Third Party Arcam Repair

DistortedVision

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The laser on my Arcam DV135 needs replacing. Arcam have quoted me £160 which makes it beyond economical repair. I was wondering if it was feasible to get it repaired by somewhere else at a reasonable cost.

This comes just after I spent £90 getting the laser on my NAD CD playerreplaced which had exactly the same fault. Arcam said the reason it happened is because it had so little usage. Is this true? The NAD had a similar amount of usage.

Many thanks!
 

FennerMachine

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Do Arcam offer a decent guarantee?

If so it may be cheaper to have it repaired & serviced by them in the long run.

Maybe try to get someone to do it cheaper but if Arcam do it with a guarantee then at least you know you in good hands.

Money well spent perhaps?
 

DistortedVision

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No its not money well spent irrespective of any warranty. I bought it new for £350 from Superfi. I'm not going to spend £160 to get it repaired.

I just want some recommendations of alternative places to try and get it repaired. I noticed that Richer Sounds now have a repair service. Does anyone have any experiences?
 

bigblue235

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I'd probably go with Arcam if I was getting a repair job. If it needs parts there's the possibility that somewhere else will use different components. I wouldn't fancy that personally.

To be honest, I'd likely put the money towards a new player.
 
That seems awfully expensive if it is just laser mechanism. Mine went recently but a quick internet search told me which make of mechanism mine was using (£24 inc postage from specialist dealer in Ireland) then along to a, fortunately fairly close, chap in Newport who fitted it for £35.
If you are sure you know what the fault is buy the part yourself the check in your own are for a suitably qualified fitter - it's not rocket science.
I would have done it myself but had no time available.
 

Andy H

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If it's out of warranty I'd be tempted to try and repair it myself. Open the case to see if you can get any drive model numbers and search it out. (make sure it's unplugged of course)

You never know, it might not be that difficult to replace.
 

Sizzers

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DistortedVision said:
The laser on my Arcam DV135 needs replacing. Arcam have quoted me £160 which makes it beyond economical repair. I was wondering if it was feasible to get it repaired by somewhere else at a reasonable cost.

This comes just after I spent £90 getting the laser on my NAD CD playerreplaced which had exactly the same fault. Arcam said the reason it happened is because it had so little useage. Is this true? The NAD had a similar amount of usage.

Many thanks!

I've never heard that one before either!
 
Sizzers said:
DistortedVision said:
The laser on my Arcam DV135 needs replacing. Arcam have quoted me £160 which makes it beyond economical repair. I was wondering if it was feasible to get it repaired by somewhere else at a reasonable cost.

This comes just after I spent £90 getting the laser on my NAD CD playerreplaced which had exactly the same fault. Arcam said the reason it happened is because it had so little useage. Is this true? The NAD had a similar amount of usage.

Many thanks!

I've never heard that one before either!

True. Very odd. Are they implying the mechanism can seize through lack of use? I cannot see how low usage is going to effect the electronics / laser unit.
 

DistortedVision

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Yeah tried a cleaner as a last resort. I know the Arcam DV137 had a lot of problems with the lasers failing. I'll take off the lid and take a look.

I was just concerned that it would involved lots of soldering etc.
 

DistortedVision

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I took the lid off and had a look. The mechanism is made by AsaTech but there wasn't a model number. I think I might have to remove it tomorrow because it may be underneath. It looks like it just plugs into the mainboard.

50556364.jpg
 
Plugs-in? Thats good. AsaTech is a Chinese manufacturer of the mechanism. It probably has a Sanyo laser fitted. I found the website listing laser mechanisms / DACs and will tag it on below. Unfortunately this seems to be for CD players only. Your best bet if you can find the model number (probably WDX-something)then contact someone at Arcam that can point you in the direction of a supplier. Listing can be found at http://www.vasiltech.nm.ru/files/cd-players/CD-Player-DAC-Transport.htm#S
 
Plugs-in? Thats good. AsaTech is a Chinese manufacturer of the mechanism. It probably has a Sanyo laser fitted. I found the website listing laser mechanisms / DACs and will tag it on below. Unfortunately this seems to be for CD players only. Your best bet if you can find the model number (probably WDX-something)then contact someone at Arcam that can point you in the direction of a supplier. Listing can be found at http://www.vasiltech.nm.ru/files/cd-players/CD-Player-DAC-Transport.htm#S
 
Alears said:
Plugs-in? Thats good. AsaTech is a Chinese manufacturer of the mechanism. It probably has a Sanyo laser fitted. I found the website listing laser mechanisms / DACs and will tag it on below. Unfortunately this seems to be for CD players only. Your best bet if you can find the model number (probably WDX-something)then contact someone at Arcam that can point you in the direction of a supplier. Listing can be found at http://www.vasiltech.nm.ru/files/cd-players/CD-Player-DAC-Transport.htm#S

Do not know why that posted twice. You said Arcam where quoting £160. I'd ask them to price up just the part and see if they will send you that. It wouldn't cost much to ask a local dealer to fit it, or better still do it yourself. Note if you were to comptemplate doing it yourself it might be an idea to get the complete mechanism including laser unit if you can rather than just the laser unit on its own. This way a little less work is involved. (A bit more of an outlay though).
 

DistortedVision

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I asked the Former Head of Engineering at Arcam about this and he said:

"Unfortunately you are unlikely to be able to buy this mech on the open Market as far as I know it is OEM supply only. ARCAM might sell you one if you ask. Replacing it requires you to unsolder the protection link which is a solder blob, you need to do this using an antistatic protected iron and use ESD precautions when fitting the new laser. It is one of the most static sensitive parts I have ever worked on."

So I'll first enquire if I can buy the part at a reasonable cost and found out if I can have it fitted at a reasonable cost.
 

robreid

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I've know laser mechanisms becoming a bit stiff moving and struggles to read the infomation at the start of the disk. I would try buying some very fine oil (like clock oil) clean the metal runners that the laser slides along with the oil on a cotton bud. You could try greasing the worm gear, I've used lithium grease before for that. You could also try cleaning the laser lens with something fine like the cloth to clean glasses, if its already broken you have noting to loose, it will still be £160 for a new mech.

There is a company called grandata that sells spares, I have bought several philips cdm12.4 mechs from which was the laser used in loads of cd players when lots of people said it was obsolete.

If all else fails, sell it on ebay and look for something on offer?

good luck
 
robreid said:
I've know laser mechanisms becoming a bit stiff moving and struggles to read the infomation at the start of the disk. I would try buying some very fine oil (like clock oil) clean the metal runners that the laser slides along with the oil on a cotton bud. You could try greasing the worm gear, I've used lithium grease before for that. You could also try cleaning the laser lens with something fine like the cloth to clean glasses, if its already broken you have noting to loose, it will still be £160 for a new mech.

There is a company called grandata that sells spares, I have bought several philips cdm12.4 mechs from which was the laser used in loads of cd players when lots of people said it was obsolete.

If all else fails, sell it on ebay and look for something on offer?

good luck

robreid. Very informative first paragraph but much of the rest, apart from mention of grandata, is irrelevent. There is nothing wrong with his laser mechanism and his transport is a not a Philips make.
 

robreid

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As far as I'm aware, the transport refers to the whole mechanism which includes the laser. If a CD player can't read a disk 9 times out of 10 it needs a new laser. Normally if a manufacturer says you need a new transport you just need a new laser, but its easier and cheaper for them to change the whole transport mechanism, in some instances it can be the a mechnical issue with the transport not moving and tracking a cd correctly the oiling and greasing can usually solve this.

According to that list of parts, the arcam needs a KSS 213C LASER to fix the player, replacing the laser in a mechanism is a little tricky, and you often need some very small tools. I have found a new laser for £8 from several places, may be worth ordering one and trying to see if someone will replace it for you if you are not confident of doing it yourself.
 

robreid

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As for a laser being static sensitive, it may be but just be careful, if your holding it, touch your other hand against the surface your placing it on first so you discharge any static through your hand and not the laser, at worst its only £8, I've swapped loads and have never caused any static damage.
 

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