I fixed our broken portable CD player.

It was so easy that anyone can do this fix.

My wife brought me her broken CD player and asked me to fix it.

I pressed Play and it just rattled, shook and rocked, click-click-clicked and whirred, then finally gave up clicking and said “no disc.”

It’s toast.

Rolling it around in every possible direction, looking for clues, made no difference.  The laser reader, a little box on shiny rails was (click-click-click) looking for the beginning of the disc (near the center).  It couldn’t find the beginning and “lock on” to it and start reading the disc.

So what could I (or you) do?

1. Sometimes just taking out the CD and putting it back in again makes them work.  Sorry, I have no explanation.

2. Test with another factory-made disc (not a disc you’ve burned) to see if it’s the disc or the player.  No luck.

3. Fresh batteries are always a good line of defense.  (But not this time.)  If you spot anything on the battery contacts that doesn’t belong there, clean them with rubbing alcohol on a Q-Tip, or even alcohol on a tissue wrapped on a toothpick.  Corrosion from a leaked battery will just eat the contact away.

4. The first real “fix” I tried (which has worked before) was to VERY GENTLY wipe any dust off the tiny lens with a dry Q-Tip or soft cloth (but NOT a Kleenex that has aloe or lotion in it).  It looks like a tiny magnifying glass.  Don’t rub hard enough to remove dirt, since there shouldn’t be any grease or dirt in there (unless you had crud or food on a disc — always inspect any disc before you place it).  Blowing on it may get saliva on the lens, so that’s not a terrific idea.  You might also try a DVD cleaner disc that looks like a thin layer of suede on the bottom — does the same thing.  They sell them in the Dollar stores.

That didn’t work this time. My four favorite tricks made no difference at all.

This player was headed for the trash.  I’ve taken them apart before, and there’s really nothing inside that can be fixed.

Might as well get radical on this one.  Can’t make things any worse, right?

I realized she’d probably dropped it.  And, since the last thing to come loose would have been the headphone plug, I knew how it landed — on edge, with the headphone jack pointing straight up.  Something inside got bent or shoved.  What got bent?  Don’t know, don’t care.

I removed the disc and dropped the player from about a foot high onto the carpet (you could drop it on a folded towel) with the headphone jack pointed straight down.

It still didn’t work, but it was clearly improved.  The click-click-click rattling noises I’d heard before were gentler, smoother and lengthier.  Less frantic.

I was on the right track.

I removed the CD and dropped it again, this time from about 2 feet with the jack at the bottom. That popped the cover open and I thought I’d really broken it, but it was OK.  On reflection, I’d rather go multiple times with a short drop than one time with a big drop.  Or, just slap the headphone socket against my hand a few times.

Worked great!!  I mean 100%.  Like brand new.  The wife said, “Thanks.  Now will you mow the lawn?”

You’re welcome, honey.

Now where did I put that old clock that fell off the wall  . . .

Tell your friends.

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Charlie Gosh

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Learn a simple trick to take advantage of the next recession . . .  http://www.charliegosh.com/?p=97

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