CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

[Jared Cicon]

Hi everyone. I am new here to the forum. Hoping I can get some information that will help me resolve my issue. My SJT400 seems to play very well...all the controls work...it is hush quiet. BUT...no matter what disc I insert, it starts playing at the one minute mark (or thereabouts).

It alternates from about 55 seconds to 65 seconds depending on the disc. But yes, the viewer Mrs about the first minute of contact from each disc.

Can anyone help me find the data sheet I need to make this tweak/repair? Or maybe if it is a quick fix you can share the procedure? Thank you in advance for your time.

[cbertra2]

Has to be a mechanical adjustment that controls the stylus landing.

[Jared Cicon]

Hi cbertra2,
Yeah I figured as much. And I’ve tried a few different remedies. The first one was manually setting the stylus carriage further back with the power off. I know kind of a week plan but it was my first stab. It of course bore no fruit. I then made a mark where the gear ends up on the track when the stylus carriage deploys at the start-of-play. So I know where it should be, or at least I’m guessing where it should be to provide for that first minute of play, but I don’t know how to get it to land on that spot. There has to be some way to mechanically alter the start point. I’m trying to be extremely careful because that bottom gear that contacts the rail/track is that special shock absorbing pulley which absorbs the torque from initial motor start up...it can break fairly easily, especially considering the age of the SJT.

I have watched about five hours of CED training on YouTube and I could not find where the issue was addressed.

[cbertra2]

Look for a switch that trips when the tracking arm moves into position.

[Jared Cicon]

Got it! Will do. I knew there would be something you guys would suggest that I had failed to think of myself. LOL!

[jsdspif]

if you have another cartridge try it and see what happens. I had some sort of issue and I thought it was an adjustment issue and it turned out my cartridge needed repair. I want to say cedatum said it was out of alignment but don't hold me to it. Don't remember exactly what it was doing but it was an issue happening at the start of playback and then it worked fine for the remainder of the disc. I thought no way it can be the stylus,but it was.

[Jared Cicon]

Hey jsdspif,
Yeah, as I mentioned in my initial post, it doesn't matter which disc I put in. Same symptoms.
Jared

[jsdspif]

misunderstanding. By cartridge I meant stylus. If you have another stylus try that and see what happens.

[Jared Cicon]

Got it. No 'spare' cartridge laying around.
Jare

[Jared Cicon]

The stylus plays the videos very well and the discs play their entirety through the end. I'm hoping it is the 'trigger' point. Gonna have some time either later today after work or tomorrow to get into it again. Thank you everyone for your help. I'll report back one way or another.
Jared

[cbertra2]

Does the visual search forward & reverse work well and is there speed identical.

[Jared Cicon]

Yes, the visual forward and reverse work well.

[jsdspif]

i think my problem was the disc wouldn't start to play until i did a forward search either very slightly or to the 1 minute mark and then it would play the entire disc just fine. So i thought the cartridge arm was just being pushed too far,but trying another cartridge it worked fine,and I sent the cartridge that didn't work in and it needed repair,and it seemed like the repair was out of alignment. I posted the problem when it initially occured but don't remember which post it was.

[Jared Cicon]

Thank you for taking the time to help on this. And thank you for being so thorough in your response. If I am unable to remedy the problem with any mechanical margin control, do you know where I could get a cartridge to test it with or maybe even purchase one? It is my understanding they are extremely expensive. It took forever for me to get a band made for the transport mechanism. Finally came in.I would imagine the cartridges are extremely expensive.

[Daxi Don]

Go to the HOME section of the CEDMAGIC website. Scroll down to the section: RELATED SITES ON THE WEB. It list many sites that sell CED parts ]

[Jared Cicon]

Good to know. If I can’t figure it out sooner than later I’ll just consider replacing the stylus or the cartridge. But it would be a damn shame to put a new cartridge and stylus in there and discover I have the same problem, you know what I mean?

[jsdspif]

I would start with contacting CEDatum CEDatum@ccrtc.com
and see if they have a cart for sale.That would be the best place to get one because it will work. I guess second option would be ebay and more than likely after you buy one there it won't work and you will have to send it to cedatum for at least cleaning /inspection and then possible repair rebuild etc. Pay no attention to listings that state new old stock,never used,brand new etc.,etc., and maybe just a little attention to tested works great type of thing. On those listings you might contact the seller and ask what did they use to test it and what was there testing procedure to get some idea of whether or not they're being honest. If the seller responds "I used my voltmeter set on ohms" you know that they are lying and haven't tested it. But if they say something along the lines of "I have a sjt400 and I played many disc using this cartridge" that's good but they may say "I have a sgt250" that wouldn't be correct because they take a different type of cartridge. There's nothing wrong with buying one on ebay as long as you realize it's probably going to need some form of servicing for it to work properly and don't go buying one for $499 . I think you may find them for around $50 possibly less. It's always nice to have a working spare,even if it doesn't solve the problem.

[johngreve]

I think this is the adjustment you need to make to get your player to begin playing discs at the very beginning . https://youtu.be/rPMHkfhuAMA
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SJT400. SGT 200
SKT400. SJT 100
SJT 300. Sears 94....150
SGT250 Zenith VP2000
SJT200. 800+ discs