I was gifted an R7G from a friend who has since passed. For various reasons, I wasn't able to fire it up until today (it's been collecting dust for a couple of years).

When I did, I was greeted with a fairly loud whine that made me do a double-take (I've owned other players and have never heard such an ominous sound). Thinking/hoping it was just because it hadn't been powered-on in years, I ejected the tray, which took an uncomfortably long time (the whine persisted).

It then spontaneously turned off and will not turn on again, even via the front button. The tray is now stuck open. I've tried (gently) pushing it back in, but something is blocking it from recessing. It'll go in for about an inch, then seems to hit a doorstop.

I then thought I had completely fried the device, as I'm in the U.S. and Japanese electronics often need a power converter. However, I've read that this player works fine here without one, so incompatible power isn't the issue.

I didn't smell anything nor see any blue smoke escaping. I don't know what to do from here. I'm not an electronics expert nor do I do well when it comes to complicated machine logic. Is there any hope of getting it fixed? If so, do I have any hope of effecting the repair myself? I have some (limited) soldering skills, but that's about it.

I can't bear to have this become a gigantic paperweight that I'll eventually have to trash. I know this model is the cream of the crop when it comes to LD players and I have a decent collection of discs that I'd like to revisit, so any help would be MUCHO appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

This sounds like the loading belt. Take the bonnet off and have a look at the mechanism just inside the tray area on the left.

Thanks, that gives me something to go by. I've got to extract the player from my AV stack, which is gonna be a feat in and of itself, but will give it a shot tomorrow.

If worse comes to worst, is there ANYONE stateside working on these things anymore?

I took the cover off and inspected everything as best I could. I discovered that the tray was bumping-up against a sizable beige plastic part on the left that looks a bit like a lever held down by two small screws and spring-tensioned. This part is suppose to travel left or right, but I can't tell that it does anything. It was pretty loose, so I re-tightened the screws so that there's no floating, but it can still travel.

You can see the part in this YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHZFhWLvML0 at the 2:03 mark.

This solved the tray not closing, but I'm still hearing that concerning whine. I need to reinstall a couple of bits that I removed and try a disc, which I'll do tomorrow, as I'm totally beat right now.

If anyone knows what this lever-looking thing is designed to do, please let me know. Oh, I also checked for any belt wear and, surprisingly, I could only eyeball one and it seemed fine.

The lever triggers the CD tray only. If it is push to the right up against the spindle motor, the CD tray is 'active'. All the way to the left, is the LD tray. Easiest way to re-align is to pull the tray all the way out (remove the vertical lock screw) and then push the clips out of the way at the edge of the tray. When the tray is all the way out, press the "Eject LD" button. This 'should' reset the mechanism. Cycle the tray mechanism by pulling the black nub which sticks up to the right (just inside the face plate), which should trigger the mechanism to load. When it finishes, press the "Eject LD" button again. Try to then push the tray back in, making sure it engages the rails squarely. The player should pull the tray all the way in. If you don't get the tray square, it will hang while going in.

The whine is the loading motor spinning without the mechanism moving.

Ugh. More problems.

I couldn't find the vertical lock screw. Is it part of the metal bracket that's screwed into the tray via two gold screws and two black ones? Even though I didn't find it, I was still able to take the tray out via the clips. Looked the tray over and couldn't see anything amiss. Did the cycle like you instructed and made damn sure the tray was even when I put it back.

The tray now goes in and out like it should, but something else isn't clicking. Once the disc is fully in, that's when I hear that terrible whine. It looks like the spindle isn't locking onto the disc, as the whine will happen for a few seconds and the tray will eject and won't stay closed. I can't see any movement happening anywhere in the center of the mechanism. Sounds like a motor can't turn somewhere.

Is this a common problem? I noticed the guy in the YouTube video was working on a metal piece that does something, but dunno if it's related.

Thanks for the help, BTW. I really don't know what I'm doing with this thing.

Not to worry about the locking screw. It just keeps the tray from being pulled out.

Will it pick up a CD? LDs are much heavier and if the belt is slipping the clamp won't engage. Sometimes if you lift the edge of the disc while it's loading, the clamp will close. If that works, then all you need is a 3.5" SBS (square small belt).

CDs don't work, either, as the player behaves the same with that whine. I noticed that the laser mechanism moves a bit back and forth, so at least it seems to work.

Is the spindle suppose to travel vertically to catch the LD or is the disc suppose to "sink" and contact the spindle? It doesn't move a millimeter no matter what I do, which has me worried.

You mean lift the actual disc or the tray?

On the chance it is that 3.5" belt, where is it located and how much of the player do you have to disassemble to get to it?

If the tray is working now then with the top off the player close the tray and then when the tray closes the metal part of the laser assembly that includes the spindle motor should raise up and it picks up the LD while coming up. If it is whining and not coming then grab the metal frame and lift up to help it raise up. If this is the problem the unit should start trying to play the LD or CD after you help it raise completely up.

I have to amend my statement regarding the spindle. I can see it move SLIGHTLY upwards, but not nearly far enough to grab either a CD or LD. It looks like it's getting stuck very early in its travel and the whine seems to be coming from that area, though it's hard to tell.

krbahr, you mean lift up the spindle or the surrounding cage? I tried the former using some scissors, but couldn't get it to budge enough to make contact with my test CD. I noticed that there's a mechanism with a very small black spring underneath and to the front of the spindle on the right that doesn't want to move at all, which seems a little weird since there's a spring involved.

Oh, the spindle also never spins.

Would some pics help?

With no disc in the player, when you close the drawer, you should see he spindle motor raise up and engage the clamp. With the clamp engaged, the pickup should bounce up twice, then move inward toward the spindle motor and then bounce twice again. If this isn’t happening, the loading mechanism may be jammed.

I can do some repairs. Where are you located?

That definitely doesn't happen. The tray will go in (sometimes - it'll occasionally need a nudge) and, once in, the laser mechanism will dance a bit, but that's it.

I've discovered something else that seems directly related. There's a white cog forward of the spindle and near the bottom. It has an upward sloping ridge that, when turned, will cause the entire cage to rise. As such, I've since deduced that the spindle itself doesn't vertically travel, but the entire cage structure does (an interesting design choice).

Except my cog doesn't spin. Like, at all. It doesn't even twitch. I can manually turn it about half its circumference before it doesn't want to turn any further. Unfortunately, it sits so low in the machine that I can't tell what's suppose to be under it, like a cable that might be fouled.

It's all very frustrating, as I feel like I'm close to the problem, but if I start taking the thing apart (especially to get to areas that deep), I'll never get it back together again.

blam1, I'm located in Central Florida. Do you have an R7G or something like it?

There may be some broken pieces which are jamming up the mechanics. I don't have an R7G, but it is mechanically the same as the US CLD-D606. I've enough spare parts to fix whatever is wrong with it from that perspective.

You can reach me by Private Message if you want to set up a repair.

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