Panasonic Shockwave SL-SW405 Portable CD Player Teardown and Clean

[@rockfordhx2768]

It’s so crazy I’ve owned it since 1999 brand new I’m 28 years old now and I still use it

[@Bobby_Snoof]

Good work, as always! CDs are the future....for collectors ;)

[@last808]

As long as your first gen CDs haven't rotted!

[@quicksilverbalt]

Just picked one of these up at a flea market. Got it for $5. Put some new batteries in it and it fired right up. Needs a little a cleaning but otherwise its perfect!

[@buitenb]

Great video ! , nice rugged portable cd player

[@rockfordhx2768]

I still have 2 of these my dad got em for free of those Marlboro cigarettes bar code things on the side back in the 1990s u can collect em send em in to Marlboro and they ship u free bikes CD players all types of stuff I have the colored headphones to match

[@tonygreen152]

Hi, there. I'd love to get one of those...!!!

[@sandplasma]

I also found one at the thrift store and it plays fine but starts saying 'sorry' every few seconds. Might need a cleaning as well.

[@djSpinege]

sounds like you got the Canadian version

[@canadianchronicsmoke]

had one as a kid stuck a tooth pick into the lid switch and let the cd play for 40sec to see if I could take out the cd and still have it play music, it did for 40sec

[@c.a.n.4202]

what is the part # for a laser replacement?

[@JoseAntonio-ex7ep]

Thanks for your interesting video. Do you know what's the difference between models SL-SW404 and SL-SW405...?

[@sjm4306]

Iirc the 405 has a larger anti-skip buffer memory (40s vs the ~10s of the 404).

[@JoseAntonio-ex7ep]

@@sjm4306 Thank you. I think they both are great! 😃 I have an SL-SW202 player and it's also nice. In your opinion which one's the best of them?

[@jfhsw]

I just picked up one of these and am having an odd issue. Any CD skips like crazy when the unit is placed flat, but everything works perfectly when it's tipped up (perpendicular to the ground). Could this be an issue with the sled rails?

[@sjm4306]

It's a common issue with the focus lens suspension (it weakens with age+use till it can no longer effectively fight gravity when placed flat but works fine when on it's side, not working against gravity). The only practical fix is a new laser sled module but unfortunately it's not gonna be easy to find new off the shelf replacements at this point.

[@jfhsw]

@@sjm4306 Gotcha! So fixing it probably means finding a "parts only" model and hoping the laser sled module is functional.

[@sjm4306]

Yep

[@edavidzh]

bought for 4$ as well: have 2 issues: No disk message and sometimes it doesn't want to spin the disk after inserting the disk. Manual spin triggers the spin, but still no disk message. Tested with open lid but didn't see the laser, should it visible during test disk read?

[@Londoncockney]

Does it need the side flaps locked down to play ? Or can they be open ?

[@sjm4306]

I'll have to check, but I figure it'd still play without locking the flaps so long as the lid is closed enough to activate the lid detect switch in the back.

[@Londoncockney]

@@sjm4306 yeah that’s what I figured I’m looking at getting one for my wife’s mum who has Parkinson. so I’m not sure if you have trouble unlatching it. But she’s quite so on this particular one

[@sjm4306]

I'll test it when I get home in an hour.

[@sjm4306]

Yep, it runs just fine with the lid lightly shut but the latches unlocked. Hope this helps.

[@cypher6258]

I have a 1998 model same basically. Turns on and you can see the little display but it doesn’t play the disc I don’t know what’s to it.

[@sjm4306]

Either the laser lens is dirty and needs gentle cleaning with some ipa, the sled rails are gummed up and need cleaning/lubrication, the caps inside may have gone bad and need replacing, or worst case the laser diode is burned out. These are the four most common failure points in these old discman portables that cant play discs.

[@edavidzh]

@@sjm4306 I wonder how I can test the laser. can you see it with naked eay?

[@sjm4306]

If you look at it at an angle when it's trying to read a disc (but no disc loaded) you should be able to see a faint red/pink/purple glow from the lens. Just dont look straight into the laser.

[@edavidzh]

@@sjm4306 thank you. can see nothing. do you know if it is easy to fix?

[@sjm4306]

If you can find a new old stock replacement laser head module it's an easy fix

[@kocu666]

i still have it but malfunction❤😢

[@paulb4uk]

Nice buy that reminds me very much of the sony discman sport models quality unit i notice its made in japan not china so a good quality model .

[@1969longshanks]

My player is basically dead, if i could find out which other panasonic player used the same 'insides'. I could buy a second hand one and swap it over

[@medvidekkrupicka1404]

I think it takes a special kind of genius to clean all the years worthy crud and dust directly over the opened CD player. I would have cried like a girl if I were the optical unit forced to look at that...

[@sjm4306]

yes because the grime will magically jump off the alcohol wipe into which it is dissolved/adhered to which at no point is actually directly over the lens in such a way as to deposit debris onto it. I've serviced more optical audio devices than I can count over the course of two decades and at no point has this ever been an issue.