TEAC PD-H303 disassembly/access to lens and cleaning.
Equipped with the service manual (link here), I attempted to fix a TEAC PD-?H303 3 disc cd changer I purchased in supposedly working condition from ebay.
Spoiler: It wasn’t in working condition.
The unit was skipping on all discs tracks 3-5. It would get stuck in a loop and was unable to progress. It happened at the same time into each disc and didn’t matter if the disc was new or not.
Fix below the fold.
Attempt 1: Quick try with air from a compressor (with an air dryer) in the slot with the tray open. No luck, still skips. This usually takes care of things if it’s dust on a lens.
Attempt 2:
Reference TEAC support that suggests using a disc/lens cleaner. I pop mine in (note that it’s specifically labeled as fine for front loading/carousel changers!), and give it a whirl, but no luck. Still skips in the same place on all discs.
Attempt 3:
Posts online indicate it’s pretty common to be caused by the rails/gears in this CD player needing lube and that it gets hung up when moving. Downloaded the service manual for the PD-H303 (mirrored here) and noticed it looks like I’d need to disassemble most of it to replace the drive mechanism or even lubricate it. No good guides online for this unit, so I decide I’m not up for a project on something sold as working and attempt to return. (see my prior post) Attempt 4 (working!):
After eBay decided it liked the seller more and made a second final decision (they swear this time!) to not refund, I take it apart to find all the plastic gearings pretty dry and caked with dust. So definitely not working when it was sent and someone lied. Lens is clean though so, +1 cd cleaning disc!
Sometimes the gears in units like this are made of a slippery plastic that you don’t need to lubricate, just clean. That is not the case in this unit, you’ll need to clean them while in here. The focus is on those that move the lens, but by not clean the rest.
Power the unit down. Next, take the case off. 4 x No. 2 Phillips, 2 on each side. Largest screws you will remove. Then 4 from back of case. No. 1 phillips. The top 2 are slightly longer than the side 2. Lift off the lid (fairly straight up)
In the front you’ll see a metal plate covering the 3 trays, and a black plastic piece in the back covering the lens and drive mechanism for the optics. We need to get under this black piece. The easiest way is through the tray area.
Remove the LED used for checking disc presence on top of the metal plate. It’s 1 small No. 1 phillips and it moves to the side. Full size photo here.
With that piece removed, take the 5 black No 1 phillips screws off from the metal tray/lid and slide it back slightly to remove it. It’s attached by a black arm that lifts the rear plastic part up when changing discs. Careful on removal, it will pop out of the plastic tray side when you are at the right angle. Again full size photo here.
Tray removed. Full Photo here.
Now to get access to the CD head. I don’t see a readily easy way to remove the black plastic part from the top, but we just need to get under it a bit. So follow the image below and these steps.
Remove the top two trays. The top should slide out pretty easily. Just push it back (teal arrow). The second tray gets hung up on a peg to the right of the orange arrow, but with a bit of gentle lifting of the tray you can get it to clear and come out. It’s possible you need not remove this one, but it makes it easier. Keep track of the trays. In the top left corner of each is two circles that are punched differently on each tray. The CD player uses this to know which trays go back in which location. If you get it wrong it will likely try to unload into the wrong slot.
With the top two trays out find the gear at the green arrow. You’ll see 2 here, you want the one further back. Notice the position of the rear tray, we want to put it back in the same spot (all the way down) when done. Turn this gear a few times and watch the rear tray lift up. Go until it is all the way up and you have access to the rear tray.
On the right side of the image, notice a metal clip that falls away from the housing when you remove the top board. Make sure this is in place during re-assembly.
Full size image here
With everything exposed, start cleaning.
You can move the lens forward by turning the gear shown in the picture below (teal arrow).
Spray down the unit with compressed air (oil free!), then using a Q tip and rubbing alcohol clean up any spots where it’s caked on. If yours is dirty you can now clean the lens pretty easily. Mine was already clean from the disc I used.
My gears on right side of the unit looked pretty gross. Additionally, the rail and gears shown below (this is what they look like clean), had dirt stuck in the teeth and along the slide points on the rail bearing. The rail was my major problem as it would hang up slightly when moving by rotation of the drive gear. I suspect when this happened, it would misread and start mis-tracking. Clean this rail well!
Next apply white lithium grease (very tiny amount!) to the gears and rail (red arrows). Run them back and forth to make sure it move freely. If you see more dirt, clean and repeat.
When done, assemble in reserve. Put the lens at the back, lower the rear tray using green arrow gear (photo above), and put the disc trays back in. Be sure they go back in the right order or you’ll be pulling it apart again. When putting on the metal top plat ensure the gears on the right side of unit and the metal clip that is the slide for tray changing is held under the right rear screw. Finally install the outer case and test.
Full size photo
With it reassembled, try it out and enjoy. If you need to actually replace your drive unit for some reason, you’ll likely need to remove the top plastic plate. I couldn’t see a way to do this without removing the entire changer mechanism from the housing (looks like 60+ screws from service manual).