CD Player with dust in it: How should I "clean" the CD player?lens cleaner etc..

Guy, I purchased one of the laser lense cleaner disks for my home stereo after it got a bit of dust in it. I can certainly recommend it. It worked for me. The disks have a little brush on the play surface, when you play the CD it brushes over the lense, dusting any dirt that has built up on the lense. You may need to run it a few times to get the dust off. cheers, Sam.

Guy, I repair electronic equipment for a living and all we ever use is a cotton bud. Useful if you can see the laser. Its actually a small lens about the size of the end of a pen that the laser shines through, when this get clouded with dust your problem occurs. You can apply light moisture to the bud by breathing on it first for stubborn dust. If you need to you can get long cotton buds from an electronic retailer, possibly evenbleepSmiths. The CD cleaning disks use the brush as stated above. Just be sure the bristles are not too stiff as this can scratch the lens and you will have the same promlem, permenantly. Cheers Smutty

I don't know if Clarion have an exchange, but from my dealings with these companies, I have found A) most items are throw away and B) If you can get bspares they are about 75% of the total cost of the unit! The grease is normally pretty dry, it forms a slight crust after a while but if you have dirt in it you should wipe clean and replace with new grease. (Light grease thats fairly slipery. we use pink zinc but they don't make that any more) I haven't seen the vehical but any protection from dust is a bonus, however keep in mind cooling of the unit and make sure there is still some ventilation. Built in amps can creat a lot of heat. You could see this by fins at the back of the unit or a large surface area of metal. If you do use foam remember two things 1) dense foam is better as it does not hold dust and 2) Foam desindergrates as it get holder if touched(or vibrated)esspecially if subjected to heat for long periods. This will not be a problem for 5 or so years but it would be worthwhile getting some advice from the foam distributor. Cheers Smutty