MetaChat - AskMeCha: How to unjam a CD changer tray?

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18 January 2006

AskMeCha: How to unjam a CD changer tray? My niece was gifted a pretty decent Aiwa boom box. It's about a foot tall with separate speakers. The top is a 3-CD changer tray, which she promptly managed to jam 3 CDs into -- the wrong way, so it closed, won't play, and now won't open again. I couldn't find any sort of manual release. Ideas?

post by: stilicho at: 18:16 | 12 comments

This happened to me once, because the thing tipped over somehow, and all three CDs got stuck in one place.

Look at the back (I had a different CD player, I think) and see if there are any screws back there, around the top (if the CD "tongue" sticks out of the top of the machine).

Unscrew them, note where everything goes, and take the top off. Pull the CDs out. Screw the top back on.

posted by interrobang 18 January | 18:30

Youre not stupid, but pls make sure you unplug the damn thing first. just saying...

Note: breaking into it will probably invalidate any guarantee you have.

posted by urbanwhaleshark 18 January | 18:36

Coincidentally I have an Aiwa minisystem I've had since I was a student -- so it's about eight years old -- and it jammed like this a couple of times. I lived with two electrical engineers who both made me take it to a repairman because it was still under warranty and that would have been voided if they screwed with it.

So what urbanwhaleshark said.

posted by tracicle 18 January | 18:42

How would they know if you'd ever dismantled it?

posted by interrobang 18 January | 18:50

interrobang, Screws in the case sealed with Loctite that aren't sealed any more. Or just seal tape they put over edges like on hard drives.

posted by fenriq 18 January | 18:55

Oh. I never had that issue with mine, because my cat destroyed it by knocking over a glass of watercolor water on it which I had stupidly set on top of it.

But shit: how much does it cost to get a boom-box fixed? I'll bet more than it's worth to go through the hassle, especially since the repair-man is just going to do the exact same thing.

You could always do it yourself, and if the warranty issue ever comes up, claim that you'd taken it in, and lost the receipt.

posted by interrobang 18 January | 19:04

I have this ancient Aiwa 5 disc changer (the discs are slanted to minimize footprint) that I had a bunch of CDs stuck in, a long time ago.

I shook it like a crying infant (or one of those games where you're you have to get the little metal balls all in one compartment) and eventually got it to open again.

/does not shake infants IRL

posted by porpoise 18 January | 19:05

But voiding the warantee is the best part!

posted by Triode 18 January | 20:29

My 5 disc toshiba changer (not a boombox) did this several times, and pressing eject while holding it upside down and shaking it a wee bit worked. This is the rotating platter kind, so may not be comparable.

posted by rumple 18 January | 21:01

Look for a tiny pinhole somewhere on the CD drawer. You might be able to get the end of a paperclip in it then tilt the clip slightly and try to tug the door open.

posted by puddinghead 18 January | 21:09

hulk smash

posted by Wedge 18 January | 21:37

It's the rotating platter kind -- I wasn't clear. There weren't any obvious CD pinholes (I'm no dummy, I useta be a network engineer).

I'm pretty sure this isn't in warranty, even though it's a nice brand name. So I'll be attacking it with the jeweler's screwdrivers tomorrow. Thanks!

posted by stilicho 18 January | 22:10

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