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-   -   RCA SFT100 CED player (http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=268351)

Adam 01-11-2017 06:37 PM

RCA SFT100 CED player
 
About once every few years I seem to pick up one of these in hopes of having a working unit - and they never work - and I always seem to eventually give up on fixing them…

Well, I got another one. This WAS a nice unit with the original owners manual - but it was banged up in shipping. But then, I really don't mind gluing some of the plastic on the bottom back together - if I can get it working…

At first it wouldn't load a disc - some parts were stuck (the spindle? that goes through the center of the disc wouldn't go down). But now I got it so it will load the disc and spin it.

But, it won't output anything but a blank black picture and no sound. I noticed the needle? wasn't actually touching the disc. I don't know if this is because it is supposed to go further down, or the platter? the disc sits on needs to go further up. I tried manually doing both, neither had an effect. Also, the controls seem to do nothing at all, except for 'pause' which produces a 'p' on the display. Otherwise, it displays '--' all the time.

I'm suspicious that this is caused by some bad impossible to find IC and I'm looking at yet another unit I'm never going to get working. Or maybe not!?

Electronic M 01-11-2017 08:44 PM

The counter is driven by the frame count which is read from the disc...You will need styli contact (and a clean sytli) to get ant audio or video...It is too bad you did not attend last year's spring ETF...I had two working players there.

I've never had a CED machine I could not make work* out of the 6 I've owned...92% of issues are bad belts (and they can cause some freaky things), the rest were subtle adjustments that could be puzzled out with reasonable patience.

*I broke a loading gear on one I had been using for a year that developed a belt issue and that was the end of that one...

AdamAnt316 01-28-2017 01:19 PM

I've managed to find a couple of working CED players, though only one of them was working when I got it. My first was a Sears 274.54740150, which was a relabeled RCA SFT-100. At first, it had the usual wobbly color issues. Going by the tutorials on CEDMagic, I printed out a strobe ring, and discovered that the platter wasn't spinning at the proper 450RPM.

I ordered a replacement belt from CEDMagic, which helped a little, but the color was still off. I then lubricated both sets of platter bearings, but the picture was still wonky. After some discussion on the CEDMagic forum, it was determined that the new belt, which had originally been sourced from PRBLine, was too tight. I then bought a NOS RCA replacement belt from CEDatum, which finally fixed the color issue.
-Adam

retrogear 01-29-2017 08:22 PM

Our shop was an RCA warranty service center for the CED player. I had like a week's training on the SFT-100. I do know they said the spindle belt was special order because of the tension and more importantly it is conductive to prevent static buildup of the disc. With a normal belt, it will discharge thru the stylus and actually flash open the metal flylead down to the stylus. I know I could read megaohms resistance on the belt with an ohmmeter. As far as the OP, I know the stylus gets released to lower onto the media. Seems like there was a motor with a small belt to move a slider to release the stylus. Later models used a magnetic coil. My memory is vague because we only serviced these a few years like 30+ years ago. The technology just couldn't compete with the more popular laserdisc players.

MadMan 01-29-2017 11:01 PM

Mer?

Dude111 01-30-2017 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electronic M
I've never had a CED machine I could not make work....

Please dont say that N word,we dont want you to jinx things!!

Your very lucky if you have a GOOD videodisc player :)


Hoe many titles do you have electronic?

Electronic M 01-30-2017 10:16 AM

I don't have an exact count in my head. I think it is around 150. I've got one of those really big wallmart plastic containers with a lid full plus a stack 8-12" high.

I dumped around 50 discs (duplicates, movies I did not like, and orphaned halves of 2 disc sets) plus a duplicate player back at the spring ETF.

Dude111 02-01-2017 01:58 PM

Wow 150,thats awesome!!!!


Good for you........ Pure analog glory right??

:)


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