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Vintage Audio (record players, hi-fi etc) Amplifiers, speakers, gramophones and other audio equipment. |
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21st May 2020, 9:21 pm | #1 |
Pentode
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 179
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Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
Hi All.
Looking for some help/advice. I have an Arcam Alpha One CD player i use in the garage when fiddling with my cars etc. Its a nice bit of kit. I have noticed that the transport mechanism is playing up as occasionally it will not recognize the CD in the player. I took the lid off to have a look and noticed that the PCB at the base of the transport flicks down when the transport tray is ejected and on pressing load the PCB flicks back up into place. However, on my unit it is not quite going far enough up to tell the player a CD is loaded. Some manual help sorts the issue. How can i fix this? |
21st May 2020, 10:18 pm | #2 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: East Sussex, UK.
Posts: 3,326
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
Slack drive belt - needs replacing.
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22nd May 2020, 9:28 am | #3 |
Pentode
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 179
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
Oh - Thanks Vidjoman - I will hunt out a new belt asap.
Many thanks. |
22nd May 2020, 9:33 am | #4 |
Pentode
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 179
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
This should do it - right?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/E605-Repl...oAAOSwf2pbhsY1 E605 part number. Ordered but almost £5 posted...... Last edited by Ray_Singh; 22nd May 2020 at 9:44 am. |
22nd May 2020, 6:10 pm | #5 |
Hexode
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Liverpool, Merseyside, UK.
Posts: 453
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
Common problem which also afflicts DVD players and Computer DVD drives. Found a Blu Ray player that was thrown out for the same reason. Had no belts handy so did the old trick of sticking the belt in a pan of boiling water for a while. Still works but will probably need a belt soon.
Last edited by Clydeuk; 22nd May 2020 at 6:13 pm. Reason: clarify to boil the belt, not the player |
22nd May 2020, 7:25 pm | #6 |
Pentode
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Dorset, UK.
Posts: 240
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
A suitably sized O ring from the local plumbers merchants can sometimes be pressed into service. Wrong profile, yes, and a bodge, yes, but when it comes to something like a PC CD Rom drive, the post and packing on the correct belt can make the item not worth repairing otherwise.
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23rd May 2020, 11:34 am | #7 |
Pentode
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 179
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
Thank you all. This is why i love this forum, the sheer wealth of knowledge and experience is fantastic and people really love to help each other.
I have order the appropriate belt (not a bodge) and will fit. I will let you know how i get on. |
2nd Jun 2020, 10:54 am | #8 |
Pentode
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 179
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
New belt arrived. Looking at the transport, it seems that I need to pull it out in its entirety as the belt is mounted underneath.
Does anyone have any experience of the belt replacement on one of these or the equivalent Philips/Sony models please? |
2nd Jun 2020, 12:19 pm | #9 |
Pentode
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 179
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
Ok so i got the old belt out and compared to the new belt......
[img]https://i.**********/DoIJo7E.jpg[/img] |
2nd Jun 2020, 1:23 pm | #10 |
Pentode
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 179
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
CD mechanism will not open close or play now......
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2nd Jun 2020, 1:29 pm | #11 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: East Sussex, UK.
Posts: 3,326
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
The one in the packet looks too small to me. That will stop the motor working as it’ll be too tight. New belt will probably only be a millimetre or so smaller.
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2nd Jun 2020, 3:05 pm | #12 |
Pentode
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 179
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
Thanks @vidjoman - I have asked the Ebay seller to confirm that the belt he sent out was correct....
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2nd Jun 2020, 3:28 pm | #13 |
Octode
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Posts: 1,976
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
lay them on top off each other should be very close in size
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3rd Jun 2020, 9:28 am | #14 |
Pentode
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 179
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
It must be the wrong one as it is much smaller.
I have fitted the smaller one and fiddled with the cd tray, it now opens and closes, but there seems to be a barell that lifts the front of the mechanism up to start to play the cd. This now no longer works. I will put the old belt back in and see if that works. R |
5th Jun 2020, 3:57 pm | #15 |
Octode
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Owston Ferry, North Lincolnshire, UK.
Posts: 1,704
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
Re the barell that you mention, I think that you will find that in doing the tray the lifting part of the mechanism (barell?) is no longer aligned in it's correct position. It should be possible to hand wind the drive with the whole mechanism removed from the rest of the electronics. This will help you confirm what is wrong, my guess is that hte barell is not engaged in the correct part of the spiral slot or 'z' slot depending which is used on the mechanism. When you try again make sure that the barell is in it's slot before refitting the tray.
Re the belt, a smaller belt is OK as long as it does not try to pull the drive shaft pulley and mechanism pulley sideways. Also make sure that there is no grease on the pulley grooves where the belt runs. The drive system should be relatively easy to turn by hand, if not then there is another issue to sort out. |
8th Jun 2020, 4:03 pm | #16 |
Pentode
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 179
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
Thank you @G60NEDave - really appreciate the message.
I received the new belt and it is much closer to the size of the belt i removed, perhaps 1mm bigger. I have replaced and am struggling with the CD tray/drawer now. Any ideas? It opens a bit and then stops. It closes but not all the way...... I will try and upload a video. |
8th Jun 2020, 4:11 pm | #17 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: East Sussex, UK.
Posts: 3,326
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
Do you mean the new one is 1mm bigger? If so it’ll probably slip.
You may have got the sync between the tray and gear wrong so it won’t run correctly. |
9th Jun 2020, 9:12 am | #18 |
Pentode
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 179
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
Thanks Vidjoman - it looks like it is slipping at the last part of the close cycle and the last part of the open cycle. Here is a link to a offsite hosted video of the unit....
https://i.**********/YvMziFC.mp4 |
9th Jun 2020, 9:37 am | #19 |
Heptode
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 917
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
I had a similar problem on a CD player and went around the loop of belts, motors etc to no avail. It remained intermittent until I realised that there was a switch which was flipped from side-side as the drawer moved. Presumably feeding back drawer position, it was intermittent. A squirt of cleaner helped keep it going for a few years. Worth a look ?
Ken |
9th Jun 2020, 9:40 am | #20 |
Pentode
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 179
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Re: Arcam Alpha One - CD Player problem
Thanks Ken. I will investigate. Even at the age of 44 years, my eyes are not what they used to be. The addition of glasses doesnt really help either.....
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