Elizabeth is right. Keep your grubby hands off the laser. The laser is on something like an arm which is servo-controlled and very delicate. Also the laser shines through a miniature lens system that is continuously adjusted to maintain focus on the spinning disc. It's a wonder that it works when new. If the player reads the disc at all, but skips, the problem is most likely in the arm control or focus servos.
Advise requested on cleaning the laser in a CDP
I have a NAD S500 CDP which is now about 3 years old. I have used a dry cleaning CD a few times but I always wonder how effective these are ? I was about to take the top off the CDP and see if the laser can be cleaned manualy. Is there any potential problems I should be aware of ? Will I actually be able to get to the laser in the CD transport ?