We don't recommend any home remedies be used on Compact Disc Players other than shipping them properly. Some units are fitted with transport screws. It is imperative that these screws be reinstalled if the unit is shipped. A few multi-disc units have control sequences you should execute that prepare the unit for shipping.

We do not recommend using any lens cleaning discs. The best outcome you can expect is that the cleaner will not jam in the player. Dirty lenses are not very common. For the few players dirty enough to cause mistracking, we find they come in repeatedly for cleaning. This indicates some sort of local problem such as heavy smoking, a serious dust problem or an unfortunate air circulation path involving the unit. We have seen a few players matted with fur from cats sleeping on the unit.

Diagnosing compact disc player problems is tricky because, much like a crying infant, most CD problems result in the same symptom -- skipping. An additional aggravation is that the defective players seem to have "good and bad" days. Professional service is the only answer. You can help the professional by observing the following:

• Does the unit skip on all discs? Be sure the discs are clean and free from major scratches. Any scratch longer than 1mm (0.04 inches) along the track spiral is likely to cause trouble. If the unit skips on just a few discs, bring an example with the player.
• When the unit skips, does it skip forward, backward, or get trapped on one spot?
• How much music does the unit skip? -- a fraction of a second, a few seconds, a track or more?
• When the unit skips, does it skip only when first turned on, only after a certain length of playing time (please specify), or only on certain tracks? If the latter please supply a sample disc.
• Is there any bias toward skipping on low numbered or high numbered tracks? When you ask the player to jump to another track, will it start playing at the beginning of the desired track? Is there a difference between jumping ahead or back?
• Is the problem strictly random?

Occasionally we must respond to the aggravating observation that "the skipping disc plays on my friend's [usually cheap] player." However unfair it seems, this is usually not a reason for concern -- especially if only one disk is involved. More than likely, the disc is out of specification in some respect. Each individual player reacts differently to a defective disc, perhaps even on successive attempts. As service diagnostics, we keep a collection of abnormal discs. One obviously defective disc has an unplayable track six. We've only found two players (the same model) "good enough" to play through track six. Unfortunately, both were in need of major repairs and could not play any normal discs!

Our more technical readers may appreciate the discussion of CD player technology found elsewhere on the web. Although we feel the author understates the motor problem and we disagree with some of his comments on sonic quality, the discussion is generally useful.

See also: Repair or Replace?