Onkyo MD-105FX Hi-MD Deck Repair

I have imported two of these MD decks from Japan. One has no audio out from the RCA. It is reading the TOC and playing fine. The other has trouble reading the TOC. It does eventually read and play but can take up to 1 minute.

Please advise if they can be economically repaired. I noticed a non-original laser assembly is available.

 

Hi! I would seek advice in the Minidisc.wiki discord channel: https://discord.gg/WgTpZy9x

 

Does anyone have the service manual please?

 

Only user manual, also a thread with teardown photos here: https://www.minidisc.wiki/equipment/onkyo/deck/md-105fx

 

My friend I have spent some time with these machines and they have two revisions. The revisions use different MD mechanisms.. KMK400AAA and the MZD-DR1VN. The latter model being the newer revision (2007-2009) and uses what looks like a portable HiMD laser pick up… most likely from the MZ-NH600 (ABX-U). I have no idea what pickup the older revision uses, but the laser looks larger, like a full-size deck laser.

Common issues:

KMK400AAA - These older units tend to take longer time to read a disc. But generally more reliable laser.

MZD-DR1VN - these tend to have failed laser and read issues but read much faster.

Note: Also you cannot swap drives between these two revisions there is no sound output if you do. This could be your issue with one of your units!

The unit that reads slow TOC I assume is the older KMK variant and probably has a dirty laser and gunked up laser sled teeth.