D-9/D-90 laser swapped - issues

Hi all,

Ok so I have a D90 and it was doing the “00” spin a few times and then turns off situation. So I figured ok this is laser. I also swapped out the sled gear that was previously crumbled (the new gear is a little wobbly though, that might be attributing the the behaviour explained below).

I managed to find a junk D22 and salvaged the laser from it (jumped the static contacts on the flex) before removing.

Now because the D22 was dead I wasn’t able to test out the laser before putting it into the D90.

Results are the D90 now actually reads a disc and plays (sorta).

So “01” comes up, but the laser struggles to read, but if I track ahead it starts to randomly pick up parts of the disc, mid-song! And even some tracks like 10 or 9 will play through a good chunk of the song.

Tapping lightly near the unit or on it will interrupt playback also.

Sound produced is quite clear and deep, albeit slightly quieter in the right channel.
—-

Can anyone help me fix this guy? Get it reading a disc properly and more stable? Any ideas?

I appreciate everyone’s help and reading this far!

 

a few years ago I posted step-by-step instructions on how to revive Sony D-90: Sony D-90 D-90 was my 'specialty' at that time, nowadays I moved onto more difficult revivals, Sony D-10 and Kenwoods. Hope that someday I will be able to fix Toshiba Discmans, but not yet

First things first: what kind or recap did you do? With D-90 this is a Must for at least a few caps. Which ones did you recap? Do you have a photo (like in my post mentioned above) of a board with bad caps removed? Please upload if you have it

- this is an indicator that your recap was not a success


Did you recalibrate the board for the new laser? Transplanting laser from another dead Discman is iffy... Considering how easy it is to fix D-22 it makes sense to fix it first to be sure that laser is O-K, then transplant

Wobbly middle gear will add to tracking problems your D-90 has, it is better to fix the glitch. Also, bad/worn spindle motor adds to mistracking. Easy to check: desolder and apply 0.5-1.5V to the motor, listen to the sound. It should be quiet, if not then...
see
my
post
above

 

Yeeeaah so…. I haven’t recapped anything on the D90! That was my last resort, I’ve seen you D90 repair post but does it list specific caps to buy? I would be hugely appreciative if you could tell me what caps are a must to change and model number of each. Even using your image as reference.

As for the D22 it was dead with DC or 4AA batteries, nothing, no signs of life. So the Laser swap was a gamble. Any suggestions to get it to come alive??

I do indeed now know the old laser was bad/weak.

That’s something. So next step is I’ll change the middle gear to a more secure one.. test again, then do the recap on the caps you suggest are most urgent.

oh and also I have zero experience with recalibrating the laser and no equipment to do so… hoping that’s not a must??

 

Chances are the D-22 laser was probably ok. The D-22 probably failed from power supply or, perhaps, even simple capacitor issues again.

Replacement middle gears, 3D printed replacements from ebay, should only have a small bit of play / wobble once placed on the brass pin / shaft.

For this D-90 have you tried adjusting the Tracking Balance and Tracking Gain trim pots? Get the service manual to find locations of these pots. Have you tried playing the D-90 up-side-down or on it's side to check platter motor or laser servo strength?

Couple years ago I got a super clean hardly used late model D-90 from e-bay just for the laser and sled spares. The D-90 worked fine, as expected, apart from no audio in the right channel. Capacitor issue. I did not repair it as it was just for parts... ridiculous number of capacitors inside. The overall effort in DiscmanLand is only worth it for a couple of top models, in my opinion. Ditto for WalkmanLand too. But that's just me

 

soooo I put the D90 laser in the D22 just so everything can go back together nicely and would you know it the D22 powered on lol! laser still dead so that confirms it at least.

I don’t think I want to drop in the original D22 laser back in and check it as that’s a whole lot of extra work. I think I’ll try your suggestion of the tracking and balance trim pots and see what minor adjustments I can make…

yup I have the 3D printed replacement gears, one to go in my D250 which seems to be working fine, reading first track. Just won’t go beyond 30seconds as the laser can’t move along the sled.

So for the D90 I’ll use one of those to see if that fixes the issue of the tracking (I bored out the previous 3D gear too much) The vibration sensitivity seems to be super high though the tiniest tap on the desk with a finger stops playback. Albeit very rough patchy playback lol.

 

what was the original D-90 laser: KSS-162A or KSS-220A?

SMD caps in absolutely all D-90 that I serviced were bad: dead or dying. Their value is clearly printed on top of each cap, I am not sure I understand your request. Also, all C408 through-hole 220uF/4V caps leaked. Start with this one, remove it and upload a photo of the board underneath it. Just one capacitor! Test its capacitance (or capacitance + ESR if you have that tester) and report.

The most important re. SMD recap - what is the make/model of your soldering iron?

D-90 mainboard

 

Both had KSS-220A lasers. So it was like for like. D22 having an additional copper grounding on the laser ribbon.

None of the caps look like they’ve leaked but sure they could be dead especially one that controls any power to the laser and tracking.

I will have a look at all the ones you marked and replaced and get their values and order.

My soldering iron is the Ksger T12 so I can adjust temp digitally.