Hi,

I'm attempting to repair a CLD-S104 with a faulty power supply board but I can't seem to figure out how to manually eject the LD tray.
I followed the service video found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIMBrbRPRro but I think it's only referring to how the entire tray is removed from the player itself. The trouble I'm having is that I can't get it to budge at all.
Does anyone know if there's some sort of locking mechanism that would prevent the tray from being pushed forward? I can nudge the cd drive forward but not the LD drive. I may not be using enough force but I also would prefer not to break the thing.
I've enclosed some photos but I've also had a pretty good look at the interior and I can't seem to find any latching mechanism. The gears that seem to control the LD tray are not easy to reach like the CD tray gears are.

Any advice would be greatly welcome. Thanks!

-Mark

Hi, Mark-

Welcome to the Laser Disc Database forum!

I do not know that specific player, but on some two-sided Pioneer players from that same era (CLD-D604, CLD-D704), there is a belt connecting the load/unload motor to the tray-moving and disc-hub mechanisms. By finding the belt on those players, you can manually roll the larger wheel that the belt goes around (a whole bunch of times!) and you will see the disc hub start to move up or down (I forgot which way is needed). Once that hub is in the needed position, further turning of that same belt wheel in the same direction will start to make the laser disc tray open, eventually all the way.

If you find such a belt on your player (perhaps under the disc tray, near the front of the player), try that trick and see what you get. Let us know if it works or not. I wish you success.

I'll have a look and let you know. I haven't had too much time to play around with it this week.

Thanks!

I am pretty sure the disc hub assembly has to be in a lower position when the tray is opened or closed (so that it is out of the way when a disc moves in or out). If/when you do see a way to make it move, try downward first, that should potentially lead to the tray opening.

I had some time with it over the weekend. The disc hub was fully down. I am able to manually eject the cd drive but the laserdisc tray still doesn't budge. The only set of gears I can see that may have anything to do with the LD tray are near the front. I cannot move them for the life of me. That and they're pretty difficult to access in the first place. My next thought was to try and remove the front assembly but I'm not sure that's going to be possible with the trays still in.

My understanding from what I have discovered recently is that the reason that a certain tray comes out is due to the position of the laser pick-up from the spindle motor. Supposedly, there is a switch somewhere that dictates which tray has priority. Thus, a simple test to see if this will work to get the LD tray out is to move the laser mechanism closer to the back of the player and then try spinning the load gears again.

I had a similar problem with my DVL-909 - link here: https://forum.lddb.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=8179

Of course I've no idea if the CLD-S104 has the same type of mechanism, but it's quite likely.

I'm not clear, did you find the little pulley wheel referred to in christw6atv's post? On the DVL-909 it's easy to turn this with your finger, although you do have to turn it a lot to make the tray move by even a small amount! From memory it's tucked under the tray near the front on the left hand side.

Once you have found this, wind it back and forth using your finger on the white pulley wheel. One way, and the CD tray will start moving outwards. But you want to wind it the other way - so the CD tray closes. Once it has closed, keep on winding in the same direction.

Very slowly this will start raising up the whole laser assembly. Keep going until this is fully raised, as though the player is ready to play (ie if there were a disc inside, it would be clamped onto the turntable). At this point you won't be able to wind any further.

But there is a fairly hefty plastic piece under the tray that can now (and only now) be slid from side to side. This is the important bit - it locks or unlocks the 'CD' tray from the big 'LD' tray.

Push it towards the centre of the player (actually the spring may pull it that way, I can't recall now), then begin winding the pulley back in the other direction.

The laser assembly will drop, and after that keep on winding and the LD tray will come sliding out.

Hope this helps!

It did cross my mind that I may have to keep pushing the wheel since seemed to have the ability to keep going. I noticed this when I was moving the laser spindle down. I figured something must unlock when I get far enough. I'll have to try it.

Will let you know. Thanks!