Tír Na HiFi

We have a Denon mini system in our kitchen. It comprises a Tuner/Amp and a separate CD player. And a Yamaha cassette player. All or most are in daily use, the CD player unit is giving trouble. It seems to have problems in reading the TOC of a disk. If and when it does read the TOC, it works fine. Mini systems with CD player are hard to come by these days so if you know of anyone who would look at our unit, I would be greatly in your debt. Thanks.

It used to be possible to get a special CD for cleaning the CD-player lens. I don't know if such are still available but it might be worth trying. It's the sort of thing they used to sell in pound shops

Sadly, its getting harder and harder to get CD parts - one of the reasons I've given up on them altogether. Who knows, maybe like vinyl there will b a comeback in future years.

To your problem - there are a few areas that I would look at first:

1. Is the laser lens dirty
2. Is the sled/rails dirty/gummy

If its either of those two things - you can probably open the unit and have a look and see, and probably clean yourself. wipes for cleaning spectacles will do the job nicely on the lens (but be very gentle) and cotton buds with some ptfe spray works well for the rails.

The 3rd thing I would look at are the gears/belts that move the sled back and forth. On some players these crumble and the only option is replacement.

Lastly, it could be that the laser is on its way out, and if thats the case, then a replacement laser/mechanism is the only option. Do you happen to know what the mechanism is?