Series [17.11.10] which I think contains a couple of songs by obscure UK band All About Eve - if anyone has it and would like to swap, I'd offer two discs in exchange from my trove of juke discs!

This is the first I saw of your post with this player.
Sorry I can't help, looks very interesting, glad you are getting it together to work again.
Hope you find the disc too!!!