Reparing a broken MD-Player

Today I found an old Sony MD Player in the basement (Sony MZ-710). It had stopped working. After inserting an MD, the internal mechanics created lots of jerky chattering for some time and after that displayed 'READ ERR'. No music would be played.

Strangely this problem could be fixed easily by removing at least some of the screws, which must have bend the body of the device. The problem returns if the screws are reinserted.

I would guess this might also be helpful to other people. There are at least hints on the internet, that this problem arises out of some production problems and not due to bad handling, e.g. dropping the device.

2011-07-31