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CD tray sticks because the plasticizers are leaking out

C

CorD

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2024
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35
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Location
Nederland
Good morning, Who can help me, I recently bought a vintage CD player (Onkyo Integra DX 7911) but it did not play well. It skipped on some CDs. That is why I took it to a repair shop.

The Laser is good and the skipping can also be solved by replacing a belt.

But there is a new problem that I was not aware of. The CD tray starts to stick. When you put a CD in it, it sticks to the tray. The cause is the evaporation of the plasticizers from the tray.

What is the best thing to do now? Replace the tray? (I do not know if this is possible) Are these for sale?

Or treat the plastic. https://nl.ifixit.com/News/93833/as...:text=In a lot of cases,and then wipe it away.

Thanks in advance.
 
CorD said:
The Laser is good and the skipping can also be solved by replacing a belt.
Click to expand...
Skipping, belt? Nope. That's the spindle motor that needs some TLC, classic Onkyo disease.
CorD said:
But there is a new problem that I was not aware of. The CD tray starts to stick. When you put a CD in it, it sticks to the tray. The cause is the evaporation of the plasticizers from the tray.
Click to expand...
You can try cleaning the problematic areas with white spirit (mineral spirit) or lighter fluid, that tends to be fairly effective on rubberized plastic.

On an side note, I would prefer the 7711 over the 7911 from this series because it doesn't have an ASRC (a late '90s to early 2000s fad that turned out to be quite unfortunate in hindsight as the things will generate nasty distortion when confronted with levels exceeding 0 dBFS). Shouldn't matter if you're only using digital output though.

BTW, you forgot to translate your thread title, it's in Dutch.
 
CorD said:
Good morning, Who can help me, I recently bought a vintage CD player (Onkyo Integra DX 7911) but it did not play well. It skipped on some CDs. That is why I took it to a repair shop.

The Laser is good and the skipping can also be solved by replacing a belt.

But there is a new problem that I was not aware of. The CD tray starts to stick. When you put a CD in it, it sticks to the tray. The cause is the evaporation of the plasticizers from the tray.

What is the best thing to do now? Replace the tray? (I do not know if this is possible) Are these for sale?

Or treat the plastic. https://nl.ifixit.com/News/93833/ask-ifixit-how-do-i-fix-sticky-plastics#:~:text=In a lot of cases,and then wipe it away.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Perhaps Car Plastic Lens restorer/cleaners will be useful in this instance. They clean, restore, and seal plastic, for such plastics as with Car Plastic Lens and some are even recommended for CD/DVD disk surfaces :=)
 
CorD said:
Good morning, Who can help me, I recently bought a vintage CD player (Onkyo Integra DX 7911) but it did not play well. It skipped on some CDs. That is why I took it to a repair shop.

The Laser is good and the skipping can also be solved by replacing a belt.

But there is a new problem that I was not aware of. The CD tray starts to stick. When you put a CD in it, it sticks to the tray. The cause is the evaporation of the plasticizers from the tray.

What is the best thing to do now? Replace the tray? (I do not know if this is possible) Are these for sale?

Or treat the plastic. https://nl.ifixit.com/News/93833/ask-ifixit-how-do-i-fix-sticky-plastics#:~:text=In a lot of cases,and then wipe it away.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Get a pack of the cheapest baby wipes (alcohol-free) from the drugstore and thoroughly clean the plastic and rubber surfaces with them. Some surfaces have a coating that needs to be removed. On plastic, wipe off the oil film immediately. On rubber, let the light oil film sit for a few hours and then polish it again with a baby wipe. Then wipe it off with a Tempo tissue—only genuine Tempo tissues, almost all other lint.

I learned this very gentle trick from a professional restorer.
 
Keith_W said:
@restorer-john do you have any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Most likely the issue is not anything other than the damper pad on the disc motor table. They get "sticky" and hold the CD when you hit eject, the entire mech is so fast is rejects the unload and you are caught in a loop.

Just clean the "sticky" table damper pad (ring) and then put a bit of talcum powder on it. All will be well.

Very common problem and I have a few here. In fact a nice Onkyo DX-7xx picked up for a few dollars for that very reason...
 
KL.... said:
Perhaps Car Plastic Lens restorer/cleaners will be useful in this instance. They clean, restore, and seal plastic, for such plastics as with Car Plastic Lens and some are even recommended for CD/DVD disk surfaces :=)
Click to expand...
That's an extremely bad idea.
These products contain both solvents and abrasives.
They're specifically formulated for these plastics and are completely unsuitable for other plastics. In addition to micro-scratches, they can also cause cracks over time, especially on CDs.
I've seen entire CD collections where, after a few years, cracks appeared in the outer edges due to such special treatments.
The same can happen with many supposedly special CD pens/markers.
 
Roland68 said:
That's an extremely bad idea.
These products contain both solvents and abrasives.
They're specifically formulated for these plastics and are completely unsuitable for other plastics. In addition to micro-scratches, they can also cause cracks over time, especially on CDs.
I've seen entire CD collections where, after a few years, cracks appeared in the outer edges due to such special treatments.
The same can happen with many supposedly special CD pens/markers.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I have been using VuPlex, without issue for several years, and it indicates for use on CDs/DVDs (and many, many other plastics). Are you familiar with this one?
 
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KL.... said:
Thank you, I have been using VuPlex, without issue for several years, and it indicates for use on CDs/DVDs (and many, many other plastics). Are you familiar with this one?
Click to expand...
First of all, VuPlex has nothing to do with the car plastic lens restorers/cleaners you mentioned earlier.
Do you really think snake oil only exists in the audio sector? The entire market for cleaning chemicals, refurbishment and cleaning solutions, and even lubricants, is one of the prime examples of snake oil. Hardly anywhere else are people so ripped off and defrauded. Most of the time, the packaging and filling costs are more expensive than the ingredients.

Regarding VuPlex, mostly water and €68-100 per liter? Seriously?
Plus petroleum and ethanol for CD cleaning? Who came up with such marketing nonsense? A chemist certainly wasn't involved.
By the way, that great surface shine comes from a wafer-thin film of oil that remains afterward. Guess how good that is for the CD material in the long run. Add butyl glycol, which is good that it's not toxic or harmful to health.

750mm of regular Palmolive costs €1.65 and is enough for the gentle cleaning of tens of thousands of CDs.
Add 1 liter of pure isopropanol for about €10/liter, distilled water, and high-quality, pure, genuine cotton drying cloths.
All of this can be mixed as needed and is the perfect tool for any type of plastic cleaning, not just CDs.
Costs €1-3 per liter.
Incidentally, isopropanol also dries without leaving any residue, unlike ethanol, petroleum and other substances.
 
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CorD said:
Good morning, Who can help me, I recently bought a vintage CD player (Onkyo Integra DX 7911) but it did not play well. It skipped on some CDs. That is why I took it to a repair shop.

The Laser is good and the skipping can also be solved by replacing a belt.

But there is a new problem that I was not aware of. The CD tray starts to stick. When you put a CD in it, it sticks to the tray. The cause is the evaporation of the plasticizers from the tray.

What is the best thing to do now? Replace the tray? (I do not know if this is possible) Are these for sale?

Or treat the plastic. https://nl.ifixit.com/News/93833/ask-ifixit-how-do-i-fix-sticky-plastics#:~:text=In a lot of cases,and then wipe it away.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
KL.... said:
Perhaps Car Plastic Lens restorer/cleaners will be useful in this instance. They clean, restore, and seal plastic, for such plastics as with Car Plastic Lens and some are even recommended for CD/DVD disk surfaces :=)
Click to expand...
@CorD , apologys, it would appear that I needed to be more concise in this instance, in that I have been using VuPlex for many years without issue (I purchased it from an Auto Store) and VuPlex indicate that it can be used on many, many plastics, such as a Car Plastic Lens, CDs/DVDs, etc.... What can I use VuPlex® on?
 
Ik heb de reparateur gebeld en hij vertelde me dat hij het probleem met de lade zou oplossen, maar ik weet niet hoe. Zaterdag kan ik de Onkyo ophalen. Dan zal ik meteen een foto plaatsen en schrijven wat hij heeft gedaan om de plakkerige lade te repareren.
 
No need for an apology, this way we can learn from each other.
Click to expand...


I called the repairman and he told me he would solve the problem with the drawer, but I don't know how. I can pick up the Onkyo on Saturday. Then I will immediately post a picture and write what he did to fix the sticky drawer.
Click to expand...
 
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