Panasonic SL-NP500 portable cd player no play lets fix it

Panasonics answer to the Sony Diskman.
This one is in rough shape.

[@51gary51]

I've had several portable CD Players over the years since getting into CDs back in 1987. Whenever they broke, everybody said, "It would be cheaper to just ditch it and buy a new one." How I wish I'd had you around at the time to prove them all wrong!

[@MessalineApghar]

These were some of the best cd walkmans ever made in terms of the DA stages and sound quality

[@johncopley974]

I have a Sony D 33 that I use daily on my upstairs receiver. Has the original 9v power supply. 8x oversampling and dual da converters. Sounds great. Nice fix on the Panasonic

[@GustoTheGamer]

For a portable device this player sounds wonderfull. Great repair,

[@38911bytefree]

Panasonic / Technics really did good cd players that lasted. Not fan of Technics mid 90s separates, but the CD players were tanks and many of its components could be found in more basic systems like boomboxes and minisystems. They did a great job.

[@mohammednovalija]

i used to use a cheap plastic ice cube tray to hold my screws when dismantling units And often put them in the order of removal to assist in reassembly. Just need to put in a place where not gonna knock the tray flying accidentally.

[@vwestlife]

I've never seen rechargeable Sunbeam batteries before, only their cheapo carbon zinc batteries. And I looked it up and your review of them is the only record I can find of them existing! Odd...

[@12voltvids]

Dollarama carries them.

[@kamryntony3523]

I realize I'm pretty randomly asking but does anybody know a good website to watch newly released tv shows online?

[@randywatson4735]

@Kamryn Tony Try flixzone. You can find it on google =)

[@averyroman4504]

@Randy Watson Definitely, I have been watching on Flixzone for since april myself :D

[@kamryntony3523]

@Randy Watson thanks, I went there and it seems to work :) Appreciate it !!

[@johnb5519]

Great job. And all the screws seemed to be the same length on it too.

[@mikedw6748]

Thanks for the video, nice repair job. I'm still a beginner but learning a ton

[@Cyberpuppy63]

a glued plastic liner might have fixed those shabby rubber bumpers. Not that you would normally have spares...

[@Broken_robot1986]

Do you think just super glueing them back together would work?

[@EddieJazzFan]

I've seen those players just lying on the ground at my local electronics recycling center. Next time I'm there I'll have to collect a few and apply some of your expertise to fix them!

[@chezsnailez]

Gack... we remember a day trip to Cleveland back in '87 and seeing a shop downtown that was an all CD music store, CDs were still so new...

[@12voltvids]

CD came out in 82

[@jeremytravis360]

I have several portable CD players and I find them great. One is a Panasonic and the majority are Technics and one Sony. Although I have a mains powered SACD player, I find a portable on my desk with a good pair of headphones they sound brilliant. I would add the headphones cost more than most of the portable CD Players.

[@Synthematix]

Yup, best one i ever had was actually a cheap make AKURA, they sounded bloody awesome

[@davidpinfold852]

An identical model was sold in the UK as the Technics SL-XP300 as cassette portables were sold as Panasonic & CD portables as Technics.

[@montynorth3009]

Those grommets are just not pushing the spindle assembly up high enough to prevent disc fouling. Sticking some tape inside the case underneath them might be worth a try if the problem returns.

[@dhanapalp9323]

Excellent job thank you sir for the valuable video about the c d player.

[@fulwell1]

God, I sold them when they were new - and they were garbage even all those years ago. Really surprised to see one still alive.

[@racecar_spelled_backwards868]

Stereo cats! Awesome!

[@lucashernandez7951]

Thanks bro, this video is really helpful, because i have a panasonic and watching this i was able to repair it.

[@M0UAW_IO83]

Oh wow, I know Panasonic and Technics are the same company and I'm pretty sure that's exactly the same CD player that I had which was branded Technics.

[@MessalineApghar]

Yes. They branded the portables under both brands

[@crcomments8509]

As soon as I saw the title and it was a Panasonic personal CD, first thought was turntable is too low. I used to repair loads of them with the same issue, I built a jig to set the height similar to the one that Pioneer used to mould into their mechs, that you cut out (like an aircraft model kit) to set the height.

[@12voltvids]

I had one at the shop. Put the jig on, slap a dab of epoxy on the platter, press on then remove jig. Left it behind

[@nickfrench7372]

I have a portable cd player with antishock vibration and a built-in radio tuner too.

[@Raptor50aus]

I'm blinded by the laser :) I have collected quite a few Sony Discmans with the oldest being a red Sony D50 and works excellent even with blank recorded CDR's

[@Broken_robot1986]

Lucky duck! Man that thing is nice in red.

[@CrashPilot1000]

I had a similar one from GRUNDIG... well I used it in the car. I would send it back to 1992....

[@andynoon2584]

I've still got mine, it's a Technics SL-XP300, same design though. Paid a lot of money for it when new, think £140.00. No anti skip so when you move it or knock it when playing it skips. But good sounding though.

[@KorAllRBare]

I wonder if that brown shock absorber is a little bit stiffer "or perhaps with slightly different dimensions" to the two Blue ones? If it is, it would make sense it would have to be closer to the motor because the ratio of support is two to one.. APU I dropped a Like..

[@zx8401ztv]

Another laser that didn't die early for no apparent reason :-D National panasonic have made some decent stuff over the years, i can't remember anything i had to swear at because of poor reliability :-D Some of the old sharp cassette decks were interesting, i've seen a few that had the fancy auto/adjustable record bias that allowed you to get the best recording out of any tape. I never liked dolby processing as it never sounded right (When my ears were acrually ok).

[@pliedtka]

The Dolby wasn't easy to implement that's for sure. Many decks were dreadful when played in Dolby, especially C. Had JVC 3header from early 90s, that when with Dolby B was actually very good sounding but in C was total disaster - total Enigma. So most my cassettes were recorded with B. Nakamichi usually sounded very good with Dolby, some Teacs, some Yamaha, some ... ??? Yeah, there was usually something about Dolby C encoding that made it tricky for many decks not to make it to the top. I wonder what would happen if Telefunken Hi-com would be the standard N.R. system instead of Dolby - damn audio politics. Even convincing Dolby to make Dolby B for cassette decks wasn't all that easy.

[@zx8401ztv]

@@pliedtka Just having one simple noise reduction function would have been ok, but there is always someone that is not happy and go way too far with the idea. Go too far and you end up with deivices full of pointless functions. And because it's so expensive the manufacturers cheap out on other parts and ruin the quality or life of the unit. Like cheap capstan motors or a poor quality flywheel that's lacking enough mass for a really smooth speed. Don't i moan alot lol.

[@dannylightyear3108]

I have also portable cd-player nice keep it up...

[@marcinszelest]

I have Panasonic SL-NP1 (May 1990) , has a very high output power, the following models had much less power.

[@Broken_robot1986]

The SL-NP1A I got from eBay rubbed the disk just like in the video. All of my rubber grommets are split and hanging on by a flap. It works great after reassembly, no more rubbing. Even tho they are torn they still work if seated right but probably can't take to much shaking.

[@pliedtka]

It was Stereophile magazine that rated one of the cheap portable CD players to be as good as those thousand bucks hi-end players. I wonder what made it to get such rating. Maybe because it was battery operated ? I should check Stereophile Recommend Components and look if I can find service manual - intriguing. The early Sony and Denon certainly looked high class back in the days.

[@downtowngutter3875]

Are you serious portable CD players were a thousand dollars at one point!

[@BoB4jjjjs]

I got one of those for playing CDs in the car, second hand. It plays a few seconds of music, pauses and then carries on playing, then a few seconds later dose the same. The bit the head runs on appears to be free enough, I have not looked at it yet and it got thrown into the shed to be looked at. However, it has been forgotten about till now. I have no idea what can be causing this. Any ideas as you have just reminded me it is still out there?

[@Synthematix]

My Panasonic minidisc recorder does exactly the same thing, uses a gum stick battery and on full charge lasts about 10 minutes before the battery empty warning pops up ⬆

[@johnlomasney]

Good work ❤

[@gavincurtis]

XBS = +12dB boost somewhere boomy and annoying; anywhere between 60-120 Hz depending on manufacturer. It was gross and disgusting.

[@craigstaggs8597]

I have one !.... Did exactly the same thing , dropped it and it works perfectly again !

[@12voltvids]

We fixed hundreds of these

[@nickwallette6201]

The move from clamps to spring-loaded ball bearing retention was probably one of the biggest reliability improvements in portable CD players. The precision needed to clamp the disc sufficiently, but not so much as to overwhelm the spindle motor, in a portable player subject to all kinds of abuse..? Not a great solution. :-)

[@12voltvids]

The "clamp" wasn't really a clamp. It was a magnet that was attracted to the metal spindle to hold the disk.

[@nickwallette6201]

Oh yeah... I have one of those, and it seems to have held up OK. I think it's a nice convenience touch. Clearly none of these machines were particularly meant to survive for 20 years, so I'm not surprised some have issues. :-) That Panasonic belonged to a friend of mine, who brought it to school every day. It survived being carted around in pants pockets for a couple years, used daily -- admittedly, by someone who cared for his stuff. The only issue it has is a blown headphone output channel. Not sure what happened to it. It was probably six years old by that point, and my friend was off to college. He just replaced it and gave it to me, and I used it with its dedicated line out jack -- which still works fine to this day. :-) Contrast that to those awful clamps... I had a Crown player when I was really young. My neighbor dropped it down a couple stairs, which did something to the lid, such that the alignment was off and kept the disc from spinning freely. I have an early Sony player that I bought from eBay a couple years ago. The force of the spring that holds the lid open managed to bend its own frame in one corner. That one has trouble keeping the disc spinning properly as well. I'm fairly confident both would have been fine if they were using a ball-bearing retention mechanism. And yes, I'm aware it's a magnetic clamp. Missed that reply earlier. :-) But the tolerances of the retaining clip that holds the clamp, and the lid above it, are so tight in a portable player that, if it develops any mechanical issues with the lid, it will undoubtedly begin to rub somewhere and prevent the disc -- or rather, the clamp, which is coupled to the disc -- from spinning freely due to friction. It's just unnecessarily fragile, bulky, and .. ugh.. good riddance.

[@nickwallette6201]

Haha... well, good luck. :-) My Sony seems to have self-destructed, but who knows what all it's been through. * shrug * I still have hope that I'll come up with a fix some day. Some of those early players are just so unique, it's a shame to not use them.

[@darinb.3273]

@@12voltvids I have a Panasonic portable came with rechargeables that were specifically designed to be charged in the unit (part of the bottom was bare and a contact) this eliminated charging primary cells like alkaline "AA" It didn't have a magnetic clamp it used three spring loaded balls with a push button in the middle to release the disc. It also had 3 second anti skip too. Interestingly enough the 3 second buffer didn't have the higher frequency range playing without anti skip was full range as normal (like it was beating with the oscillator in a cassette deck while playing certain high frequencies) always reminded me of tuning a radio LOL Listening to normal music with anti skip I never noticed the difference in music, however it did not like a 20 to 20k sweep with anti skip on again it was normal with anti skip off. I still have it and it still works very well too. The best think is the laser block is metal the portable CD players today are plastic I had one given to me that was left in a car during the summer it distorted the frame and I assume the laser pickup distorted far enough that the alignment was messed up so the unit didn't recognize a disc at least the laser came on so it wasn't that there isn't a way to disassemble it because all of the components were glued into place ZERO abilities to adjust anything LOL. I've always wondered what kind of equipment was used to align laser assembly pickups during manufacture jigs used or what LOL. I remember the plastic housing had holes in it which I assume was for alignment before the glue set, I am only guessing though I found nothing about it searching for how laser pickups were made. This also caused me to think about how precisely these things were aligned or if most were close enough to tolerance to pass I also have three CD/cassette/radio RCA, Emerson and a Sony. The RCA used a Sony laser pickup unit in it and I had CDs that wouldn't play in other CD players I had due to scratches it played them flawlessly. I swapped the laser pickup to the Sony and it read the TOC super fast compared to the one that came in the Sony boom box originally. That's what made me wonder about how optimized these pickups are during manufacture (how close they are to center of the ranges) as most know they have the focus lense that can only has so much travel it can do out of this range and the skipping/ being unplayable results. The ranges for the insides of the pickup have a tolerance too. So it would be dependent on the builder as to how close within spec (center range of the specification) I could be wrong but the closer to center could be a factor of playing discs or playing severely damaged discs flawlessly. This was a long reply LOL.

[@Broken_robot1986]

@@nickwallette6201 I wonder who did ball bearings first? My 94 Sony has them, so at least by then. The pre-ball bearing mechanisms are all charming tho.

[@AZTEC_ARTS2023]

My Shockvave will not turn on. I lost the cover that goes over the batteries ... Does that cover have "contacts" to conduct (continuity) the power to the actual board ? Is there a workaround ? Thanks !

[@stevegater2657]

I had the Technics version of this years ago. Until a supposed school friend stole it from my room. It was a great little player.

[@khx73]

Me too.. I had the Technics SL-XP700. Looked very similar, but it was considerably thinner, and took these slim custom looking rectangular Panasonic rechargeable batteries. Was expensive at the time, and seemed so high tech. haha. No anti skip whatsoever either!

[@deathnthrashingmadness1971]

recently repeared a knock off/copy of this put new batteries and some contact spray on the points because the old ones gave off some blue shit and i cleaned the lens with glasses spray works well edit: the thing was working but as soon as the cd buffered or jumped it repeatedly buffered

[@williamhelms9942]

I had one where the laser was unscrewed out of the track from the worm shaft drive.

[@chrisbarnsey3956]

I had one of these two very cool

[@CozyCathodes]

I did this one thing. It took a portion of time, but it happened.

[@jimmycrackcorn7627]

Thank you, keep up the good work 🥰

[@ElderPinto254]

i am working on the same on they were not cheap in the 90s

[@12voltvids]

And today you can't give them away.

[@ElderPinto254]

@@12voltvids yepp i know wait a couple of year and they all want them again haha just sold a old sony walkman for 90 euros crazy

[@taketimeout2share]

Hi there again. Yes I have no concept of a garbage bin. I keep ANY tech. But I am NOT a hoarder. Well.... maybe. I see your subs are steadily rising. I hope (and predict) you are going to be one of the select chosen on KZbin like LGR and Techmoan, 16 Bit Guy etc etc.

[@tough213]

Most units only work when you use batteries that are full 1.5 volts for AAA's, as d and c batteries I am sure you know full batteries are 1.5 volts and weak are anything below 1.5 volts great video love them all be safe and careful

[@12voltvids]

Most devices should work on the 1.25 volts from rechargable cells.

[@Oldgamingfart]

Had similar problems with those 3.5mm to Phono adaptors. Often the Left/ Right outputs aren't labelled either, so you have to mark them up accordingly.

[@memeememme1145]

you should have put super glue on the level it was no longer making noise so that it does not slip again while pressing the CD down to lock !

[@Synthematix]

Could replace those shock absorbers with springs m8

[@leeannsandler6990]

Have a technics portable CD player SL-xp5 Used it for years and then with I-products eventually stopped. Now I tried to get it running. The display starts...I can select tracks BUT nothing moves. Any hints on where to start/look.

[@plunder1956]

I did have the very early Technics portable. But that went l-o-n-g ago.

[@sivajisivaram2013]

I had a Sony VCD Player not used for long time. But if pressing play button it just spin CD normally & continuosly but not playing. What may be the problem.

[@nickfrench7372]

I guess your car stereo only has radio/aux/usb input? All newer vehicles in Australia only have radio,aux,and usb playback Glad I still have a 6 stack cd player in my vehicle.

[@Dee-xt4ll]

I have a Philip DBB portable CD player. I accidentally used 6v than it required which is 4.5v and it got very hot I turn it off right away. The sceen still turn on but just keep saying no disc. Do you think I burnt the laser part or I could actually fix it? Thank you!

[@12voltvids]

Well you probably burnt something. Have you checked internal fuses and circuit protectors. Thats the place to start.

[@lessuvetreesa1576]

Hey I have got an Sl-MV60 it isn't working..is there any way to fix it...it wasn't used since yrs

[@enzoperruccio]

Is it just me, or are portable cd players much durable than regular stereos? They always seem to just work right away. I've seen hundreds of stereos that won't read discs, yet this is the first time I see a portable cd player with that same problem ha.

[@enricoself2256]

I have a couple of Sony portable CD players that won't read any disc. PCDP die as well as regular stereo: Sony pickup's are not the most reliable, Panasonic pickup's of the same vintage are indeed much more reliable. I have some four portable cd players from Panasonic/Technics from 1990~1994 and they all work without a hitch.

[@enzoperruccio]

@@enricoself2256 i guess it's just a matter of luck then, since portable cd players were designed to be constantly bumped I believe they must have a higher survival rate than fixed cd players. Btw, I have two portables: An original Sony discman which is very sentitive to bumps and a Panasonic one which isn't as sensitive and works better, so I guess you're right about Panasonic being the better brand in terms of quality.

[@frankreiserm.s.8039]

Instead of soldering the ribbon cord to ground the LASER, why not wear a static bracelet attached to the frame that the LASER is in?

[@12voltvids]

The laser diode needs to be either connected to the drive circuit or shorted together. So no potential forms on the leads. Wrist strap will do nothing to stop static from building on the leads. Had to be shorted.

[@babumanikuttan2258]

Nice video

[@brendonmason5750]

I'm guessing the reason you didn't click the disk onto the spindle at any point, was because the spindle platter was pressed in originally?

[@tenmillionvolts]

It was a magnetic camper type. They don't press on. The magnet in the lid clamps when closed

[@brendonmason5750]

@@tenmillionvolts Ok, gotcha. I had never heard of that before, but looking at it again, I don't see any sprung detents. That makes a good bit more sense. Thanks!

[@jsjoe66]

Nice. Video. I have a Panasonic 5 disc stereo system and when. I put in a disc I get no disc trouble error. What could be the cause?

[@12voltvids]

Many things. Laser, spindle motor, mechanical alignment.

[@jsjoe66]

Do you use denatured alcohol to clean laser?

[@12voltvids]

@@jsjoe66 I use 99% isopropyl alcohol. Lesser concentrations are diluted with water which may leave residue behind

[@laseducation]

hi, could you please repair my np500 which reads disk normally but just can not hear any sound from the headphones?and how to get in touch with you ?thanks!

[@12voltvids]

No

[@saturnsings3471]

i have a nextplay portable CD player and i put the CDs in ans they just make this out loud clicking noise like idk what yo do

[@12voltvids]

I don't have the foggiest.

[@will89687]

Did you check to see if it worked with the NiMH batteries after the repair?

[@12voltvids]

Yes it does.

[@MartinSBrown-tp9ji]

I never found Panasonic products to be called junk. Mine never caused any problems. Sony is a different story.

[@12voltvids]

Obviously you never had to fix them. And Sony also had their share of problems.

[@markshellard5894]

Give the adapter a wipe in a soft cloth

[@jasonthejawman5442]

I'm looking for a portable CD player I like fun projects

[@markyteo]

Genius

[@slayufa]

Anybody still use portable CD player? The first i think, that motor get down. Thank you!

[@12voltvids]

I still use my cd player from time to time, but mostly play stuff of my old outdated phone through through my EL24 tube amp and Arlic DAC

[@jefffoster3557]

I use a Sony once in a while to verify cdrs recorded play on it.....the consistency of cdrs have reduced dramatically latley.

[@12voltvids]

@@jefffoster3557 The old ones that were dark blue or dark green (gold top) were the best.

[@dlarge6502]

Yes

[@fretkillrlives]

Daddy, what's a CD?

[@tenmillionvolts]

Well honey, we used to put our coffee cups on silver plastic discs to protect the table

[@ichbraucheinbier]

The music is shit! Great Job.

[@12voltvids]

I have to use royalty Free music as I monetise my videos. If i used commercial music the copyright owner would take the advertising revenue. There wouldn't be any point in doing them if that was the case. You may not agree but the only reason I do this is because KZbin pays me to do it. If I had enough Patreon supporters i could shuy off all the advertising but that isn't going to happen. 92,000 subscribers and under 100 that chip in a buck a month. I would love nothing more than putting out content for Patreon viewers with no advertising but that would take several thousand supporters to make that a possibility. I don't see that happening so the adverts will continue.