Bose Wave CD module.

[Robsradio]

Evening
A real long shot, I rescued an early Bose Wave with CD player, it has it’s issues, no AM reception, (not too bothered), FM works, sound is excellent.
The CD player refused to work, so a quick google and it’s suggested that the laser diode output reduces over time, there is a pot to adjust, so I tweaked it up slightly, and it played 2 CDs, now it won’t even spin up or recognise a disk is present.
I will admit I know nothing about CD players, so may have cooked the laser? Using a phone camera the red of the IR laser is visible, (all precautions observed). Lens has been cleaned with IPA, still dead.
So does anyone here have a 2020 year model being broken for parts?
Regards
Rob

[G6ONEDave]

Does sound like a worn out/faulty laser assy. It is possible that the actual laser assy is not made by Bose, for instance it might be a Sony KSS type. Might be worth adding a picture of the laser assy in it's deck for possible identification.

Dave

[Robsradio]

Thanks Dave, good thought, will post a pic when I’m next in the workroom.

[Welsh Anorak]

These machines suffer from bad SMD caps on the board above the deck. This causes skipping and mechanical noise which may (or may not!) be your problem.

The laser assemblies you can buy (they aren't KSS unfortunately) are pretty hopeless in my experience.

[paulsherwin]

The various Bose Wave models are notoriously difficult to repair.

[Lloyd 1985]

I dunno, I found the 2 I’ve played with rather easy to fix! As Glyn says, dodgy SMD caps in the newer one got it playing again, they can cause the ‘please wait’ on power up to stay on the display for too long, as well as causing the CD player to report no disc or skip. That one’s still working well as my alarm clock! The other one was an older model, I think someone may have puked on it (yuck!!) and it had eaten some tracks around an OP amp chip, so the +15V on the IC was missing, and the whole machine had turned into a very loud car horn, a damn good clean and repair of damaged tracks, replacement of a few knackered SMD resistors and it’s back working properly, without the loud horn noise!

Regards
Lloyd

[Uncle Bulgaria]

Originally Posted by Lloyd 1985

...as well as causing the CD player to report no disc or skip.

That's very interesting, Lloyd. My parents have a Wave Radio CD player which finds some CDs it likes just fine, but others that are never read or skip so severely that playback is impossible.

How were you able to identify the duff capacitors? I usually run a mile when confronted with SMD, so beyond dismantling it to clean the laser and finding nothing obviously wrong I haven't touched it since.

[agardiner]

Hi Rob,

Please post a few photos of the CD mech. I have a good one from a scrap system, but a different year, so need to compare.

Cheers.

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by Lloyd 1985

I dunno, I found the 2 I’ve played with rather easy to fix! As Glyn says, dodgy SMD caps in the newer one got it playing again, they can cause the ‘please wait’ on power up to stay on the display for too long, as well as causing the CD player to report no disc or skip. That one’s still working well as my alarm clock! The other one was an older model, I think someone may have puked on it (yuck!!) and it had eaten some tracks around an OP amp chip, so the +15V on the IC was missing, and the whole machine had turned into a very loud car horn, a damn good clean and repair of damaged tracks, replacement of a few knackered SMD resistors and it’s back working properly, without the loud horn noise!

Must just be me then I guess I find them intimidating for some reason. Maybe it's the price.

[Lloyd 1985]

I can certainly agree that the price is intimidating! Even broken ones seem to fetch a good price!

Originally Posted by Uncle Bulgaria

How were you able to identify the duff capacitors? I usually run a mile when confronted with SMD, so beyond dismantling it to clean the laser and finding nothing obviously wrong I haven't touched it since.

On the newer one I found info about repairing it on YouTube, so I got a bit of a head start! There is a board under the CD mech, all SMD, and I think it had some caps near a voltage regulator that gets a bit warm, I changed a couple of the caps near that and it started working. I changed the SMD caps for ones with legs, which just about fit inside the can! Sometimes these SMD caps respond to being warmed up a bit, but when the cool down they stop working again.

Regards
Lloyd

[Robsradio]

Thanks for all the info gents, thanks Adrian i will try and get a photo of the mech and upload it.
The reason I think I may have killed the laser diode is by increasing the drive voltage as per a you tube clip, it played a couple of CDs then died and won't even acknowledge that a CD is in it now.

[agardiner]

The laser certainly does fail in these units.

[Welsh Anorak]

As I mentioned, replacement lasers are expensive and, crucially, not very good quality.Is it stillemitting laser light? If so you might be in with a chance.

Lloyd is right - change the capaitors for 'proper' ones. They need to be very good quality - it's very fussy.

[Robsradio]

Finally had a chance for some photos...

[agardiner]

OK, I have compared your photos against the unit I have and regret that the lasers are very different, so unfortunately cannot help in this instance.

[Robsradio]

Thanks anyway Adrian, I will probably just use it as a shed radio.

[Nickthedentist]

I would do just that. And maybe add Bluetooth too.

I wonder who made the optical block? Is that a Matsushita or Mitsubishi logo I can see on the foil side of the PCB?

[Lloyd 1985]

That looks like the earlier model, were they still making those in 2020? The mode I was thinking of was the one with the slot loading CD player. Not sure if this model suffers the same problem with the knackered SMD caps.

[Welsh Anorak]

I agree with Lloyd -that is an early model. It could be an Optoma drive.

I think I'd be inclined to agree and use it as a radio.

[Robsradio]

Cheers gents, yes it will be a good radio, and with RCA sockets may be good for testing separates etc, may even look at having a bluetooth facility as suggested by Nick.