Turbo Duo - Intermittent CD misbehavior

[graffias79]

I recently had my Duo recapped.  In that sense it seems to be fine.  I noticed this other issue before having it recapped and was hoping the recap would fix it.  First I'll describe the problem as it happens playing an audio CD:

Put the CD in and play let it read the disc.  It reads the TOC and lets me select the track.  It will play fine, with maybe a little click in the sound here or there but mostly fine until it gets past about 3/4 of the way to the edge of the CD.  Then the audio on the next track or so becomes very scratchy and eventually just becomes unable to read the disc at all.

Last night I wanted to capture the sound of what was happening so I turned on my laptop, started audacity and got the audio cable plugged into the Duo's headphone jack.  Meanwhile I had the CD paused and queued up to play one of the scratchy tracks.  When I was finally ready to record I unpaused it and it played fine.  In fact it played fine for the rest of the night.

What happens with games is that it will load the data tracks and play fine unless there's an audio track near the end of the disc.  In that case it plays nothing.  The 4-in-1 pack-in SuperCD will start up but may or may not play the applause track when Bonk appears.  Last night I was playing Ys IV and the cut scene after Adol disappears from the warehouse in the beginning of the game started fine but there was no audio.  The CD drive was physically emitting a high pitched whine.  This prompted me to stop and test it with an audio CD as seen above.  When it finally started working correctly with audio CDs, I put Ys IV back in and it played perfectly, including the cut scene.

It doesn't matter if the CDs I use are pressed or burned.  The system almost seems like it needs warm-up time before it'll work.  Is there anything that can be done?  I'm really not thrilled with the prospect of sending this out again but if I have to I guess I can.  I did buy a spare HOP-M3 laser so I have that on hand.

[ClodBusted]

Did you try removing old grease and dirt from the laser unit rails, and reapplying fresh grease?

[graffias79]

Yes, the gentleman who recapped my system did just that.  Do you think it is a temperature issue?

[ClodBusted]

My other guess would be the laser pots needing slight readjustment. There is a guide for this. But I'd like to hear what Keith or one of the other tech guys advise you to do first, before going into that.

[turbokon]

Most likely just needs one or two pots adjusted.   With a scope you can fine tune the laser.

[graffias79]

Thanks for all your suggestions.  I am in touch with someone who is helping.