Help. need to fix stereo!

katy67

My father has a Califone stereo with cd/tape/radio and also it controls the speed of the tape. It was a an exspenive gift about 18mths ago. Few months of ago, the tape deck and cd gave up working but the radio is fine. As its an american stereo, we are having difficulties finding someone to fix it. We did get in contact with the company in america and they told us they can only fix it in america. We did get someone to try and fix it and failed. He said it was a Phillips laser part that was not working and cannotget the part cos Phillips have closed down. We badly need to get it fix as my father use it for teaching dancing.

Do anybody know a good reputable company/person that can fix it in Ireland.
Thanks


This is the pic

Slaphead07

the bad news is it will be cheaper to replace than repair, the good news is those things are actually pretty cheap if you can get a tape version.

katy67

Slaphead07 wrote: »

the bad news is it will be cheaper to replace than repair, the good news is those things are actually pretty cheap if you can get a tape version.

I agree it would be cheaper to replace but the reason he got this was to control the speed of the tape and we couldn't get one in Ireland, But if you do know of one with speed control for both of tape and cd, please can you let me know.
Thanks

ZENER

Did the tape and CD stop working at the same time ? If so it might just be a selector switch or PSU issue. If the CD stopped reading discs before the other issues then it could be more serious. If the CD issue isn't import and then it might be possible to repair it at a viable cost.

Ken

zenno

For the laser part, have you tried to clean the laser with a cotton bud and isopropyl alcohol ?. The laser probably can't read discs if dirty. For the tape-deck, the rubber band that connects to both wheels of the tape mechanism could have snapped as one band is usually connected to both tape-deck wheels for the high-speed dubbing.

ZENER

DO NOT USE ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL !! On cheaper CD units the laser uses a plastic lens which will be destroyed by this solution, I'm not saying this unit is cheap but better not to risk total destruction !!

Ken

zenno

ZENER wrote: »

DO NOT USE ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL !! On cheaper CD units the laser uses a plastic lens which will be destroyed by this solution, I'm not saying this unit is cheap but better not to risk total destruction !!

Ken

I haven't come across a plasticised laser lens in all my fixes ever, only glass. Well if this is the case, and it is plastic, then just enquire as to what cleaner substance is required. If the laser lens is glass then you CAN use Isopropyl alcohol @ 99.9% for a proper clean.

I have to say though, I never came across a plastic laser lens before, the system would want to be an antique sound system to be using plastic lenses.

Good point though ZENER.

Coming to think of it, I may have used Isopropyl alcohol on a plastic laser lens in the past, but it worked grand nonetheless and fixed the disc read errors. Still, as ZENER said, just be sure before cleaning with this.

katy67

ZENER wrote: »

Did the tape and CD stop working at the same time ? If so it might just be a selector switch or PSU issue. If the CD stopped reading discs before the other issues then it could be more serious. If the CD issue isn't import and then it might be possible to repair it at a viable cost.

Ken

Yes, the tape and the cd stopped working at the same time. From what l understand its the laser part thats works both of them and now its not working. Its a Phillips part and they supposed to have gone out of business so parts can't be bought, thats what we were told.
We are finding very hard to get someone to fix this stereo cos of the brand name, Califone.

We got in touch with the company which are based in America and they couldn't help us. And as this was bought in England, we have rang them and it was the same.
There have to be someone in Ireland and maybe England that can fix this particular brand stereo.
Had we known that there was going to be alot of trouble with this stereo, we wouldn't have bought it:(
if you or anybody knows of someone that can fix Califone stereo,can you let me know please.
Thanks

ZENER

In my experience the CD deck and the Tape deck share no common components so the diagnosis from that repair shop makes no sense at all. The tape deck certainly would not use the CDs laser !!

Can you just clarify some things for me.
You say the CD and Tape sections don't work, can you give a little more detail, for example: If you put a tape in the deck and press play what happens ? Does the tape turn but no sound comes out or does nothing happen at all ? Can you even fast forward or rewind the tape ? Id there any noise when the tape player is on ?

For the CD player: Again, what happens when you put a disc in and close the lid ? Does the CD spin ? Does anything come up on the track display ?

Where are you based by the way ?

Ken

ZENER

zenno wrote: »

I haven't come across a plasticised laser lens in all my fixes ever, only glass. Well if this is the case, and it is plastic, then just enquire as to what cleaner substance is required. If the laser lens is glass then you CAN use Isopropyl alcohol @ 99.9% for a proper clean.

I have to say though, I never came across a plastic laser lens before, the system would want to be an antique sound system to be using plastic lenses.

Good point though ZENER.

Coming to think of it, I may have used Isopropyl alcohol on a plastic laser lens in the past, but it worked grand nonetheless and fixed the disc read errors. Still, as ZENER said, just be sure before cleaning with this.

There are different grades of this stuff it seems. I destroyed the laser in a PS1 a long time ago because I used a bottle that was meant for something else. IT said Isopropyl on the bottle but it was lethal, even melted the plastic of the console ! :eek:

Ken

ZENER

Slaphead07 wrote: »

the bad news is it will be cheaper to replace than repair, the good news is those things are actually pretty cheap if you can get a tape version.

I would have said the same until I saw this !!

http://www.aandcaudio.co.uk/califone-2455av-03-dual-cassette-and-cd-player-with-pa-and-variable-speed-control-p111960

Now that is NOT cheap !!

Ken

katy67

ZENER wrote: »

In my experience the CD deck and the Tape deck share no common components so the diagnosis from that repair shop makes no sense at all. The tape deck certainly would not use the CDs laser !!

Can you just clarify some things for me.
You say the CD and Tape sections don't work, can you give a little more detail, for example: If you put a tape in the deck and press play what happens ? Does the tape turn but no sound comes out or does nothing happen at all ? Can you even fast forward or rewind the tape ? Id there any noise when the tape player is on ?

For the CD player: Again, what happens when you put a disc in and close the lid ? Does the CD spin ? Does anything come up on the track display ?

Where are you based by the way ?

Ken

l will have to ask my father about what are the actually problems.
You seems to know alot about stereo, do you repair them?
I'm from Macroom

katy67

Hi Zener

I've asked my father what was the problems, he say nothing happens when he press the buttons for cd or tape, its won't play and the message ER comes on the small screen. The only that is working fine is the radio.