MDS-JE500 not recording anymore

[Fossalta]

I've been snooping around this site and forum for a few days searching for an answer for a problem I have with one of my decks but haven't found it yet so here's my 1st post:

I currently own 3 MD decks, the Sony MDS-JE330, MDS-JE500 and a MDS-JE530. I haven't used them for a while (about 4 years), but since I got a new (temporary) job as sound/light engineer for a touring theater show it was time to get my decks from the attic so I can take 2 of them on the tour (one for use, and one as spare). I was also asked to produce the "soundtrack" for the show and during the making of that soundtrack I found out that the JE500 unit cannot record anymore.

It appears to be recording as indicated by the level indicators. But when I play back the "recording" I hear the music that was previous on the disc. This means that when I "Erase All" the disc on another deck, and re-insert it in the JE-500, record a few minutes, I hear the music that was on the disc before the Erase All. If I eject the disc it shows it's writing the TOC, but when I enter the disc in another unit it shows "blank disc".

I found this page: http://www.physics.adelaide.edu.au/~jwoith...epair_tips.html and most symptoms appear to be the same, but:

"With no magnetic information being supplied, the disc sectors are effectively erased"

the data that was previously "erased" should be "effectively erased" which is not happening.

Could it be the laser not producing enough power to write the new data, or is maybe something else wrong? I hate to throw it away and buy another unit, because the rest is still working fine...