Is200 Head Unit

[Steviewevie]

I have a bottom-loading CD head unit and although I haven't had any problem with discs getting physically stuck, or the dreaded "ERR3", I am finding that it seems sensitive to small scratches/marks on the discs.

Some CDs that played perfectly well on my old car are causing problems where it starts getting stuck and/or skipping on a particular track. I took a CD and copied it via my PC (which had no problems) to make a new disc, and the new disc seems to be ok.

Is this a common problem ? Could it be that the laser is a bit dusty or something ? Do I just need to put up with it ? Or is it a sign that the unit is on its way out ?

[DJ Wozza]

Is this a common problem ?

yep, the players don't like reading CD-R's

Could it be that the laser is a bit dusty or something ?

possibly

Do I just need to put up with it ?

up to you really

Or is it a sign that the unit is on its way out ?

very probably

[Parthiban]

I'd give one of those CD cleaners a go because it could just be a dirty laser, but as it's a bottom loader, I'm sorry to say there's a very good chance it's dying..........

[Steviewevie]

Is this a common problem ?

yep, the players don't like reading CD-R's

That's the thing though, it's the originals where it's having a problem on a couple of discs (on one I can see the scratch easily, though on the other I can't see anything wrong), and when I copied them to CD-R it worked better !

I might as well try and see if cleaning the lens helps, but it sounds like I could be heading for trouble ...

[Steviewevie]

Hmm, my latest observations are that my head unit seems to often start skipping towards the last few tracks of the CD. Since CDs play from the inside towards the outside, that makes it sound more like a mechanical problem with reading the outside of discs

[KnightUnit]

for CDR, its depends on the brand and quality of the disc funnily enough, stay away from cheap brand CDR's. Using quality ones made a difference to me and fixed any issue using copied discs.

[Parthiban]

Hmm, my latest observations are that my head unit seems to often start skipping towards the last few tracks of the CD. Since CDs play from the inside towards the outside, that makes it sound more like a mechanical problem with reading the outside of discs

I sometimes had this problem with CD-Rs where the disc might not have been finished properly, but never with original CDs - doesn't sound like a good problem........