The only Authorized North American Distributor of Philips CD PRO 2 CD Players

Install Optical Pick-up OPU1 in CD Pro 1 (VAU 1252/XX)

Print

1

Place the player on the bench top, lens facing down. When working with the player, be careful not to rest the module on the center hub. Best practice is to place the unit on a jig that allows for the center hub of the turntable to be raised off the bench top. Take care not to put pressure on the motor shaft; this can cause the turntable to be pushed in. The turntable will then “bottom out” on the casing resulting in friction and the motor will not spin.

Remove the 4 Torx no. 10 screws holding the PCB.

2

As you carefully lift the PCB, you will see two flex-foil cables attached to the PCB. The smaller foil controls the motor and the larger one controls the sledge. While holding the flex-foil cable, take a small flat screwdriver and lift the latches on both sides of the connector. The flex-foils should remain slack. Slide each foil out of its connector. Do not pull on the foils forcefully. Set the PCB aside in a static-protected place.

3

With your finger, rotate the worm gear attached to the sledge motor pushing it softly up until the OPU moves about ½ inch from the starting position. (Approximately into the middle of the sledge guidance shaft.) Do not force the sledge, as you will strip the gears. Take care not to remove all of the lubricant from the gear assemblies.

 

4

Using the T6 remove the screws holding the retaining clips, securing the sledge guidance shaft of the OPU on both sides. With the same T6 remove the two screws holding the nylon sledge guidance plane and put them aside. There is no need to remove any additional screws, gears or any other parts from the module in order to remove the OPU.

 

5

Lift the sledge guidance shaft of the OPU on the left side first while lifting the top of the OPU from the upper sledge guidance shaft. As you remove the shaft from the holder on the left side, push the left side up to disengage the toothed black bar from the large gearwheel. Once you clear the gears, lift the shaft on the right side and remove the OPU with the stainless-steel shaft attached.

 

6

As you perform this process, familiarize yourself with the OPU. Pay close attention to the spring-loaded, toothed black bar. During removal, take care not to disengage the small wire that acts as a spring. If this happens, carefully reinstall the wire with tweezers. (In the case of the old OPU, you do not have to worry about it, since this OPU will be discarded.)

 

7

Remove the new OPU1 from the box. Most likely, you have received and OPU1 that looks similar to the one pictured above in Step 6. If this is the case, disregard the following steps that describe removal of the OPU from its plastic chassis — you won’t need to do this.

If you have purchased an OPU1 that is housed in a plastic chassis (labelled as CDM12.4), you will remove the OPU1 from this plastic chassis. The sledge motor worm gear has to be rotated in the opposite direction – down. This assembly is securing the sledge guidance shaft by mechanical stoppers. Use tweezers or a flat screwdriver to remove these stoppers and discard them.

 

8

To simplify the removal and prevent damage to the OPU1, cut the upper sledge guidance plane with wire cutters (see the picture) on both sides, carefully moving it away from OPU1. Remove the OPU1 following step 5 above. Inspect the OPU1 and make sure it slides freely on the shaft. You can discard the plastic chassis (or keep it for additional spare parts). The turntable motor is compatible and can be used also. Please return to the Service page for self-service instructions for turntable motor replacement.

 

9

Inspect the original CD Pro module for wear and tear. With a clean, low-lint cotton swab, wipe all exposed lubrication points of old grease and dirt. Discard the cotton swab. Make sure no cotton fibers remain on gears and rails. Lubricate the player according to the factory maintenance instructions found on our Service page. Use Tribol 9890 Moluballoy grease, also available in our Store. (Krytox GLP-204 performance lubricant by DuPont can be substituted for lubrication.)

10

CAUTION: This is the most critical step of the repair!

Carefully reinstall the new OPU1 the same way as the old one was removed in step 5 (of course in reverse order). Starting with sliding the right side of the sledge guidance shaft into its retaining slots. Make sure the toothed bar on the OPU1 goes under the large gearwheel. Then apply a slight pressure and slide the left side into the holder. Touch the shaft as little as possible; it has all the needed lubrication. If you need to reapply lubrication, use a small amount.

 

11

Reinstall the shaft holders. Reinstall the nylon sledge guidance plane. Tweezers are helpful in this process. Do not rotate the OPU1 back to the “home” position. The sledge will automatically return “home” upon the first power-up.

12

Remove the ESD clip from the OPU1 flex-foil harness and discard. Take the PCB and reinsert the large flex foil harness into its  connector. Insert it all the way down and push the locks down to secure the foil on both sides. Repeat with the smaller foil. Mount the PCB back to the player, reinstalling the 4 no. 10 Torx screws.

The OPU1 replacement is now finished.

 

13

If the module came out of a jukebox, install it into the jukebox and test it. The best way to test in a jukebox is to play the first and last track on several CDs. For hifi units, reinstall and play tracks from a number of CDs.

If your jukebox or CD transport works, the repair process has been a success.