Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 500 CD Transport Problems

Hi,

I've got a 500 CD Transport that started giving problems recently; it was skipping a lot. Meridian themselves refused to take it in for repair because they said parts were no longer available. The dealer I had taken it to then recommended a specialist repair chap who, when contacted, told me he could source a new mechanism and laser. He actually managed to find two, the second of which he simply gave to me. Very generous. One of these was duly fitted but the skipping problem reappeared about six months later. He figured that the first new mechanism was faulty so he fitted the other one at no charge.

The machine now plays discs without issue except if there are any kind of scratches on their playing surfaces. The 500 simply cannot deal with them and skips wildly. (These same discs play perfectly in other CD players and ROM drives I have). Now before this problem first manifested and right back to when I bought the 500 new, it could play anything, badly scratched discs included, flawlessly. Now it's crippled.

The repair chap has said he's come across this problem before, after a new mechanism has been fitted to Meridian and some Micromega CD players. He's told me the EPROM needs to be reset or reprogrammed but he does not have the software needed to do it. He's going to ask around, including speak to Meridian themselves, but the question is: has anyone else had this problem and how did you solve it?

I won't be much help I'm afraid but if it is just software related then your local dealer should be able to help with that. The guy you're dealing with certainly sounds like he knows his onions.

I had a 500 many years ago & eventually sold it when I reached about the stage you're at. ie I bought it new & it was flawless then after X years it started skipping; sent it to Meridian for a repair and it was flawless again but fairly soon after (a year or two max) it started skipping again.

I'm guessing a 500 must be a decade old by now? Good luck with it; there will be many on here who can answer your question.

Thanks for your input.

I will go and speak to my local Meridian dealer in parallel with my repair man in the hope something can be done about this. I'm loathe to sell my 500 as it is just so damned GOOD. It sounds wonderful and I can't imagine being able to improve on it without spending an amount of money that would lead to divorce!

Incidentally I bought it new in 1994 and it never put a foot wrong until the middle of last year!

There is a menu on the 500 series disc spinners that allows you to control how the CD drive deals with iffy discs. It's not documented in the manual, but it might be worth trying this before splashing out on more repairs or binning the 500.

Mark S

Hi Mark
Thanks for this.. I've never heard of this menu. Could you point me to how to access it please?
Regards

Alan

I have a vague recollection of this too, but I can't find any reference in Duncan's site (looked at 500, 506, 508 and 208 manuals).

The DVD Rom players certainly have a hidden service menu ('96' menu) and looking at the 507 manual, I might be inclined to try the following:

Power up the unit from the rear whilst holding down the Display button on the front. the version number may come up, followed by several options. Press Display on the player to sequence through the options, and < or > to toggle between the choices therein. I'd be on the lookout for "Diagnostic Displays Y/N". My hazy recollection is of a menu where you could choose a value of 1-5 to adjust the tracking of the laser.

Sorry I can't be more specific!

Cheers

George

PS The suggestion above isn't the hidden '96' menu, but might shed some light anyway...

Hi George,

I followed your instructions but there are no diagnostic display options on the 500. I did get an Err. On/Off option, a Q on/off option (whatever that is) and a Servo A-E option but toggling through these made no difference to the way the player behaved. I fact when I used the Servo E (it was set to A before I started) option the player threw up an Error 11 condition and wouldn't play at all.

The only other seeming service option was a TEST menu obtained when I powered up the unit and held down the STOP button. This appeared to give the option of a static test of the spin motor and the laser but I'm not sure to what end.
The bottom line is I'm still stuck with my 500 unable to deal with scratched discs.

Thanks for your thoughts anyway.
Regards

Alan

Hi Alan

Ah, shame that didn't work. It was the servo A-E settings which I'd remembered. I think at this point I'd be inclined to talk to Ian or John at Loud and Clear in Edinburgh, they are a Premium Partner dealership and have good support from Meridian. I can recommend them from personal experience.

Cheers

George

Thanks George.

I actually phoned Loud and Clear this afternoon and spoke to Simon who said he'd get Ian to phone me tomorrow. If this fails there's a chap by the name of Stephen Horowitz in London who's apparently a whizz at fixing CD players.

If the 500 then turns out to be beyond economic repair I could always go for a more recent machine on the second hand market like a 586.2 or a 588 which are seemingly even better than the 500 although that's difficult to imagine. We shall see.

Regards
Alan

596 and 598 are pretty good alternatives also worth considering. Possibly better than 586/588.

I have had the same problems with my CD 500 for many years. I even had Meridian replace the CD drive and laser about two years ago (at a cost of �200), and the thing still skipped and refused to play some discs. Now that Meridian have stopped supporting this model, I took matters into my own hands and found that I could buy another replacement mechanism (Philips CDM 12.4) on eBay for as little as �10. Fitting it is not too difficult, if you know how to do a little delicate soldering.

This remedy worked, but here is the interesting thing: I unmounted the mechanism again to stick on the thin black metal cover (this is only cosmetic), and on re-assembly, found that the fault had returned. So I went through the process once more with the unit plugged in,checking at each stage to find out what was making the difference. It transpires that the fault occurred when I tightened the rearmost screws that attach the black plastic drawer, on which the mechanism is mounted, to the metal sliding tray. I even noticed very small sparks when the screws made contact. I also noticed that, when the fault was present, the drawer is sluggish to open, but when it is not, the drawer slides out smoothly.

So, here is my theory (which I leave others, with more time on their hands than I do, to investigate): the root cause of the fault is mechanical - when the housing is tightened onto the metal tray, it can distort it just enough to produce some slight misalignment or binding, so that the ejection motor has to labour and draws a high current. Somehow this leaves the tray at a different voltage, so that some power is being drained from the CD drive, giving it the symptoms of a prematurely weak laser. Remember that the CDM 12.4 is used in a multitude of other machines, without people complaining about skipping all of the time.

Anyway, if this is the cause of your problem, then my remedy would be to remove the two rearmost screws; I have had no skipping since I did this, and the drawer is quite secure enough without them. These are the small black phillips screws that you can see underneath the drawer when it is out. There are four of them, but you cannot get at the fourth, at the rear, unless you loosen the three torx screws that secure the lower edge of the front panel and prise the latter out by about 1/4". Good luck - I would be interested to know whether this works for you.

Swissrail,

I have a lot of experience with these players. Obviously repaired and serviced hundreds of them!

I offer a repair service if your interested?. I would keep the 500t over the ROM players every time.

Chris