People on another website are telling me I should replace the belts on my players. That I could run into issues otherwise. Is it simple to replace a belt? Is it just popping it off and putting it on? Also, the belt is the thing on the spindle thingy right? I mean that's the thing I've been cleaning on my players and it looks like a belt and it seems to temporarily fix the players for a time period. So I'm assuming that's the belt unless I've been cleaning something else that actually isn't the belt but whatever it is seems to fix it. I could have sworn this is the belt. Anyways, I clearly have to replace something in my three Pioneer Players CLD-99, CLD-3080, and CLD-53. It's probably best I do it now since the people that can help me work on my players are all alive right now.

Are belts all interchangeable or about the same size? Will the CLD-99, CLD-53, and CLD-3080 al take the same belt sizes? All three of these players I've had issues with them flipping to side B and in some cases the open trey don't open quickly unless I clean what I believe to be the belt. Also, when I bought these players online most of the sellers claimed that replaced the belt on them and I think all three people lied or used a gimmick to get people to buy the players or maybe someone else lied to them and told them they replaced it or it could have been replaced back in the early 2000s and people claim it was replaced.

Here is my guide to replace the 99 and 53 belt (same as the 704)

ldfan @ [CLD-D704] Loading Issues


The belts you need for the 99 and 53 can be purchased here.....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175730011496?h ... R96smtSFYw


.... and same goes for the belt for a 3080......

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174686696306?h ... R-CsmtSFYw

You may not recall, but we discussed the belt replacement before on your 3080 and you deemed it too difficult to reach. Thus, you may want to study how to replace it before ordering the part.



Also, the part you think is a belt on the spindle is not a belt but a “grip ring”. If you are cleaning that part constantly, you might have already thinned it out too much and will eventually need to replace it. You can get those here for the 99 and 53....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174686647125?h ... R4C44dSFYw

Oh s**t I haven't been cleaning the belt.... I've been cleaning the other thing and it seems to fix the issues I have but what the hell have I been cleaning? I thought this was the belt? This isn't the belt? What is that and why would it temporarily fix my side b issues? So maybe the belt has been replaced on some of my players. Then what is the issue with the side b not always working? And what the heck have I been cleaning that temporarily fixes it but eventually it will stop working.

Let's just call it what it is; the "grip ring". And yes, both that and the loading belt can cause the player to not switch to Side B.

When you have a bad grip ring, it will cause slippage during high torque start up of the disc and poor braking when the player is trying to stop the spin during end of disc or side change. What this means in many cases is that player will take forever to start the side change process because it can't stop the disc fast enough to essentially tell the sensors that it's a thumbs up to safely begin the side change. If this process ends up taking too long, the player will simply stop and not allow the change to occur at all.

When you have a stretched loading belt; it will cause all sorts of issues from the loading tray moving in/out erratically or not at all, the clamping process failing to lift and lock the disc properly, and the tilt adjustment not moving properly. The process that usually keeps the side change from happening (at least in my experience) is that the tilt process is not moving properly just before the side change and it jams up the laser assembly from making the switch.

So yes... sometimes you clean that grip ring and it may be having a positive affect but it won't last if it's on the last leg (FYI: grip rings on the 53 and 99 are known issues but on the 3080 they usually are not). In any case, you should simply replace those loading belts first and see how the player performs afterwards. If the player suddenly starts to work more consistently, you can hold off on the grip ring until you start hearing more slippage issues (loud squeal during disc start up and braking).




Now let's get something straight.

I'm sure you've seen many mechanical things in your life and it should be obvious what a belt is supposed to do. It turns things like pulleys and they come in all sorts of styles from rubber belts to bicycle chains. A grip ring, just by looking at it, is doing nothing like that.

So now you know and I hope this opens your eye about learning how all this stuff works. You're going to need this knowledge if you want to continue growing your LD hobby.