Skipping TAG CDT20R T2L cd transport

This player's been a bit picky for a while now, but it's getting worse. It finds it hard to read the last 20% of a disc, particularly when the disc has long content.
It's particularly bad if I jump to a late track, although sometimes pressing the play button to re-start the track over and over again will eventually work. Each re-start seems to be a little bit better, unti it gets it right. The discs themselves have no visible flaws. Some work fine, others not at all.
Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong? Is there a DIY way of fixing it? If not, is any competent engineer likely to be able to sort it out, or do I need specialised help? (Not IAG, please!)
Oh, and is it likely to be expensive?!

 

It's a CDM9 mech, isn't it? You could probably buy the entire assembly from a parts dealer for under €100. Imagine it wouldn't be too hard to yourself!

If you don't feel that keen, there is an ex-Tag engineer over on AVforums.com in the Tag/Audiolab section who could probably do it for you. Can't remember his name, but he has a good reputation.

DT

 

I'd agree with that ............

just fited an optical pickup to a cd67 its not hard ...but its not as easy as I had anticipated. But iworked straight away !

http://cgi.ebay.com/Philips-CDM9-La...QitemZ9741928333QQcategoryZ3272QQcmdZViewItem

found this ....

 

Hi

How old is your CDT20R, out of interest? I've heard of reliability problems mentioned on PFM.

By the way, I'm pretty sure it has a Philips CDM 12.4 mechanism in it- at least mine does.

Here's a thread from AV forum discussing it:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-204663.html

 

Well, I've sent it off to English Audio in Hereford. I had the lid off, and the base! It's stuffed full, which came as a bit of a surprise, as I used to have an Audiolab 8000CD. It needed opening up on a regular basis to replace the display bulbs. The CDT20R is a different beast altogether inside. From the top, the mechanism is hidden by a plate attached to the mechanism itself, with no room to lift it out. From below, there's a circuit board to remove before you can see the mech, but as I couldn't release the jumpers without forcing, I gave up. Anyway, with the board loose and waggling it around, but still attached by two out of the four connectors, I could only see one rail.
I was really impressed by the insides of the CDT20R. The case work has thick damping panels attached, and the whole thing exudes quality. Pity it doesn't work!

 

Mines about a year and a half old and I'm pretty sure that the manual said it was a CDM 12.4.

I'm not surprised it's stuffed full, as its well heavy for a transport.

Good luck with getting it fixed.

 

Yes, it's a CDM12.4

 

How old is it from new?

 

I've had it a couple of years or so.

 

Yikes!

Let me know how the repair goes. You never know, I might end up needing the same one day.

 

Oops. sorry for the earlier mis-information. Thought it was too old to have a 12.4 transport.

DT

 

Hi, I know it may be too late for you, eisenach, but for anyone else who's having trouble with Audiolab/Tag gear, I can heartily recommend Kevin at www.theaudiocellar.co.uk

He's great to deal with and knows his stuff!

 

Cheers

Book me in.

My CDT20 is almost as old as eisenachs and will no doubt break down soon

No, touch wood, it will carry on working perfectly but thanks for the contact- hopefully won't need it.

 

Just got it back. It was given a new mech. £75. Not bad, I suppose. Sounds better than ever, though, with a real visceral solidity to the sound.

 

That's good news and £75 quite reasonable. Marantz wanted to charge me double that to replace the laser assembly on their CD recorder.

But the previous mechanism shouldn't have given you problems after only 2 years. Was it replaced with another CDM12.4?

 

No, it shouldn't, but I have heard that there were problems with some of the Philips mechs. I assume it was replaced with a 12.4. I didn't ask directly, but I'm not sure they would have known exactly what was done. English Audio don't do their own repairs, but use a tame engineer.

 

Oh dear! It's still not working properly.
Before it would play most discs, but have problems with some, when it would go haywire towards the end of a disc, jump all over the place and then stop. Now it's playing even the most difficult discs ok, but any disc is prone to a little hop-skip-and-a-jump somewhere towards the end. If I rewind to the bit where it jumped, it plays it perfectly. I've left it on repeat over night and while I'm out at work to see if that helps it bed-in.
Anyone any idea what's going on or what might be wrong? Surely the Philips transports aren't so bad that I've got another dud?!

 

On older mechs, such problems can be entirely caused by mechanical things, such as the grease getting sticky or lack of lubrication on the sled that the reading head moves along. Had you not already sent it away I would have recommended a clean and lube following along the lines of the old usenet newsgroup sci.electronics.repair FAQ. If you're positive a new mech has actually been fitted, I suppose you have to give them a chance to put it right though.

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/cdfaq.htm

 

Is it just the CDM12.4 that's playing up or something else within the box? I ask because I've read other threads about similar CDT20R problems. Seems to me that it's more than just the mechanism itself.

Anyhow, the work will be covered by whoever just fixed it. Also there is a Tag specialist mentioned a few posts back- so they should be able to tell you exactly what's happening and why.

 

I tried to have a look myself before I sent it away, but the box is so jam-packed you can't get at the transport mech without taking lots of bits out. I gave up!
I'm hoping leaving it on repeat will sort it out, otherwise, back it goes. Irritating.