Rotel RCD-855 Help Needed

[[email protected]]

My beloved Rotel RCD-855, purchased new around 1990, has 'died'. My stereo is left powered on all the time and the power went out for less than two seconds the other night. A while later I noticed the all the display's segments were lit up.

I powered it off and back on with the same symptom. I powered it off for a few minutes and when I powered it on again, the display was/is completely dark though I can here some activity immediately after powering on. Nothing works, not even the drawer.

Confused (by changing display symptoms) and bummed. It's not worth having someone even look at it, I'm sure. But, it still sounded so great, I want to try and fix it myself. No idea where to start.

 

[Trevor Wilson]

My beloved Rotel RCD-855, purchased new around 1990, has 'died'. My stereo is left powered on all the time and the power went out for less than two seconds the other night. A while later I noticed the all the display's segments were lit up.

I powered it off and back on with the same symptom. I powered it off for a few minutes and when I powered it on again, the display was/is completely dark though I can here some activity immediately after powering on. Nothing works, not even the drawer.

Confused (by changing display symptoms) and bummed. It's not worth having someone even look at it, I'm sure. But, it still sounded so great, I want to try and fix it myself. No idea where to start.

**Start by obtaining a service manual and look at the power supplies.

 

[[email protected]]

My beloved Rotel RCD-855, purchased new around 1990, has 'died'. My stereo is left powered on all the time and the power went out for less than two seconds the other night. A while later I noticed the all the display's segments were lit up.



I powered it off and back on with the same symptom. I powered it off for a few minutes and when I powered it on again, the display was/is completelydark though I can here some activity immediately after powering on. Nothing works, not even the drawer.



Confused (by changing display symptoms) and bummed. It's not worth havingsomeone even look at it, I'm sure. But, it still sounded so great, I want to try and fix it myself. No idea where to start.

200,000 hrs on time? Bad capacitors almost guaranteed. When you buy the replacements don't look for the cheapest junk you can find. I buy thousand of caps for my employers and look for highest ripple currents (lowest ESR) andlongest hours at 105C.

Also, you need a good soldering iron AND the skill to use it. I spent a chunk of time yesterday replacing caps on a broadcast video tape recorder motor drive board and that machine has just under 78,000 power on hours and some of those caps were terrible. Poor workmanship can turn a simple repair job into a nasty mess pretty quickly.

You say you want to do it yourself and with some help from a skilled tech you can probably learn in about hour or two. Note that you will NOT be a troubleshooter in a short time but basic soldering skills are not all that difficult to master.

You have to ask yourself if a 20+ year old CD player is worth the bother. You say it sounds good and I'm sure it's fine but you can buy a cheapy DVD player that will play CDs for $30-$40 and it will sound fine too.

G²

 

[[email protected]]

My beloved Rotel RCD-855, purchased new around 1990, has 'died'. My stereo is left powered on all the time and the power went out for less than two seconds the other night. A while later I noticed the all the display's segments were lit up.



I powered it off and back on with the same symptom. I powered it off for a few minutes and when I powered it on again, the display was/is completelydark though I can here some activity immediately after powering on. Nothing works, not even the drawer.



Confused (by changing display symptoms) and bummed. It's not worth havingsomeone even look at it, I'm sure. But, it still sounded so great, I want to try and fix it myself. No idea where to start.

I found the service manual in PDF form - so far, so good.

Yes, somewhere around 200k hours on time. I'd guess no less than 175k.

I do have soldering skills though the patience where's quickly at times. Learned a long time ago to just walk away for a bit.

Funny thing, today they wife emailed me at work to tell me the power went out again and that the CD player 'is on'. Come home to see that display completely lit like when this first started. Regardless, time to read through the manual before I pull it out of the rack and have at it.

 

[Trevor Wilson]

I found the service manual in PDF form - so far, so good.

Yes, somewhere around 200k hours on time. I'd guess no less than 175k.

I do have soldering skills though the patience where's quickly at times. Learned a long time ago to just walk away for a bit.

Funny thing, today they wife emailed me at work to tell me the power went out again and that the CD player 'is on'. Come home to see that display completely lit like when this first started. Regardless, time to read through the manual before I pull it out of the rack and have at it.

**Check out the connections where the display connects to the PCB. The
firt and last pins are the suspects.

 

[Adrian C]

**Check out the connections where the display connects to the PCB. The
firt and last pins are the suspects.

Also check PSU capacitors for drying out. I have a Rotel tuner RT-930AX
of the same vintage that internally was always powered even though
switched off. The main reservoir cap was cooked. There are many power
rails in the item all related to each other including the VFD drive
voltage, if one rail is out, others will be erratic to cause malfunction.