Rowe CD100A CDM-3 Targetted Skipping

I've been reading with interest Alz post "Rowe AMI CD 100A Board Error"

I have a CD100a with a CDM-3 that has an odd skipping problem. The unit loves certain CDs but others, not so much.

I've dropped brand new CDs into the unit and some of the tracks will skip. (While they'll play fine in other CD players.) My copy of MJ's Thriller is sometimes unlistenable. (Hey, don't judge... )

Other tracks on some other CDs will play fine but later on will start skipping.

Temp doesn't appear to affect this... this sometimes happens when I first power it up... other times after I've had the juke on for a few hours.

So... two questions:
1. Anyone seen/heard of this before on CDM-3 players?
2. Did I see a few years back that someone in the North East US was rebuilding these units?

I know what you're thinking... why don't I just install an iPod kit from CDadaptors? Well, I actually love the sound of the CD changing (and watching the mech do it's magic...)

Dave.

Hi Dave,
All CD players are "touchy"--some more then others--this also can be the "controller" causing this problem.
No-one rebuilds them as no parts have been available in over 25 years ! There is someone who has a stock of used parts, and manages to cobble them together--somewhat. I have heard both good, and bad about this practice ?? My suggestion, today, would be to find a later mechanism with a CDM PRO installed in it. Ron Rich

Unfortunately, sometimes CD "lasers" DO crap out, whether it be in commercial equipment, or consumer products.
Age, hours of use, etc, all contribute to the "weakening" of the beam, along with the deterioration and clouding of the focusing lens.
Other factors contribute to skipping and mis-tracking - adjustments going out of spec, dirt, binding mechs, motor issues, etc.

Not a lot of information is out there for the novice to perform proper service on these things.
Plus, required test equipment is needed to correct the alignments, tracking, etc - something not everyone has handy.

Dave, if the problem is more often occurring at the later tracks on a disk this is typical failure of the tracking and focusing servos.

CD's play from the inner tracks first and while the disk spins faster there, it is also more mechanically stable. ANY wobble, and they all do to some minute extent, becomes more pronounced toward the outer edge and if the laser block is weak or dirty this can exceed the systems buffer-error correction capability.

When I ran 3 CD-100s in early 1990s skipping-lockout was a common problem due to the environment the machines operated in. Every 6-8 months I had to clean both disks and laser to remove the 'haze" that formed on them. This same haze had formed on the vinyl records but had no real trouble there. Progress.


Rob/NYC

Thanks for the follow-up!
Thinking about it now, most of the tracks that skip on certain CDs are usually around the middle of the disc.

Thinking about a CD Pro but after reading Alz post it looks like it's not just as simple as swapping out the CD unit.

I think I'll live with the skipping (it's only on certain discs/tracks) for now until it finally dies. (100 CDs x 15 tracks... pretty sure I'll find something to listen to.)

Dave.

Dave,
The Rowe kit is fairly easy to install, except for the small roll pin that must be removed from a hard to access area.
However, in this age, finding a kit, and the price one has to pay for it, is almost prohibitive--
Didja try "cleaning the lens"--and the disc ?? Ron Rich

Hello Dave,

Have you checked out the the Philips Decoder for dry joints (cold joints USA) around the the power regulators? they were prone for issues on these boards.

Regards
Alan

Thanks for the ideas...
When I first got the juke, it was skipping back then so I cleaned the lens and all of the discs... yes, they had a nice yellow film on them.
Never thought about the cold solder joints... will have to look in to that! Just thought it odd that the skipping would only affect certain tracks/discs (even brand new discs.)

On a side note, I have proof that CDs don't last forever. I have a Style Council CD from the late 80's with a nice case of laser rot... hold it up to the light and you can see pinholes in the aluminum layer.

Davester.

Davster, and all,
I was invited to a pre-production showing of the first "Seeburg Phonograph co" showing of their new
CD jukebox. The "head of the company" showed me the phono, and was attempting to hire me. I knew this gent, slightly, from our previous time with the "real Seeburg". He played a track or two, then we moved away from the jukebox to talk. As we were speaking, he mentioned "the fact" that a CD, unlike a record "would never skip". The words were barley out of his mouth, when, guess what ?? The phono sounded like a needle was flying all over the record ! He quickly call the "engineer"--who was already headed to the jukebox. The engineer removed the disc, and held it against the fluorescent lamp -- which clearly showed the "pinholes" in it.
I'm glad I refused that job !
Sometime a year or so, later, I met an interesting gent in a bar in SF, where I owned the jukebox, and had been called to fix it. He introduced himself as an engineer who had developed a "quality assurance" program for the production of CD's. He stated that all CD producers, other then Warner Bros, USA, division, only, were using his equipment. His claim was that if the "blank CD", was properly made, then "run through his equipment, it should last forever".
Ron Rich