Expert: Cleggsan - 8/26/2008

Question
It's about 20 years old and was working fine until the loading door got slightly bent and didn't close all the way.  I managed to fix it and tested the player and it seemed to work OK until I put it back (it's a stacked system). The only thing I did differently is put it above the tape player when it used to be on the bottom.  Sometimes the CD would play but when stopped would start clicking and sometimes that's all it did from the moment the CD was loaded. I've opened the unit and don't know enough to figure out what is causing it to click.. help.

Answer
Did you take it back out to see if works, again, like it did before you installed it?

A good chance you caused some torque or slight movements of the chassis when installing it that causes the loading or tracking to be off.

A bent door or tray is a sign of mishandling somewhere along the way.  The tolerances and fit for all mechanical parts in a cd player are super critical. If the optical tracking is caused to be off by a very small amount it causes huge problems with playing.

And, by the way, you are a very lucky person. It is very, very, very rare for a set this old to still be working. Generally, the laser diodes do not last so long.

Unfortunately, the CD player is now considered a "throw away" item. Why? Because the service on them is more costly than a replacement.  A new unit (which you can place on top of your stack and plug into the aux input) can be purchased for $30 and  up.  Repair on an older unit starts from $65 and up.  And, it is doubtful parts are still available for one of this age.  Most sites I looked up call this a vintage model.  This means it is "old", too old for regular service or parts or documentation except for those who deal in "vintage" products.  I think a service manual can still be found on the Internet if you wanted to delve into it in search of the solution.

Also, there is a "pay for information" on this model at:

http://www.euras.com/repair_tips_1/KENWOOD/DP460/DP460_KENWOOD.htm

that may be of interest to you.

Finally, however, I cannot recommend you pursue repairs on this old model unless you want to preserve it for either sentimental value, for the challenge of it OR to keep the aesthetics of your system.

Let me know if there is more.

C