Sony 5 Disk CD changer diagnostics and repair

A deep dive on some common problems on these types of 5 disk carrousel type CD changers manufactured by Sony.
All of them operate in a very similar manner regardless of the model.

[@tombeckring2255]

The great thing about videos like these are they still help people years later, love this video helped me to fix my c545

[@CLH-hc8ce]

THANK YOU! I have just fixed my broken 5 CD player (identical to this one) because you gave me enough information to figure out the problem! I am so pleased! I bought mine used, I have a beautiful 15 year old stereo, the sound is incredible.

[@larrydeck5169]

Thanks for the video! The Sony 5 Disc changer that I've had for years started acting up a few months ago. The drawer would not stay closed and would open at random time while a CD was playing. I was looking forward to a long repair session but all it took was cleaning the encoder! Your video saved me hours and I was able to get my CD player running like new in a few short minutes! Thanks again!

[@RobertKarlSkoglund]

This man tells us things we need to know. I like the fact that there is no music in the background like young people throw in there nowadays. I have bookmarked this site. The humble Farmer, St. George, Maine

[@davidneyle807]

Got the client's CD player going again after watching you describe the symptoms of a faulty position encoder. Cleaned it up, aligned the gears again, and all working again. Thanks man, you know your stuff.

[@ervinmurphy5806]

How much belt this 5 dics cd player has

[@bongoscot]

I followed your procedure to clean the encoder switch on a CD changer that I was about to throw away, now it works flawlessly. Thank you for that.

[@spd4kck]

Thanks, never would have gotten it fixed based on other videos. Took cleaning the encoder switch to fix my issues with misloaded CDs

[@fredxom]

This video has helped me to fix the tray alignment. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@daviddick9775]

Thank you much for the video. The electronics repair store couldn't get in done...took me about 1.5 hours with your help.

[@amwmtp]

This tutorial was great!!! Mine has had issues for probably 16yrs with the drawer tray not opening and shutting properly and not recognizing disks at all. I did everything he showed, and it worked great until I put it back in my current stack of media stuff. I determined that the weight of the other components was too much since the foot of the receiver pressed down on the top cover right above the reading apparatus. The CD changer has to go on bottom because of its size. I placed shims along the edges to keep weight over the side walls instead of pressing down on the top cover. Works like brand new. Thank you for taking the time to make your video tutorial!!!

[@dmperfection]

Wow! I went from a carousel that didn't know which way was up down,, left, right, 1, 2 , 3 ,4, or 5....to fully functional. The circular sensor was filthy. Deoxit D with several swipes with q tips and Deoxit Gold for final touch. Put back together and working like new! I can't thank you enough for this video. My kids lined up with their CD collections ready to rock and dance again. Many thanks again!

[@drumsralwaysbest9234]

19:14 Thank you so much, my Incoder switch was definitely really dirty with old grease, its all cleaned up, it works like new. Thanks again

[@PoppaChris]

Of course it was the little switch way inside, but you made it easy to get in there. I cleaned it and now the drawer does not go crazy and it works like brand new. Thank you so much. Awesome video. I don't get why anyone gives it a thumbs down. I love my CD player and having working again makes me happy happy happy.

[@12voltvids]

The thumbs down are from the trolls. The internet is full of em.

[@PoppaChris]

@@12voltvids Trolls be d$%&*d, I fixed the carousel late last night and we had a dance this morning to the new James Taylor CD that I haven't played since I got it. Thanks again!

[@user-oh2gc9oh9w]

Your video was informative and helpful. It enabled me to repair my CD player. THANK YOU

[@jimmoon87]

Thanks for all this information. I found what I needed around 17 minutes in with your description of aligning the gears. Very helpful.

[@user-ey8mb7ou8i]

Outstanding Video - Perfect every step of the way explaining how to take it apart, the function of each piece, what happens when it malfunctions, what steps may be necessary when a malfunction occurs, and how to put everything back correctly. Thanks very much!

[@rayhindle642]

In my opinion this was the best repairs video I've seen from you, because you went through various problems that could occur with a CD changer, not just a single fault, problem traced, item repaired type video. Would love to see more like this........ Ray H. ( From the U.K. )

[@12voltvids]

More ate planned. I also will be doing some common VCR mechanical faults as well, and setting machines up with failure modes to show the symptoms, and repair procedures.

[@rayhindle642]

Great can't wait........

[@MrJonny112081]

@@12voltvids Hey, awesome video. Just a question, I have the CDP-C545 and it looks like my disc sensor failed because I'm not seeing the purple light that you have when it's on. Does that mean I have to replace that board or is their a simple fix to it?

[@xxshadowwolfiexx6960]

Thank you! I was able to fix the 25 year old carousel I inherited from my dad. It had the problem of the door not staying open to load/unload. Whew! Magical!

[@jamesgayoso4950]

Excellent evaluation of the changer mechanism, very well done. Unfortunate that the most common problem is not addressed: disc read error.

[@12voltvids]

Obviously this one did not have that problem to address which is generally 1 of 2 things. Bad optical pickup or bad spindle motor.

[@robmcmillan584]

Nice job on this takedown video. It enabled me to quickly fix my whacky C360Z cd turntable. Turned out to be the switch underneath the gears. Didn’t look all that dirty, but apparently was bad enough! The reassembly registration was a little vague, but it appears that there’s only one way it goes together so the retainer clip fits on top of the large black cassette gear. Thanks much!

[@rampak1]

Fantastic video. Enabled me to fix a unit that was brought into our repair cafe. Love the informative commentary at each stage and the lack of irritating background music!!

[@oldgamecafe]

These players are very good and wasn't very expensive, after 20 years still working good, by the way CD's are the best way to keep your music for years and years and with a good Audio System you can enjoy beautiful and warm sound.

[@MrJackd113]

Thank you so much for the video, just resurrected my Sony CDP-CE315 from completely useless to fully functional. Love the output signal adjustment on this unit, and easy mapping the songs from various discs. Thanks again.

[@unixd0rk]

i have a technics 5-disc. it's very similar, internally, so this was a good video to give me some more troubleshooting ideas. thanks for sharing.

[@user-qo7ns8oj3b]

Thank you very much for the video. My cd player had been broken for 15 years. The tray opened and closed perpetually. Thanks to you I was able to find the problem.

[@chakaone]

Thanks!! . I have the same cd player which had a ailment problem where the door was closing but the optical block was jamming into the carousel and with the help from your video help me set it right. Many thanks Matthew from UK - Nottingham.

[@RutPL]

Thank you. You have helped me fix cdp-ce315. Now it's working perfectly. Awesome video with detailed instructions :)

[@bewati1]

Thank you for the video, bought a second hand unit very cheap with intermittend problems, your video gave me the courage to open it up and get it working again. looks like my unit needed a realignment on the gear and probably a future encoder cleanup but now it works 90% of the time and it's easy to reset it after the cd pickup engages the disc tray out of position. I also had issues with discs dropping out of the tray but that was fixed by making sure the unit was sitting level.

[@12voltvids]

Great to hear!

[@peterdesignercom]

Thank you - it was a fun assignment - now out of 5 cds it only can't find one sometimes. Most importantly I understood how CD changers work! Cheers!

[@GadgetUK164]

Brilliant! Very informative! Love the disk exchange option on that model!

[@syncopowerstations]

Thank you that was helpful, got it playing, I hope it will last a little longer, the thing was built in '97 according to a young man on the previous video.

[@JamisonSchuster]

Excellent video. I bought a used CDP-C235 that was DOA, but I fixed it thanks to this video!

[@handsomeyousy]

watched 2 times and started my project, failed, watched 3rd time, finally got it, back to running, cant thank you enough for the help !!! (mysony CDP-C235 tray opens and closes on and on)

[@juliocardona5699]

I know this is a 7 year old video, but this knowledge is GOLD, I was able to bring back to life 2 players with your help!! Can't thank you enough for this video.🙂

[@12voltvids]

Excellent

[@JohnnyangelNIU]

Hello to you - are you familiar with - or know how to repair the "occasional whining sound" (only happens with SOME discs, not all)? I've had multiple Sony 5-disc units and they all seem to do this, with CERTAIN CDS. When it "whines", it only seems to do it for the first 1-4 tracks, the latter tracks will seem to play fine. Would you how to address this, if possible? I didn't see this aspect in the video.

[@t.p.209]

The video was great and now i saved it for future problems! My current problem is the ff-130SH connected to cog that i accidentally broke all the teeth off. Found a used part to replace but having troubles getting to connector to replace. Ill keep trying, I thought this was my answer. It was still a great video and I'll probably watch it a few more times and try some more. Thanks for the details!✌️

[@beatricellindsey4334]

Thank you. I have look at your examples, and I hope I can do it myself. I appreciate your assistance. Bea Lindsey

[@ronfeenstra3659]

Problem#1 fixed with your help. Had to improvise--loosen tab and screw on the other side as well and on the interior metal frame (both sides). Then it worked and tray could be repositioned. Thanks!!

[@dustinrue]

Awesome video! Was able to tear my CDP-CE245 down entirely to clean up that encoder switch, which has given me some intermittent trouble. Was also able to align the whole tray mechanism.

[@cadmiral3d146]

Fixed an already refurbished free cd player with this. Thanks a ton!!

[@gbilo24]

Very good video! I watched this video not for repairing one, but because I was curious about how they worked.

[@deanehnes443]

Thanks for posting this! I had a different problem than shown, but cleaning the encoder switch fixed it!

[@mkwillert]

What was your problem? Mine has a screeching sound when it loads the disc and it continues to cycle never being able to play it

[@christianbergeron1407]

Complete and detailed repair guide, thanks

[@myronsalmon3734]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I have a 7 year old Denon DCM-290 that quit playing while loaded with CDs. Electronics seemed to work but tray would not eject. After watching your video I realigned the tray to the gears and all is well. Thanks again.

[@oldBFshred]

Thanks for this video....my old Sony 415 works great again. Found a filthy encoder...Q tip and a little deoxit did the trick!

[@sazwell]

Thanks! This helped me diagnose and fix my CDP-C325M player

[@wickedvinyl1970]

Great video! So easy to understand and follow!

[@marclawrence8392]

One of the best DIy vids I've seen - kudos

[@jameskollmann3616]

thanks for the info helped me fix my 5 disc it was the contact under the gear

[@EMANUELROTARU]

Hello, you are great ! thank you very much for this video, i succedeed repair a Sony CDP C661 with problems at carousel belt and encoder switch.

[@Kingstersreejit]

Always feel good when u hear the lazer makes the sound of read... Awesome!!

[@user-zb4yj3cj2d]

5hauw 136 아양

[@thisiswarped5894]

Thank you for making this video , greatly appreciated

[@FreeLemons]

Realigning fixed my problem, thanks and Merry Christmas!

[@lucycormier6931]

Very well detailed, I'm going to take a crack at my system. As my 5 disc player is not working either. Only the radio and tape. I'm hoping it's just the alignment. Lol Thanks again for the professional/detailed instructions. :)

[@robmcmillan7192]

Agree this is one of the best tutorials I’ve seen on CD player repair. I have this player and the sled opens and closes more slowly when I hit the exchange button, versus the o-en/close button. It even seems to grind a bit near full open. Yet it’s smooth and crisp when I hit open/close. What would cause that? The sensor you cleaned?

[@mickeygunn3577]

HEY ! MAN THANKS, A LOT ! JUST got one the SONY 5 DISC BUT it must had been DROP but any way a MECHANIC BY TRADE, OPENED it UP it some how got out of aline ment ? but with your help got everything back on track ! MAN ! I was hopping MAD ! waiting for weeks then can't even hear my cds THANKS, A LOT again KEEP THE GREAT WORK UP! Mick

[@patildinesh07]

Sir giving new life to sony system only legends love this systems Love from India

[@ramrise]

Good video covering many common problems. Unfortunately, the problem I am having with my Sony CDP CE375 is the tray table will not eject. You can hear the motor trying to turn the gears but nothing is moving. It's obviously the rubber belt is broken. This particular model is different and I was looking for how to separate the bottom from the circuit boards. Not covered on this video but the similarities were enough that I could figure out how to do it.

[@gustavogil5575]

Excellent job sr.! thank you very so much from Argentina

[@brig.4398]

I picked up a Sony disc player at Goodwill for $5, it's in good condition but maybe I'll do some PM on it. Thx for the excellent video.

[@DiegoArmandovich]

Wow!!!! Just exactly what i need! In my sony if you want to change disc, while another is playing i,m pushing ''disc exchange'' button and then sony is going insane by ejecting and pushing inside turntable with very strong and loud strike an sometimes it stuck not inside and not fully out. Only ''switch of'' voltage helps me to return to normal position. I cleaned up only two disc sensors but now i now what to do further. Thanks a lot!!!

[@DiegoArmandovich]

DONE!!! just repaired - turntable after the rite of exorcism - it's alive!!! working as it has to))

[@disway71]

Excellent! Very detailed explanation.

[@peterstrous2092]

Many thanks! Your video is absolutely brilliant!

[@chemprofdave]

Thanks! I cleaned the encoder (18:50) on my CDP-350 and it works again. It was so dirty when I pulled it apart that I thought the contacts were brass.

[@rkvt]

Enjoyed the videos -- I've struck out on my attempt at a rehab of a Panasonic 5 CD changer.... I can't get the light unit out -- sled is fine but the disks don't spin up -- Motor seems OK so I think it's the laser. Probably going to e-cycle pile when the COVID is over. Thanks for the education!

[@johncunningham5435]

A great refresher; I agree that uncompressed CD do sound a lot better, in fact I keep my unit hooked to my equipment and still use it. "Excellent Demonstration" thank you.

[@brunobrutanzavinylbike5775]

Buenísimooooo!!!! Pude reparar mi aparato después de haber estado muerto por más de 7 años!

[@mikecarlson9588]

Thanks for the video. I just brought my 1993 unit with drawer open/close issues back to life by cleaning the encoder switch. My unit was made in Japan, something very rare to see these days. I guess thats why they lasted so long and continue to do so. Very much worth saving, as a new unit is going for $600 now.

[@markharrison198]

Thanks to your wonderful video, I got the courage to open up my Sony CDP-C245 5-Disc Player that stopped working and displaying a "No Disc" message a few years back, hoping one of your scenarios would help me fix it at last. I loaded one disc into the player and found that the drawer and tray operations seem to be okay. The disc is accessed from any of the bays just fine. The problem is that the disc doesn't spin up to speed. I see a series of short spin attempts accompanied by audible click sounds. After 15 clicks, the attempt fails and the disc is put back into the tray which returns to its "home" position and displays the "No Disc" message. Same behavior from any of the 5 bays. I finally tried to get it to spin manually once the clicking begins. Was able to get it to spin for several slow revolutions at once, but it always comes to a stop. With the disc in bay 3, it will now sometimes not return the disc to the tray at the end of its spin cycle. Just had an attempt that spun on its own without any clicking and then stopped as before. Have you encountered this problem before? Any advice as to how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps this could become the subject for a future video? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

[@Jeph629]

3 years and no reply----yeah, this guy's a big help....!

[@Kikilee123]

Solved my possessed cd tray issue, thank you!!!!

[@jiggygreco1136]

Do you know about issues for play / pause/stop buttons?

[@u2001180]

Thank you very much for the informative video.

[@elizabethmingeram9616]

Thank you so much for making me a hero with my wife!

[@robmc2606]

Thank you for this post… I was able to fix the mechanical problem the the player and the setting registration of the main gear was ver

[@robmc2606]

Very helpful…. 😀

[@oh6cn]

I must say this was well done Video very helpful

[@mcramp20]

Awesome videos, Thank you for sharing your knowledge! I have a changer like the one in your video my only problem I'm noticing is it plays fine most of the time but lately there's been a slight humming sound from the spindle motor from what I can tell. Any thoughts Thanks

[@brianrichmond3777]

Thanks for posting your repair video, by using it I resurrected a Sony CDP-C245 5 disc CD player that someone in my condominium building discarded in the trash when they moved out. The problem was a very dirty decoder switch which you showed the symptoms for.

[@greywolf8060]

great vid with calm clear knowledgeable detail. I 'fixed' a stuck tray one (C661) and a small mechanical white plastic part just fell out. It has a pin hole where I guess it gets attached, and shovel/spade part extending out from the pin barrel. No idea what it is or if it needs special alignment. Can't seem to attach pic of it here.

[@chucklemberg4968]

I can appreciate your comments at the end about MP3's (compressed) vs. CD's (uncompressed). I'm the same way - compressed is OK for listening in the car, but not for listening at home (I have ripped all of my CD's to 320 Kbps for the car and am able to carry all of my music with me on a very compact thumb drive (even in the car, I can tell the difference between 256 Kbps and 320). However, I have found that ripping my CD's to FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) produces sound that I am unable to distinguish from CD's.

[@handyboy2000]

Nice. Had a little trouble aligning the carousel with the gears. It's more specific than you indicated.

[@georgemartin1436]

Regarding the alinement, when I got those in I found that while the tray was closing if I pushed with both thumbs on the right and left side of the tray it would "jump" over the "non-geared" portion of the master cam and "snap" into correct alignment. So I did not even have to remove the cover, which was a real time saver...

[@MarcelVanHoekElvis]

Thanks for the video! Greets, Marcel 👍👍👍

[@Thor312full]

Thanks you save my day and my cd player

[@erdbeerbus]

u saved a life .. thank you!!!

[@home-space]

Yay, I managed to fix mine from this video, as it was a dirty contact switch. Saves it going to landfill. Any fixes for the jog dial for track up and down on some models, which seems to be a common fault too, aprt from having to buy a new dial?.

[@Ruinwalkers]

Thanks for vid! Just fixed one gifted to me that had a dirty encoder. Was going to trash it.

[@fflynnful]

I just found one for 10 usd, slipping rubber belt, boiled it and it works ok, for now. I like the shuffle play feature. I know I can use a ipod for that, but the CD player is full PCM audio!

[@commontater9785]

You gotta love this one, it's so weird. i have a Sony 5-disk changer (CDP-CE525). One day a disk of mine went missing. I thought it was in the tray, but wasn't -- tray totally empty. I figured I'd taken it out and misplaced it, but days later after I'd played a disk. the missing disk started playing! It seems that somehow it's stuck in the player, and it will play, and yet other disks will play as well. If I load up the tray with 5 disks, all 5 will play but the 'missing' one won't. If I take out one of the disks, e.g. the one in slot 5, then the 'missing' disk will play as if it were in slot 5. If I empty the tray of all disks, then the 'missing' disk will play in any of the slots. Before I take the machine apart, I'd like to be as prepared as possible. Any insight into what's happening here?

[@CanadianRockerGuy]

Awesome! Someone just gave me a beautiful clean higher end Sony 5disc CD player, the cdp-c615, it's powers up, the tray opens, but doesn't close on it's own, and doesn't play, it appears to have some of these issues you went over, gonna giv'er a shot! I knew someone out there made a video such as yours on youtube, I hope it helps! Thanks alot for making this vid!

[@jhonrueda7292]

Thanks a Lot Sir...That save my old equipment...I appreciate your help...Muchas Gracias...

[@wernererhart8216]

Big thank's for the great lesson how to repair the unit. Mine had exactly the problem with the encoder. Now mechanic is working again but .. no spinning anymore. Seems during closing some discs damaged something on the head electronics. Any ideas how I can check that?

[@georgevratsanos7089]

Interesting video!

[@024runner]

This video was great. I however am having a problem not talked about and that is any cd I put in skips periodically. Seems to do it more the longer the unit plays.

[@12voltvids]

Skipping is cause usually Bay one of two things. The spindle motor or laser pickup. Usually the spindle motor. Bearings wear and as the disk plays and slows down as it plays there becomes a point where the bearing becomes resonance and slight vibrations are transfered to the disk causing it to vibrate too. As the disk plays out these vibrations become larger closer to the outside edge and once it get past where the servo can compensate it slips.

[@gabrielmora5710]

gracias amigo por su video

[@CASSIUSleedy]

Great video, thanks

[@da-kollector81]

Great video, I have a 5 disc changer and I am having an issue. I disc plays good but when I want to get the disc back it wont release it back on the tray. I stop to disc completely and I have to keep changing the disc tray until It comes out for some reason. I plan to open it but any advise? I would appreciate it, thanks.

[@leandy4378]

Hi. Thanks for posting this video; unfortunately, I couldn't find an answer to my problem. My Sony unit suddenly stopped in the tray-half-open position. I was able to wiggle the tray a bit and it felt like a disk was floating around in there but not sitting in its proper spot. Finally I got the tray to go back in all the way to its normal closed position. I removed the top of the unit and could see that there was a CD in it (in an actual spot, not loose), which I gently removed. Now when I power on, the unit makes an odd humming noise but the tray won't go in or out and it won't turn either. It just powers on. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[@michaelbaptist629]

You are great bro thank you for that video

[@DilajKarunaratne]

Hi, thanks for this great video! I have a problem with my Sony CDP C315 (5 disc) the problem is that the tray opens but doesn't close so i have to power it off and on again so it closes. is it possible for you to give me any ideas on how to fix it thanks! :)

[@stuartmoss]

Hi 12voltvids, I have a 24 CD carousel that has stopped ejecting the discs, I can take the top off and get them out manually, but I wondered if you had any ideas? The model is a Sanyo CP-M2403. It's 24 years old so I've had my money's worth, but if I can fix it rather than throw it, then I'd rather do that, let's just say it has a bit of sentimental value. Cheers.

[@toml7682]

Awesomeness with you guide and steps fix the model like new, thank you so for sharing!

[@brucesindahl5684]

Thanks for this video, most helpful. The unit of a friend of mine shows that the 5-CD rotating tray works fine. It senses a CD just fine as well, and lifts the CD into place... but then the CD doesn't spin! So after a few seconds, it drops the CD and moves to the next disc. Have you ever encountered this problem before? If so, an easy fix or is it time to let the thing go?