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[Omega man 2]

As above

[zirk]

Might as well have a look here then, its only a couple of posts down from yours. 

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1244895604

[Jimbob]

cd rw's - no chance, very different technology

[TheBoy]

No. Not a chance.

CDRs - it may play for a while (weeks/months), but WILL ultimately bugger up the laser in the unit.

[Dave DND]

No, it wont -

But be aware that there are some members here beleiving the idiots guide to the world that is wikipedia, who may try to tell you otherwise.

 

[Omega man 2]

No. Not a chance.

CDRs - it may play for a while (weeks/months), but WILL ultimately bugger up the laser in the unit.

Ah break

[TheBoy]

No. Not a chance.

CDRs - it may play for a while (weeks/months), but WILL ultimately bugger up the laser in the unit.

Ah break

Some members, myself included, have been generally lucky using quality (Verbatim) CDRs burned at slow speed (1x), but the jury is still out on whether this is luck, or if it does less damage than cheap media...

[KillerWatt]

Not a chance with CD-RW media, the reflective qualities are completely different.

There are some idiots here that insist that CD-R media doesn't meet certain standards, although they conveniently forget that the company their friend works for wouldn't license it for sale if it didn't.

Quality media (Verbatim for instance), burn at no more than 10x, keep the length to 74 minutes or less, and it will work.

There was a repair guide posted for "lasers that have been damaged by the use of CD-R media", although (unsurprisingly) it's not the laser that gets replaced.

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1241901022

Just out of curiosity, why would you want to use CD-RW media anyway?

[TheBoy]

Not a chance with CD-RW media, the reflective qualities are completely different.

There are some idiots here that insist that CD-R media doesn't meet certain standards, although they conveniently forget that the company their friend works for wouldn't license it for sale if it didn't.

Quality media (Verbatim for instance), burn at no more than 10x, keep the length to 74 minutes or less, and it will work.

There was a repair guide posted for "lasers that have been damaged by the use of CD-R media", although (unsurprisingly) it's not the laser that gets replaced.

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1241901022

Just out of curiosity, why would you want to use CD-RW media anyway?

I assume you mean me.

When you grow up enough to understand such things I would explain why CDRs do not meet Redbook.



To others who are able to take on board information and advice, players designed to play Redbook CDs (normal, plain, original audio CDs) only, such as those factory fitted to all Omegas, struggle to read CDRs (which physically cannot meet the Redbook standard at a physical level).  This ultimately shortens the life of the laser component (particularly it would appear the focussing section).

Philips lasers do seem to be particularly prone - hence the high laser failure rate we see on CDC3 (fitted to Astras/Vectras, but not normally Omegas), NCDC2013/NCDC2015, CDR500, CCR2006, CDR2005 and on CARiN Navigation units (spits disk out randomly - although this is not an audio CD, its an earlier laser design that cannot properly focus on CDRs).

CDC2 units, found in many prefacelifts, seem more robust, unsure if Philips made the laser units for these.

Unfortunately, as Philips Automotive sold out to VDO, who sold out to Siemens, who sold out to Continental, replacement lasers are usually not available, so the unit is unrepairable.


This issue is not specific to Omegas, or even Vauxhall. Rover, for example, have similar issues with their CD Players and changers (I know, I've got one).


I have a Kenwood 10 disk changer, circa 1992, that has had mixtures of originals and CDRs (after I got my first cd writer in the mid 90s), and that still plays well.  I have had 2 CD Changers in the Rover we currently have, and now need another, as its very hit and miss on CDRs now (plays originals currently, but experience shows this will soon stop as well  )

[Dave DND]

Not a chance with CD-RW media, the reflective qualities are completely different.

There are some idiots here that insist that CD-R media doesn't meet certain standards, although they conveniently forget that the company their friend works for wouldn't license it for sale if it didn't.

Quality media (Verbatim for instance), burn at no more than 10x, keep the length to 74 minutes or less, and it will work.

There was a repair guide posted for "lasers that have been damaged by the use of CD-R media", although (unsurprisingly) it's not the laser that gets replaced.

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1241901022

Just out of curiosity, why would you want to use CD-RW media anyway?

I assume you mean me.

When you grow up enough to understand such things I would explain why CDRs do not meet Redbook.



To others who are able to take on board information and advice, players designed to play Redbook CDs (normal, plain, original audio CDs) only, such as those factory fitted to all Omegas, struggle to read CDRs (which physically cannot meet the Redbook standard at a physical level).  This ultimately shortens the life of the laser component (particularly it would appear the focussing section).

Philips lasers do seem to be particularly prone - hence the high laser failure rate we see on CDC3 (fitted to Astras/Vectras, but not normally Omegas), NCDC2013/NCDC2015, CDR500, CCR2006, CDR2005 and on CARiN Navigation units (spits disk out randomly - although this is not an audio CD, its an earlier laser design that cannot properly focus on CDRs).

CDC2 units, found in many prefacelifts, seem more robust, unsure if Philips made the laser units for these.

Unfortunately, as Philips Automotive sold out to VDO, who sold out to Siemens, who sold out to Continental, replacement lasers are usually not available, so the unit is unrepairable.


This issue is not specific to Omegas, or even Vauxhall. Rover, for example, have similar issues with their CD Players and changers (I know, I've got one).


I have a Kenwood 10 disk changer, circa 1992, that has had mixtures of originals and CDRs (after I got my first cd writer in the mid 90s), and that still plays well.  I have had 2 CD Changers in the Rover we currently have, and now need another, as its very hit and miss on CDRs now (plays originals currently, but experience shows this will soon stop as well  )

This is actually a problem with all Vehicle manufacturers. Many aftermarket In Car Audio players did not have tha capability of playing CDR/RW until around 2000 (ish) and it did not really start to filter into the OEM market until around the 2004 ish.

I speak with full experiance on this having worked exclusivly within the car audio industry and owning one of the largest repair centres in the uk for the last 17 years. I have also worked for Blaupunkt, Kenwood, Sony, Clarion, Pioneer, Grunding, VDO, Fusion and Jensen in a technical capacity, so if there is a bigger expert out there, please step forwards.

[KillerWatt]

I assume you mean me.

When you grow up enough to understand such things I would explain why CDRs do not meet Redbook.

That wasn't a dig at you at all, it was aimed at the individual who obviously doesn't have the gonads to call a spade a spade in the first place.

You are right though, it was rather childish of me to stoop down to his level by bothering to respond to it.

[VXL V6]

There was a repair guide posted for "lasers that have been damaged by the use of CD-R media", although (unsurprisingly) it's not the laser that gets replaced.

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1241901022

Strangely enough if you'd bothered to read the guide you may have picked up on the fact that the laser unit is unavailable hence why the CDC3 swap is the logical way to repair these units.

If you are saying that swapping the CDC3 doesn't swap the laser unit then perhaps you'd care to enlighten me as to how the laser transfers itself into the replacement autochanger?

Maybe you are confused and referring to the Nav drive? That one is easy, I have a box of new laser units for those.

[KillerWatt]

There was a repair guide posted for "lasers that have been damaged by the use of CD-R media", although (unsurprisingly) it's not the laser that gets replaced.

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1241901022

Strangely enough if you'd bothered to read the guide you may have picked up on the fact that the laser unit is unavailable hence why the CDC3 swap is the logical way to repair these units.

If you are saying that swapping the CDC3 doesn't swap the laser unit then perhaps you'd care to enlighten me as to how the laser transfers itself into the replacement autochanger?

Maybe you are confused and referring to the Nav drive? That one is easy, I have a box of new laser units for those.

Not confused at all VXL, just feel free to show me where in your guide you are replacing the actual laser rather than the controller (which is limited enough to stop the average home user rectifying a problem the manufacturer created).

[Dave DND]

Changing the actual optical device and calibrating it correctly is beyond 99% of the people on this forum, that is of course if you can actually locate one of the now obsolete parts. There are however an abundant source of CDC3 CD Changers that are used across the Vx range right up to present day. For those that are unawares, there are a number of variants of CDC3, some are coded, some are not, some are configured to particular head units, but not all are cross compatable in their current form.

If you read the guide (very god by the way, and well done to whoever compiled it), it informs you that by swapping over the vertical board from your own unit and transplanting it into another CDC3, you can end up with a working unit. No, you are not replacing the laser on its own, you are replacing the laser, the mech, the drive circuit and in fact everything except the encoder and front fascia. This is very easy to do, and can be done with a bare minimum of tools and knowledge.

But then Killerwatt, if you had actually read and digested the guide rather than posting yet another argumentative reply you might have learnt something. This is not the place to start fights, this is the place for us all to get together and help each other. Friendly banter is one thing, and should be encouraged, but constant and confrontational attack is something else - there are other forums for that, not this one. Chill out a bit my friend, there are some very good people on here and they do not need to be antagonised in this way, as I know I for one, am getting a bit tired of this now.

[VXL V6]

There was a repair guide posted for "lasers that have been damaged by the use of CD-R media", although (unsurprisingly) it's not the laser that gets replaced.

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1241901022

Strangely enough if you'd bothered to read the guide you may have picked up on the fact that the laser unit is unavailable hence why the CDC3 swap is the logical way to repair these units.

If you are saying that swapping the CDC3 doesn't swap the laser unit then perhaps you'd care to enlighten me as to how the laser transfers itself into the replacement autochanger?

Maybe you are confused and referring to the Nav drive? That one is easy, I have a box of new laser units for those.

Not confused at all VXL, just feel free to show me where in your guide you are replacing the actual laser rather than the controller (which is limited enough to stop the average home user rectifying a problem the manufacturer created).

The guide shows you how to replace the whole self contained CDC3 Unit, I would have expected that to be plainly obvious..... I don't recall stating in the guide 'how to replace the actual laser'.

This guide should be uncomplicated enough for most people to perform and keeps these rather expensive units useable.

The guide is not how to replace the actual laser unit or any of it's associated controlling circuitry as:-

A) These laser units are not available anymore.
B) To the best of my knowledge (Dave DND please correct me if I am wrong), to set up a laser unit on these would require the use of a scope or other such equipment which your average home DIY'er would not have available to them.

If you feel the guide is of no use to anyone or incorrect in any way then may I suggest you request it be removed, all I simply want to do is help other members (The ethos of this site!).