Apple CD300 Caddy-Loading CD-ROM Drive

As if recapping logic boards, power supplies and analog boards wasn’t enough, older CD-ROM drives need recapping too! If you’re “lucky” enough to own one of these old gems (and hopefully one or two caddies as well) you really should look into recapping it sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, the Sony boards aren’t particularly well made, so expect corrosion and flaky solder mask when you work on it, and be very careful with those pads!

Replacement components

The 100µf 6.3V capacitors are very close together, so the link below is for a 6mm capacitor, rather than a 7.3mm. That extra 1.3mm of space makes the job a lot easier.

Sony CDU561 CD-ROM recapping guide
Sony CDU561 CD-ROM controller