Hi all!

So I just purchased a CLD-980 off eBay, finally had someone in my neck of the woods put one up for sale. Granted, they said it had been tested & working, however, I suspect all this meant was that they tested to see if the power cord still worked.
Regardless - I wanted to see if this was a reasonably fixable issue that I could handle. So I popped off the hood & sussed somethings out.

It powers on, and the tray opens/ejects perfectly fine. No issues there.
Now when a disc is inserted, all that can be heard is the laser mechanism move back & forth to get lined up, and then again when the laser focuses. But that's where the ride ends! The disc does not attempt to spin whatsoever. A couple other things to note, I've tested both Laserdisc & a compact disc music CD -- and the player reacted & did the exact same thing with both kinds of discs. The laser will move a little after the tray is in its internal resting position, and will focus but nothing else. ALSO -- I do not have a remote for this player.

Based on other posts I've seen & from what I could read from a poorly scanned service manual I found somewhere, I originally figured it was a bad motor. But through all this searching, I'm thinking it might be related to the Loading Belt/Grip Belt that grapples the disc before it starts to spin. But due to my lack of knowledge with LD players, I'm just not 100% sure what I'm looking at & would be very grateful if anyone could clarify or speak on what they believe this issue to be.

Here's a link to a quick video I uploaded to Youtube showing you precisely what it does when a disc is inserted.



If you need additional video taken or would like some photos from certain angles - just ask!
I'll check the forum throughout the day when I'm not busy at work.

Any advice ya'll might have would be very appreciated! Thanks in advance

Looks like it doesn't recognize a disc at all, but you can tell the red light in the optical block is there and from what I can tell it looks to be outputting a strong red beam. What does front illuminated display tell you?
If no disc is recognized it won't spin. Either the optics is at fault and cannot read the disc because of dirty lens or it may be some electronics involved. Visually check for capacitors in the power supply section that may look suspicious as the spindle motor gets its energy from here.
The white plastic guiding rail for the optical block for this low end model has a tendency to crack so the block won't move all the way, but it looks to be in good shape.
Pictures are always helpful, others might chime in and can point directly at the problem if something looks off.

Here are the pics I took at the time. I don’t remember precisely what it said on the front. All I remember is there are 3 options that can light up underneath where the tray ejects. Then there’s a small square display at the bottom right corner. I’ll take a look at the capacitors you mentioned when I get home from work here in a little while & will report back.

In the mean time, here are some pics I took the other day when I initially took the video I linked to.
Maybe someone will spot something funny or out of place.

Capacitors looks to be good, no leaks or bulging. Pioneer are not known for using capacitors of bad quality in their laserdisc players, but you will never know for certain their current value without testing them.
It is obvious that this player has been in a dirty environment, not sure if the white particles on the clamping mechanism is dust or plastic. Chances are that the optical block is dirty as well, as the lens looks to be a little bit foggy. Hard to say, but in some instances a cleaning of the actual lens could be the solution to the problem.
I might have spotted something obvious that can relate to the problem.



Look at the loading section and the larger cog with the smaller cog on top of it. I can spot a small crack in the guide rail closely to the small cog that actually works with the movement of the rail back and forth.
I'm not certain where the actual "resting position" is for the optical block, it might not be where it should because of the crack that has led to this problem.
I have a CLD-97 that arrived with the optical block "not on track" on arrival and it couldn't recognize a disc because of this, took me some time to understand that the optical block had moved and had to be re-positioned for it to recognize a disc.
It would have been interesting to see the behavior of the white guiding rail to see if it struggles with movement where the crack has developed, but the tray might be hiding it when a disc is being loaded.

Good eye! I hadn’t noticed this crack, but I believe you’re absolutely right in that this break in the cogs won’t allow the optical block to move past this part of the guide rail.

I’ve cleaned the laser lens, and attempted to load a CD (just so I could get a better view of the optical block’s movement during the process. And this time around I heard the loading sound from the laser (you know that like digital chirp sound all CD players make after you press Play before the disc will start to spin? It’s a quick sound but I’m certain it wasn’t making the chirp sound in previous attempts, so I believe cleaning the lens thoroughly did help in that regard).

However, the disc of course still refuses to spin, and upon closer inspection of the long white plastic rail piece the cog runs along, the damaged area Im pretty sure is keeping the block from moving further back. The photo I’m attaching was taken with the tray ejected, and the optical block didn’t
move from this position while the tray came out, and you’ll see that the cog right next to that crack, on the left hand side. I even powered it off, and carefully attempted to get the block to past the area by manually turning the gear but the damaged area is a clean break, and causes that part
of the plastic to bend inward towards the optical block, making it so the cogs couldn’t be fed through the teeth as they’re supposed to.

Now, all that being said and after further inspection with the tray ejected, I can’t see how this piece is attached. Is there a way of detaching it from the rest of everything? There doesn’t seem to be any screws holding it in place, and I’m not wanting to cause any further damage by forcing it out the wrong way.

With you having some experience with these pieces becoming cracked/broken in the past, is there a way you were able to remove it? I’d like to take it out & mend the damaged area(s) and inspect the rest of the piece for further damage while I’m at it.

Or is there a way you were able to mend yours without removing it from the player first?

Here’s another shot of the piece in question, and I’ve circled where the damaged area is.
Just in case anyone else comes across this post, they’ll understand the piece we’re referring to, etc.

Thank you for getting back to me with such a detailed response, I actually have hope that I’ll be able to get this player working properly with your help! Much appreciation!

I’m off work the next two days too, so I’ll be keeping an eye out for any & all replies.

Glad to see that you have made progress! That chirpy sound is a good sign there is activity and willpower in the optical block!
I really don't remember which source told me about this plastic rail was prone to get cracked, maybe it was here or maybe it was over at Google Groups, Usenet.... hard to say!
I have been out of the laserdisc hobby for a couple of years and I'm in a progress of finding my way back.
My CLD-97 had a transport that wasn't seated properly on the transport rail after receiving it, so it didn't detect discs. Luckily, nothing major damage happened.
The disc took the hit, so I lost that one. I observed and took note to rectify the problem. The transport was actually not sitting level, so it didn't travel as it should. I believe there are many things in the loading and play process that overlaps each other and when one part is missing out, the rest won't follow so everything has to come to a stop.
A couple of years ago I had my CLD-1750 broken upon loading a disc on the tray, I heard a loud bang and then a cog in the loading mechanism bursted. Probably due to the heat of the summer, mechanical stress and age.
Had to buy a non-functioning player to harvest the parts.

I read that you had access to the service manual. Was it the same copy that exists in the hardware database discussions? The service manual doesn't give step by step instructions to dissasemble, but by observing and taking notes you will get the point and can dissasemble the unit based on that. On page 7 and page 10 of the PDF manual, you can see that plastic guide or rack, whatever you wanna call it, has a part number. I have also uploaded a picture of it.
It looks like the transport has to be partially removed. I believe that in the end of the metal rod (all the way against the back at the machine), there should be a screw mounted straight down to lock the rod in place. Unscrew it and then you can carefully pull it upwards and out. Look to the front of the machine as well, as you don't want to break the black plastic part that holds the metal rod in place. When you have the metal rod out and carefully pulled the mechanism off it, I believe you should have access to the only screw in the middle with a spring and a washer that mounts the rack to the optical block. Could be more screws, so check the exploded details. Be careful with the ribbon cable, I don't know if it can be pulled out of its socket or if it needs to be desoldered.

I don't know how well an actual repair will do and how it should be done. But I would at least get the rack off the optical transport before trying to repair it. Getting a new part replacement is impossible, but this rack might be salvageable from another broken player to extend its life.