Any ideas?? ARC CD 3 doesn't work


I went to fire up my CD 3 Mk 2 this morning and it is completely black! I slid the door, I tried the remote, I pushed the STD By button, I changed the power cord, I checked the fuse box, I plugged in something else to insure the outlet was OK and the case is stone cold. I have a local service outlet I can take it tomorrow, I am crushed.
Any ideas what might have happen??
rsjm80
The clue maybe very simple, but under the cover. There's also fuse next to voltage control circuit(power supply), but that one is more-likely due to the rectifier bridge shot or voltage regulator IC.
You might've had surge... Unscrew the cover and see if you find anything suspicious such as capacitors leaking or burned parts of PCB.
Thanks, I called both ARC yesterday and a Tech here that also works on ARC and I'm hoping it's nothing more than a fuse but, its going in for evaluation and I'll let you know what they find out. I sure hope that it's really next to nothing as I am lost right now.
A quick follow up... I took in the CD 3 Mk@ and the tech told me that in the past week to 2 he has gotten swamped suddenly with all different equipment that has trouble, which leads me to believe that it may has sourced from the grid it's self, just seems awful funny that so many pieces have suddenly failed from so many different manufactures. When I get the prognosis, I update again.
I'm in Upstate N.Y (Rochester to be exact) but, I'm really hoping that it's nothing more than just a fuse. As I keep thinking about it scares me because the unit was cold to the touch as opposed to just a touch of warm as it usually is. The tech also wondered if the laser failed, but I dismiss that as it should still have power and light up the display.
Laser failed???
It's not logical at all.
Why look at laser if power supply is first one in the loop?
Perhaps it's not techie spoken to you, but front desk dood blasting out his mindless assumptions to your ears.
At one time , 50-60 years ago, Rochester NY was THE best city in the USA.Now like every old industrial city from Wooster MA to Gary IN a total wreck.
"At one time , 50-60 years ago, Rochester NY was THE best city in the USA.Now like every old industrial city from Wooster MA to Gary IN a total wreck."

The bright side is that at least new best places have come along to replace them. Times change. Nothing lasts forever. Are their any new best places yet in China?
I hope the OP took his CD 3 to an authorized ARC service tech. These guys know their ARC gear and work closely with the factory to ensure the unit is returned to original operating spec.
Mapman, that nonsense is the propaganda the American elites
feed you to get you to bend over as they rape the working and lower-middle class.
European cities a thousand years old are loved and kept while ours are thrown on the trash heap.
Czarivey, indeed cities like Wooster,Pttsfield, Schenectady,Syracuse, Buffalo, Akron etc etc etc etc were great places. When the workers who lived there were no longer needed they and the cities were thrown away.

And other victims , poor blacks, were blamed for it all.
It's true probably part of the American frontier mentality to use things up senselessly and then dispose of them. Hopefully we'll. get over it someday like those places that have been around longer and have had more time to come to grips with their issues.
Mapman, when you have a population that has been brainwashed every day of its life that theirs is the best country in the world(only one really) and that God has an American passport as a deliberate effort to make sure you will NEVER even consider learning from anyone else, the odds of reform are less than zero.
Not trying to attack anyone here, just can't believe some of the stuff I am reading. For example,

Mapman - "It's true probably part of the American frontier mentality to use things up senselessly and then dispose of them" - No, it's not probably true. That is the exact opposite of what the American frontier mentality was. They were very frugal, hard-working people who learned to do with what they had.

Schubert - "when you have a population that has been brainwashed every day of its life that theirs is the best country in the world" It seems you haven't done too bad here, but please back up your attacks on America:Please name all of the other countries you like that are better than this one.
"That is the exact opposite of what the American frontier mentality was. They were very frugal, hard-working people who learned to do with what they had. "

That may be true of many, but if you read about the "frontier mentality", that's not typically what the term is used to refer to. Right or wrong, it is used to describe higher level driving forces and definitely has a negative, exploitative connotation to it.
Whatever the cause of the OP's CD3 problem, it is curable. Audio Research isn't like some other companies that stop supporting their products five minutes after they are no longer offered. So, it will be diagnosed and fixed. Electronics fail after a time. As an Electronics/Electrical Engineer, I can tell you that every part has a cycle rate and life expectancy. Same with cars and car parts. Simply maintain the device/car, replace what needs replacing when they need replacing and it is brand new again. Could be the laser pick up, power supply, etc. Could be caused by surge, or simply a part expired. I have a Krell KBX balanced electronic crossover configured specifically for my Martin Logan Monolith III speakers and two weeks ago while working on something else, I noticed that all to familiar electronics burning smell. I also noticed that the external power supply was very very hot. So, naturally, I thought it was the power supply. But on the test bench it powered up fine. It was only when it was plugged into the crossover that it heated up. Oh! problem in the crossover circuitry. I opened the crossover and there it was. One of the electrolytic capacitors simply gave up the ghost and shorted. Never seen one short before. I tested the other circuits and traces and everything else was fine. I replaced the capacitor and it works great now. Electrolytic capacitors will go after so many years. I plan on replacing all of them soon. But RSjM80, may I suggest you grab a great but inexpensive second CD player that you could use in the interim. Such as the very nice Pioneer Elite BD 95 or BDP 09. It is always good to have a spare part in case something needs to be repaired.

In any case. Enjoy
Minor1, I concur with your thoughts, my CD 3 is on the test bench waiting in queue to be diagnosed. As observations goes prior to this when I cleaning in my listening room I always checked it and it was never more than just warm even after an hour or 2 of listening. Thankfully no burning smell ever, but, what freaked me out was absolutely no display and when I rechecked it after trying things I found it to be cold to the touch. With very limited money, I sure hope it isn't anything more than a fuse that went protecting it as I am now missing hearing music more than ever now that it's not here. But I think I can borrow an inexpensive CD from my daughter until I find out what's wrong just that the ARC is (for me) so very good and reveals so much for me and has always been my dream of my last system to buy. As soon as I find out what's wrong I'll let everyone know that offered speculations. Thanks for your positive comments.
Correct! It's nowhere better than in USA, but one has to
bear in mind that now we're good friends with Saudi
Arabia and if they stop the pipe, we'll find Isis or
Al'Quaeda there and attack them with drones and rockets!
I hope the OP took his CD 3 to an authorized ARC service tech. These guys know their ARC gear and work closely with the factory to ensure the unit is returned to original operating spec.
or return to ARC for repair. Don't trust any tech with your ARC components.

10-24-14: Schubert
At one time , 50-60 years ago, Rochester NY was THE best city in the USA.Now like every old industrial city from Wooster MA to Gary IN a total wreck.
Of course, Wooster MA doesn't exist. Where the hell is Wooster, MA?

Cities, countries ... expands and contracts as economy, technology ... evolves. IE: who would think North Dakota is oil town before Oil shale?
So Far NOT looking good! Tech has just been looking and has been unable to find a cause to the failure. He has not removed anything at all and we agreed that if by Monday he doesn't find the root cause that it's going off to Audio Research. He did offer that it may have been caused by a voltage fluctuation at the outlet. At this point I have a commitment to get a Shunyata Venom Defender to protect it. Right now I am so strapped that the fear of restoring it from ARC worries me but, I'll keep you informed of what might have happen as I get a definitive answer.
Remind me .. is your tech an ARC authorized service guy? If he is, he should be in contact with Chris Osanna, who is the main repair guy at ARC who works with the authorized techs.

Even if your guy is not an approved service tech, maybe Chris will still work with him anyway.

Lastly, given what you've described, I wouldn't be surprised if the fix is simple and inexpensive.
It is my belief that no he is not an authorized ARC tech but has worked on most all of the high end componets in the market place and he is about the only one in the area that is trusted enough to do any repairs. He has contacted ARC a couple of times but, they have been very protective (understandably. Monday is almost here but my gut tells me that it will go back to ARC (as I should have done) and as soon as I find out what happen I'll post here. Thank you Bifwynne for your vote of confidence that the fix could be more simple than the fears I have.
Last suggestion. Don't know where you live. But you may get a speedier and less expensive turn-a-round of you deal with an ARC Service Center tech. You can call ARC and ask where the nearest authorized tech is located. If not too far away, shipping might even be a little cheaper. If this makes sense, call Kal or Chris at ARC and I'm sure they will send you to the right place.

P.S. I live in the Philly area. There's a tech near me who makes house calls. Believe me ... when he comes over to check this or that with my amp, it saves me a heck of a lot of schlepping a 75+ pound monster up a flight of steps, packing it in a 15 pound box and then taking it to FedEx.
Well, the CD 3 is off to ARC to find out what's wrong. My local tech couldn't locate what was wrong but was very gracious and did not charge me a cent for his efforts in doing so. I'll post the diagnosis when I get it and I'll be ordering the Venom Defender to protect it for when it come home to stay. Here's hoping it nothing serious.
CD 3 is now at Audio Research (as of yesterday) now just hope that the diagnosis is not too bad. Will update when info becomes available.
Keep me posted Rsjm80-
I have the ARC CD3 on my radar to buy someday.
I have been reading these forums for a long time now and it is a rare thing to hear about an ARC cd spinner going bad.
Hang in there!
Just got the quote back from ARC and it seems that there is (was) a cap failure and the quote wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared I've called and OK'd repairs and am giving Thanks and can't wait to have it come home again.
Rsjm80, probably not necessary, but I'll put this out there for you anyway. While ARC has your unit, I would ask the tech to replace any other parts that are subject to aging and spec degradation NOW.

It is my understanding that ARC will not let one if its units out of its shop unless it performs at original spec. But it never hurts to ask. There may be other passives or parts that could use a face lift. I'd ask, even if the switch outs are purely prophylactic.
Rsjm80 ... if you get a chance to ask ARC to "freshen up" your CDP, please let us know what if anything ARC recommends. I suspect that if anything, they might just replace some old electrolytic caps.

I think your CDP is solid state, so tubes should not be an issue. Not much else to go bad.

The only other part that could get expensive is the Phillips transport (about $500), but frankly, I've never read or heard that one has gone bad. It's a pretty robust drive.
Will let you know what they say. They were closed for the Thanksgiving weekend when I wrote and asked so, I'm just waiting to hear back but, so far as reported it sounds like all else is up to snuff and will be put back to proper specs.
So what the story? Just a cap or did ARC prophylactically replace some other parts that were near the end of their life span??
Funny you should ask, I just heard from ARC yesterday that the CD 3 is ready to come home (yeah!!). Everything else was fine but... they did have to replace 5 caps in the power supply and did just some maintainence lubing the transport and also replaced the slide door as it had gotten scratched. A Venom Defender will be here today or tomorrow as it would seem obvious that I had a spike that caused the failure. I'll sure be glad when it gets home again. Thank you for your suggestions and your input.
I'd prefer not to but, the cost was very reasonable (imho) and was less than what I had feared it might be and the Venom Defender just arrived as I was writing this too, so I'm a happy guy today and the CD 3 is on it's journey back home to me :). Huge Kudos ARC for their outstanding customer service and communication! I'll post a follow up on how it sounds in a couple of weeks.