Technics SL-PD827 Needs repaired

First, check that the laser is not stuck at the far end of its track. This is very common on Panasonic traverse units fitted to Technics gear, if they have not been used for a while, and were working ok with no signs of poor playability or skipping when they were last used. Also check, by physically looking, that the laser lens is not very dusty, or 'filmy' - particularly if it is a heavy-smoking household, or you have had building work done since it last worked. If the problem is dirt / dust, then it needs to be cleaned properly with isopropyl alcohol, and a cotton tip, not with a 'cleaning disc'.

Other than this, it's likely to be the laser itself as, generally speaking, Technics / Panasonic decoding electronics are fairly reliable.

Arfa

I had a similar problem, on Technics changer unit...wouldn't even spin up, much less recognize the disk. After diddling for hours with the mechanism, I did a simple lens clean.

All was subsequently well (until my daughter moved the unit with disks in the tray, then powered it up...CD's jammed and broke small parts in the mechanism).

jak

I got around to taking the cover off today, the insides look brand new (no dust). The laser assembly is free moving once it is out of the locked position. I put a cd in with the cover off to see what was going on. When the CD gets to the laser assembly it gets picked up, but there is no spinning of the cd, just sits there idle forever.

Hi!

It is still worth trying to clean the lens. You can't always see dirt on the lens, and I've had some players that looked to have clean lenses, but would not play a CD until I had finished cleaning the lens.

William

Agreed. It has to be the first move. Now that you've got the lid off, another try is to spin the disc manually with your finger tip, clockwise looking from the top. Do this a couple of times as soon as the disc is loaded into the play position. It's quite common to get bad spots on Panasonic spindle motors, although I have to say that it's more common on their DVD players than CD players. Still, I have had bad motors on them more often than "seldom", but less often than "frequently" - if that makes sense ....

Arfa

Agreed again. As I said before....

I just did a DVD player (Toshiba) which would not recognize a disk--any disk. It was given up for a lost cause. Once opened; observed 'no spin'. A flick of the finger caused the spindle to turn and stop a few times and the laser to seek. Within a few seconds, all activity stopped and the display again showed a disk error.

All it took to fix was cleaning the lens. Boom! Just like that, perfect functioning. (Note...being away from the shop, I had no cleaning supplies beyond a cotton swab...on a whim I moistened with clean tap water, which worked a charm.)

Always, always, ALWAYS clean the lens first!

jak

Cleaned the lens with a Q-tip and pure isopropyl alcohol (from a bottle used to clean tape heads) . Put a cdr and a pressed cd in for a test. The pressed cd spun up and after a while started playing track

1, tried switching tracks and it froze up. Could not get it to read the disk again, and when it did play the cd spun up and down a few times instead of a steady spin. Mostly it grabs a cd and spins up for a fraction of a second then dies. I think it did that once the last time I messed with it.

That's a seek error problem, IMO, instead of a spindle motor issue. Quick fix might be to crank the intensity; but only temporary until the diode finally dies...not the only possible fault (weak laser), however.

Since you got partial success by cleaning, I'd try it again. Couldn't hurt.....

jak

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Can you still find laser assemblies (with motor) for these old players? If so how expensive are they? Anybody have the tech manual for this model?