Saturday, September 10, 2022

DIY CDM-9 tray gear replacement

Was helping a friend replace the aging CD player tray gear on his Arcam Alpha 5 CD player ... did not expect I would need to dissamble the enitre machine to get the task done😩

The Arcam Alpha 5 uses a CDM-9 mounting mechanism and because the Arcam box is a solid part ....

New tray gear on LHS of the pix

There was really no choice as there was no release mechanism for removal of the CD tray itself, to simplify removal of the CD mount mechanism eg alike VAM12.1. The gear is secured by 2-torx screws on the bottom of the CD mounting mechanism. The CD mounting mechanism was in-turn then secured to the motherboard by 2 screws covered by hard plastic (after the threads)!!!

LHS is the new, vs, the removed CDM-9 tray gear on RHS


TIP - Remember to grease the shaft on the CD mounting mechanism before inserting the new gear into place ... use suitable grease which will not "eat-into" the plastic, available from electronics part shops