Arcam Alpha 5 CD - tray problem

The CD tray mechanism on my Alpha 5 has stopped working. I tried to
eject a CD this morning and, out of the blue, the tray made a
stuttering noise and got stuck halfway through. It's now stopped
responding completely.

I know very little about hifi equipment, so I'm not able to spot the
source of the problem. I took the top cover off to take a peek inside
and I noticed that, when I push the Load button, a pulley attached to
an elastic belt on the left of the tray starts to rotate, but the tray
itself does not move.

Is there any chance you could please give me some tips on where to
look? Any help would be much appreciated.

Also, until this gets fixed, would it cause further damage to the tray
if I opened and closed it manually? The CD player is part of a hifi
system I use to check final mixes in my recording studio, so I need to
use it on a regular basis.

Look for a white gear wheel - circular disc with a shaft sticking out
the centre, and gear teeth round the end of it. This is the usual
failure place for an Alpha 5 tray. It will probably have turned a bit
manky, and the teeth will be mostly gone. I think it is possible to

Absolutely spot on! Thanks for that - I'm going to go looking for one.

Cheers,
Mily

I seem to think that the basic mech is a Philips, and that gear used to be
readily available. However, last time I tried a couple of months back, it
came up from my supplier as no longer available due to no longer
manufactured. I didn't actually take the trouble to look further, as they
are usually pretty reliable on this sort of thing. If you do come up with a
source, please either post here, or let me know direct, because as Don says,

Ok, I found out it's Philips component number 4822-522-33192. You can
buy it here:

There's a also a guy selling them on eBay:

I ordered a couple of spares, just in case. Arcam still sell it, but
they charge a bit more.

Any tips on fitting the part?

Cheers,
Milt

Cup of tea standing by and send the horses out of the room because of
the swearing.

No, it should be pretty easy as I remember it. Long time ago now,
though, so I really can't remember.

it's quite common. Operating the tray manually should not cause any other
problems.

get hold of them. Try searching the web.

Anything worse than this would probably mean it isn't worth fixing.