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Newbie asking for help. Sony MZ-N510 problems.

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DSpawnZ

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Hi people. New member here from Argentina. I've got into the mini disc world this year by getting a MZ-R500 which works flawlessly.

Then I've got a MZ-N510 in very good condition but the unit does not work well.

Sorry for my english, I'll try to explain what the problem is. When I insert a recorded MiniDisc, unit takes longer than my other player to read the toc.

For example in the R500 toc reading takes about 3 to 5 second to read. In the N510 it takes about 10 to 30 seconds.

When I press play, first track starts to play after about 5 to 7 seconds, but when it starts playing it plays well without errors.

If I skip to another track, skipping takes too long, randomly it takes from 10 seconds to 30 seconds. After it reads it plays well.

I've recorded a blank MD, it records ok from line in (I haven't tested through NetMD), but when I stop recording it takes about a minute displaying a bliking "Edit".

When I playback the recorded MD in the other unit, recording is OK.

I think that this is not normal behaviour (compared to older R500). I've got into service mode, and all I've attempted is to read the error log which shows no errors at all.

I'm skilled with electronics as is my daily job (notebook repair), but have no knowledge on Mini Discs. I believe that it might need some kind of calibration.

Any help from the folks with experience would be greately appreciated. I'd really like to have my unit in good working order.

 

Regards

 

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Hmm. I don't know what the exact requirements are but would be inclined to try a real Sony power supply.

Since you have regulated power supplies, I would strongly suggest setting the power to 1.2 V in place of the NiMH battery and see if that improves things (unlikely but still possible).

I would then do a partial service of the unit. The most important is the power adjustments. Don't do anything which requires a laser calibration, just fix the power supply voltages. DO NOT do a "911 Reset".

I have only the 610 service manual in front of me but it should be the same. Under Electrical adjustments:

1. Do temperature correction

2. Do Manual power supply adjustment. For mains power use 3V just as they say, to the external terminals (NOT the battery terminals).

If everything is still sluggish then you may have to do a servo auto-adjust. This requires some disks for testing. IIRC this would simply be a blank disk, but you WOULD need 1 prerecorded disk (CD). Don't start the servo adjust unless you have a CD to hand.

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Thank you for your answer.

I will try your suggestions. Will program the power supply to 1.2 volts and 1.5 volts and connect it in the battery compartment.

One question, servo adjustment requieres a 911 reset?. In wich situations you need to perform a 911 reset?

I've bought a prerecorded disc just in case. It's on its way

Will report back.

Regards

 

 

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Start by making the power adjustments. This may be all that you need. Page 25 is the outline, the details are in pages 19-23.

I can walk you through the Overall Servo Adjustment (automatic sequence). But do that later.

The reason you need to do the 911 reset is that it will force the testing and calibration of the different reading and writing types with the mechanism. But once you do the reset, your MD will not work, at all, until the testing/calibration is successful. I would avoid doing it for now, otherwise we are forced to tweak individual settings in the NVRAM to pretend that the testing worked (which is not a good idea).

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Hi. I've followed the service manual procedure and set temp (summer 30 degrees, Hex 1e).

Also I've calibrated all the voltages. Unit got a little better, now TOC Reading time is fast and similar compared to N500.

What continues to lag is track skip time. When I skip for instance from track 1 to track 5, it takes about 20 seconds. Also I notice some head clicking noise on outer tracks.

I've tested with both, internal 1.5v alkaline battery and external power supply at 3v.

Maybe I need to perform a servo calibration?

Regards.

 

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There's another possibility: the sled/lead screw (if you know what that it, it's lead pronounced LEED, not lead like the metal Pb) may need some grease on it. Quite often the tracking is slow simply because the motor has to work too hard.

I'd try that (palpate with your fingers by turning the worm gear) and see if it feels sticky (You can compare with the 500). Be careful about oil (don't use it), you should only use silicone grease - however it is THAT which may become crusty. So you'll need to clean it off and apply some fresh grease.

Very pleased that things are quicker because you got the power back into shape. You did well!

I wouldn't tamper with the Servo stuff just yet - it's likely to be fine.

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You know what? I don't know, as I've never done it.

There are several people here who might have done this. One is AWOL (our friend Jim Hoggarth in England) and ill for many months. Another is Jonathan Dupre, "JonathanPotato" in France. And there may be some others.

My guess is yes you can; but I honestly, don't know if replacing it will force a complete realignment. In which case wait for the CD to arrive in the mail.

Initially I would be more inclined to wash it gently with a solvent taking great care not to get the solvent and the result of the washing mixed up with anything critical like the laser head. This would be perfect for a (very very careful) spray. However if you use a Q-Tip (swab) dipped in TCE (Trichloroethylene) I am going to wager that you can do it without removal. A toothbrush may be helpful.

Honestly, you're way beyond me here. Maybe we will all be sending our stuff to you soon :)

Good luck!

Stephen

PS the grease you need is white and quite light/thin. Not the heavy, transparent stuff.

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Ok. Thanks for answering. I've removed the gear and lead screw. It has no special alignment. Just the thrust detent spring and the rack spring.

Cleaned it and greased it again. Will reassemble all tonight. And test.

I'm far from being a Mini Disc repairman!!. It's been only two days.

Regards.

 

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Well. I've assembled the unit after applying silicone grease and everything is like before.

It reads de TOC fast, but track skipping takes long (some 10 to 30 seconds).

I've played a fully recorded disc, recorded on the other unit (R500), it's 80 minutes long 20 track SP.  Playing went fine from start to finish.

I've tried recording a full 80 minutes disc, with this unit, via the optical input, and recording went fine. Full 80 minutes recorded without problems.

Now I'm playing this disc on the R500 and sound is perfect. No errors.

So, Temp and power calibration are fine, and mechanical assembly is fully clean and working.

Maybe I need to perform the servo calibration?. Prerecorded disc is arriving via mail tomorrow.

What makes me doubt about all this, is that no error is logged at all.

What are your suggestions?. Maybe a bad optical lens?. Misalignment?. Wrong laser power?. I have no means of measuring laser power.

Regards.

 

 

 

 

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Well. This post is to confirm that everything is running perfect. Thank you very much sfbp for your time and support.

I've performed a recalibration with a prerecorded and a new recordable mini disc.

I've followed the service manual procedure.

After that, everything is working, player skips tracks as fast as the R500. Now I have a fully working unit, cleaned, re-lubricated, and re-calibrated.

Again, thanks a lot!

Regards!

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Bravo!

Just a word of warning for you and anyone out there who thinks this sounds easy - it ain't. In particular, aligning a HiMD unit is quite a bit harder, though I would recommend the exact same sequence. Mainly the difference there is you need 3 kinds of disk, one of which you must make yourself, since the part from Sony is no longer available. More about that anon when someone asks.

Meanwhile you have earned yourself a pat on the back and the title "Minidisc Repairman". For sure!

Stephen

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