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Linn Ikemi repair

spamnap

pfm Member
I have just acquire a Linn Ikemi player which when I got round to testing it is not reading discs. The mechanism seems fine, quiet and smooth but it tries to read disc for a bit then it says "no disc". Can anyone help with info regarding repair, I assume it's a laser assembly replacement job but I have no Tech skill so I don't know. I have contacted Class A in Sheffield but the no longer fix them.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated
 
I reckon mikep might be your man, hes not commercial though, but he dont half know cd players
 
Or Linnformaniac. He also is not commercial but fixes stuff and knows Linn well. Just don't send it back to those crooks at Linn, unless you want to spend a small fortune.
 
AFAIK, Linn ended its support for all LK products many years ago. More recently, I think it ended support for most (all?) disc players?

Re. Class A - this isn't the first time that it has been said on here that they have been unable/unwilling to repair some Linn equipment (previously Kairns?) - have they stopped working on Linn products altogether?
 
Hi,

This is quite topical as I have just repaired my ageing Arcam DV79 DVD player. It would read DVDs but years ago I was using it as a stand-in CD player and noticed that intermittently it would fail to read CDs, displaying ‘no disc’. I moved over to streaming and forgot about it where it remained boxed up in the loft.

I recently thought about buying a CD transport should I ever wish to spin up a disc and someone suggested using this particular player as a transport only.

That got me thinking so I dug it out of the loft where it had been for the last 7 years and tested it again. Initially it worked fine but shortly after a couple of disc loads, as before it was struggling to consistently read CDs. A quick google search revealed it could be a faulty laser and the model of laser for the DSL-710A transport was quickly located on eBay and supplied by Maple Audio in Bath for £18 inc postage.

I had nothing to loose so I disassembled the unit and replaced the laser myself this afternoon. Basic soldering skills were needed to remove the shorting links/solder blobs, along with a good precision tool set and a bit of patience, but that was it.

Anyhow tested it and it now works a treat :).
See if you can identify the transport mechanism used and search for a replacement laser unit. If you’re not confident to have a go at the unit yourself, any reputable electronic repair outfit should be able to help.

Good luck with it!
 
I can take a look, it’ll likely need a new optical pickup and/or spindle motor (I’ve know this to happen a couple of times), either way, the parts are inexpensive and it’s not massively labour intensive either. Where are you located? I’m in the West Mids (WS8 area).
 
AFAIK, Linn ended its support for all LK products many years ago. More recently, I think it ended support for most (all?) disc players?

Re. Class A - this isn't the first time that it has been said on here that they have been unable/unwilling to repair some Linn equipment (previously Kairns?) - have they stopped working on Linn products altogether?
I spoke to Class A this morning re Ikemi and was told only that they don't repair Linn CD players so I don't know if they have stopped repairing Linn in general, I wouldn't think so TBH
 
Hi,

This is quite topical as I have just repaired my ageing Arcam DV79 DVD player. It would read DVDs but years ago I was using it as a stand-in CD player and noticed that intermittently it would fail to read CDs, displaying ‘no disc’. I moved over to streaming and forgot about it where it remained boxed up in the loft.

I recently thought about buying a CD transport should I ever wish to spin up a disc and someone suggested using this particular player as a transport only.

That got me thinking so I dug it out of the loft where it had been for the last 7 years and tested it again. Initially it worked fine but shortly after a couple of disc loads, as before it was struggling to consistently read CDs. A quick google search revealed it could be a faulty laser and the model of laser for the DSL-710A transport was quickly located on eBay and supplied by Maple Audio in Bath for £18 inc postage.

I had nothing to loose so I disassembled the unit and replaced the laser myself this afternoon. Basic soldering skills were needed to remove the shorting links/solder blobs, along with a good precision tool set and a bit of patience, but that was it.

Anyhow tested it and it now works a treat :).
See if you can identify the transport mechanism used and search for a replacement laser unit. If you’re not confident to have a go at the unit yourself, any reputable electronic repair outfit should be able to help.

Good luck with it!
It’s a dedicated Sanyo CD mech in the Ikemi (not a DVD mech), there are two variants used depending on the age of the player. It will either be an SF91 or an SF-P101N. They can be bought complete (as in optical block and sled mech all together) for the price of a decent curry, you just need to know what you’re doing when installing them. I put a new mech in my Genki over 18 months ago, cost me about £14, it’s still working absolutely perfectly and it gets used a lot.
 
I can take a look, it’ll likely need a new optical pickup and/or spindle motor (I’ve know this to happen a couple of times), either way, the parts are inexpensive and it’s not massively labour intensive either. Where are you located? I’m in the West Mids (WS8 area).
Thanks for the offer but it's a hike from Teeside??
 
I think my best option would be to move it on for someone else to repair, disappointed, would like to have heard it :(
 
Thanks for the offer but it's a hike from Teeside??
Yes a big hike, but if you’re stuck, you could post it (ideally in a proper Linn box), the postage would be the most expensive part of the process. I would advise trying to find someone more local first because posting CD players (or any high value HIFI) is a bit risky... I’m here if you need assistance.

How competent are you both mechanically and with a soldering iron? The only soldering required is for the removal of the ESD shorting link on the new optical block but there will be a fair amount of mechanical disassembly and reassembly needed. And it’s a good idea to work in an ESD safe workspace, ground yourself and the player, wear a short sleeved shirt, no wool or polyester clothing and you should be good.
 
How competent are you both mechanically and with a soldering iron? The only soldering required is for the removal of the ESD shorting link on the new optical block but there will be a fair amount of mechanical disassembly and reassembly needed. And it’s a good idea to work in an ESD safe workspace, ground yourself and the player, wear a short sleeved shirt, no wool or polyester clothing and you should be good.

Probably best naked but watch the end of the iron on your other end.
 
It’s a dedicated Sanyo CD mech in the Ikemi (not a DVD mech), there are two variants used depending on the age of the player. It will either be an SF91 or an SF-P101N. They can be bought complete (as in optical block and sled mech all together) for the price of a decent curry, you just need to know what you’re doing when installing them. I put a new mech in my Genki over 18 months ago, cost me about £14, it’s still working absolutely perfectly and it gets used a lot.
Just done some checking and it seems they are still fetching good money working or not. Up to £900 on ebay for good working example and a non working one went for over £550 last week, must have kudos!
 
I spoke to Class A this morning re Ikemi and was told only that they don't repair Linn CD players so I don't know if they have stopped repairing Linn in general, I wouldn't think so TBH

I still repair and service lots of Linn. Have a pile of Lingos and Klouts etc to work on this week.

Kairn has two major issues with age, original brilliant power supply failure, changing all the electrolytics will cure around 30%, rest are a pain to fix.
Back up battery failure, can leak over the control board destroying lots of tracks on the pcb.

CD players, trying to find original laser mechanisms is nigh on impossible these days, the failure rate of available copy mechs I tried was in excess 85%, and I tried a lot from different suppliers.

I do not charge for something I spend hours on and cannot fix due to lack of spares availability so certain products I no longer take in as it makes no financial sense.
 
I think my best option would be to move it on for someone else to repair, disappointed, would like to have heard it :(
I had one years ago not being my first CD player I was amazed by the detail it throw out the CD collection felt new never heard them play like that before on a Magik cd player. Made me wonder how a CD12 sounded.
 
I had an ikemi for years and loved it to bits. I did part ex it for a Akurate CD but I still preferred the ikemi. The only Hi-Fi I regret selling.

I would suggest the OP send it to @linnfomaniac83 via UPS courier. You won't regret it.
 


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