OpenTube

Let's Fix (Holiday Special!): Sony MZ-N505 Completely Dead Minidisc Portable

sjm4306

3,961 views

It seems like every year around the holiday season one of these minidisc portables pops up for me to repair! Truth be told I received this one from a viewer who sold it to me for the cost of shipping quite awhile ago but it just sat on my bench taunting me since then.

Well I finally stopped being a repair grinch and got around to taking a crack at fixing this n505 which apparently was completely dead. I know very little about its history so let's pop it open and try to fix it. Who knows, with a little holiday magic we might just be able to resuscitate the little guy?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've posted a link for Ebay purchase referrals. If you use the link below then I get a small kickback from your purchase (it will cost you nothing, I just get paid for referring customers).
https://ebay.us/ez4e8u

Special thanks to Eric Skiff for freely providing the music used in this video off his album Resistor Anthems. His music can be found at http://ericskiff.com/music/

My RGB Gameboy Backlight Controller is now available at http://www.roarkesretrocorner.com!!!
Use the code SJM (all caps) to receive 10% off of your order!

ICStation Affiliate Link: http://www.icstation.com/index.php?ai...
Code: sjmics
Discount Amount: 15% off
Max Use: 1 (one for per user)
Amount Limit: 300

Consider supporting me on Patreon: Patreon: sjm4306

18 Comments

@ShawneeUnion 1 year ago

So crazy that thing is still working. The attempted reflow and tearing off the battery connector without taking out any nearby components. So glad you got it working!

@TheYamakasi007 2 months ago

To be honest i know that some MD was more stamina than others but still level of quality which was presented by Sony is amazing. I have MDS-JB940 and MZ-N510. 20+ years and i need only change belt in deck. I have LP player from 1979 (PC-X6) and everything what it need is to change few caps, calibration of automatic part and new needle (i am using Nagaoka and Grado only). Working like new.

Great video.

@DeFi-Macrodosing 1 year ago

Loved this video - I have a soft spot for MDs myself. Fixed a few too, but your repair is next-level. Thank you.

@aedanbobaden3094 11 months ago

sweet gives me some confidence on my broken ones coming in the mail!

@djJulianM 1 year ago

Thanks for this ! Lovely to see how you salvaged it, and indeed it's impressive that those tiny smds around weren't affected and it still works.
I fixed my MZ-N505 that was acting erratically due to dirty buttons, but had a hard time putting the door back, as I couldn't find the right place for the tension spring. Due to your video, I saw the right position and finally put it back as it was 😊

@FilthyCatRemix 1 year ago

nice video.. do more on minidisc...

@HitnRunTony 1 year ago

This was awesome, I wish I could repair the headphone cable/remote on my Minidisc player

@RetroVaultOz 1 year ago

Great video, and well done with the repair, but I would be more interested in seeing you actually doing the repairs, the soldering, etc. you seem to talk thru what it going to do, then it's just done and we miss the whole actual repairing!

@harcor1975 1 year ago

I have the Same one , the one i have has lost almost all the color of the housing, But i Love IT and will use IT until IT dies

@Onion_Knights 1 year ago (edited)

bought R909 just few days ago, it says no disc, thinking its probably dirty lens... its actually missing lens lol the laser assembly is there, just no lens. the R909 is cheap and in quite a good condition. bought a used laser assembly with writer for about $30, used. New is about $100. waiting for it to arrive, then install it. hopefully it works

@retroaria 1 year ago

Great video. The negative battery contact... Does it have corrosion?

@harcor1975 9 months ago

Hi love your Videos, could you please help me out. I wanted to ask you, how I can fix the recorder of this unit. > NetMD > I connected the unit to my mobile phone and used Web Mini disc pro. The software recognizes the unit without any problem. I selected the music I wanted to burn. The problem comes up when it finished copying the files.
It’s like they didn’t copy and it try’s to play a file, but it doesn’t work. if I take the disc out and put it right back it says blank disk.
What could be wrong? Thanks for helping me

@redsyrup1138 1 year ago

I <3 Mini Disc. Thanks for stepping us through your troubleshooting logic. Do you have any opinions on adding oil to the motors and greasing other parts in old MD and PSPs? I'm wondering when's the right time for that?

@naps3386 1 year ago

Hello, Can I send you (2) MZ-E95 for repair?

@disasterbean 1 year ago

you could try using a fibreglass pen to clean up the battery terminals

@younessamr6802 1 year ago

mine doing weird things with the motor

@anthonyantwhite2280 1 year ago

I have the same unit. The problem I am having is it records, but does not finalize for TOC. In other words, I can playback the recorded sample, stop it, and play it back. But when I remove the disc, it says BLANKDISC.

Everything else works fine.