I've posted a while back about my CLD 97 not wanting to read LaserDiscs every so often. Well, now that I've had my replacement CLD 95, I've gone to see what I can do with the 97 and it just doesn't like to read discs. I'll put a disc on there, and it doesn't recognize it. If I do get it to recognize a disc, and try to get it to flip over to side B, it will attempt to flip, but will abort and revert back to stop position. Also, it doesn't like to recognize CDs either. If it does read a CD after many attempts, the audio is full of static and it refuses to fast forward or reverse. Question is, is there anyway that I can fix this myself. I have the service manual for this machine. I'm a college student here, so anyway if I can fix this myself would be greatly appreciative!

If the CD playback is noisy it is either the spindle centering adjustment or the RF signal is low. Since you have trouble with LD and CD I'd guess low RF out of the pickup. Needs a new one.

The strange thing is that I had a problems similar to this with my Dad's D701. The machine didn't want to read LDs when I put them in. Sometimes, I'd hear some clicking as if it was attempting to load, but it failed. Also, with certain LDs, it would start to spin up, then abort. Also, when it had trouble, that machine would be able to read one side of the disc, but not the either. What I mean by that is, I manually flipped the disc, and usually it would recognize the Side A of the disc, but when I manually flipped to the other side, it wouldn't recognize that. Also, on some discs, if it decided to play them, they would lock up with snow and the machine ould abort playback. There were also several discs where it couldn't play to the end of a side because it kept on skipping, regardless if I used the jog shuttle or not. Also, on some discs, like the Aladdin CAV THX boxset, certain sides, or near the end of the disc, the audio would be full of static. At the time, I would test them on a DVL 919 and they played perfectly, so I can vouch that the discs didn't have rot. In addition to that, when the player wasn't working, it wouldn't read CDs. If I put a CD in the player, the laser would just hunt back and forth, and not recognize the CD. Duncan actually worked on that D701. So, Kurtis or Duncan, in many ways, don't the problems I'm having with the 97 seem very similar to the problems I've had with the D701?

A weak laser will randomly play or never play, doesn't matter what machine.