Car Stereo - repair or replace

[VladTepes]

MP3 CD player in my Defender won't read ANY CD's properly.

Possibly full of dust, possibly something else.

It's an "Eclipse' brand which is apprently pretty good (wasn't cheap at the time) for a 4wd and I never had any problems with it skipping or anything.

I'd like to take it to get fixed, but the local place will probably be expensive. Does anyone know of a good place in Brissie that could take a look at it for me ?

[p38arover]

I wonder if the laser needs cleaning? BradTot would be the man to ask.

Ron

[rovercare]

Eclipse have a 3 year warranty, if that has elapsed take the top of and blow it out and maybe give it a spray with CO contact cleaner, if that doesn't work take it in and get a quote any more than 100 bucks, i wouldn't bother.

[Utemad]

I have never heard of eclipse. Which suggests to me is isn't 'up there' quality wise. Although I may be wrong.

The most common problem with faulty car CD players is a dirty laser surface.

If you want to clean the laser surface properly all you need to do is take the top off the unit and use a moistened (breath on it heavily) ear bud cleaner. Gently wipe it across the laser surface.
You shouldn't have to remove any of the CD mechanism (best you don't if you're unsure) but some lasers are easier to access than others.

That's it. If that doesn't fix it then it must be something else.

I'm in Brisbane too. On the Southside. If your nearby I can look at it for you if you like.

[rovercare]

Ecplipse are mid to high level, good stuff

[NOZ]

Northfield Car Sound were agent for eclipse and I know they do repairs, might be worth a quote

[spudboy]

If you decide to replace it, take a look at something like this:
JVC headunit. KD-G725 ($379 rrp)
It plays MP3s off of a USB memory stick or any plug in USB hard drive.

No more CDs to scratch, and if you get a good sized memory stick you can get hundreds of songs on it, and absolutely no moving parts. With a USB hard drive you would get thousands of songs.

[VladTepes]

Originally posted by spudboy
If you decide to replace it, take a look at something like this:
JVC headunit. KD-G725 ($379 rrp)
It plays MP3s off of a USB memory stick or any plug in USB hard drive.

No more CDs to scratch, and if you get a good sized memory stick you can get hundreds of songs on it, and absolutely no moving parts. With a USB hard drive you would get thousands of songs.

Cool that's just the sort of thing I've been looking for !

Will go the repair route first however.

But ALL that will have to wait until after I get some new tyres for the ute !