DMR-E85H Hangs on PLEASE WAIT

After reading the links, I will DEFINITELY take this back apart and clean that.

Thinking it may also be a media problem, too, since every single one that "No Read" is a Memorex 16X. All the 8X Maxell's I have run fine. The book says to use 4X, but that may have been what was available when it was printed.
What media works best for this machine?

A number of major brands, including Memorex and TDK, are manufactured by CMC. Most 16x media on retail shelves is not well suited to older DVD recorders. Panasonic does have firmware updates to improve performance with 16x media. Even then 16x media has been found to make more demands upon the DVD Drive laser assembly, potentially adverse to laser assembly longevity, see this post:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...4&postcount=20

Panasonic firmware updates may be downloaded here:

http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/support/

Standalone DVD recorders record to DVDs in "real time" at 1x. When high-speed dubbing to DVD older standalone DVD recorder drives are usually operating at no more than 4x . (My circa 2007/2008 Philips 3575/3576 and Magnavox 2080 models have 4x DVD Drives and my circa 2008/2009 Magnavox 2160 models have 8x DVD Drives. I don't have any Panasonic HDD/DVD models.)

Computers have higher speed DVD burners primarily for burning data to CDs or DVDs. For best quality computer video work should be set to a lower burning speed than for data burning.

For use in my Panasonic, Philips and Magnavox recorders I've settled upon Taiyo Yuden Premium Line 8x DVD-R media. Panasonics prefer "-" media to "+" media and my Philips and Magnavox recorders work well with either format so the DVD-R format is my choice. (All my recordings are archival so I don't use RW media.)

Taiyo Yuden Premium Line 8x DVD-R media may be found at this and at a few other online stores:

http://www.supermediastore.com/taiyo...-100-pack.html

GAK! That explains a lot-- Looks like I have a spindle of 16X scarecrow discs for the garden. The stuff we do in ignorance.......

Thanks, for the reply, and the links. Valuable enough to save in my Documents files.

Thank you, and thanks to the posters you linked to.
You guys ROCK!

Thanks for all of the details on the capacitor change for the E85H. My system had the total power loss version of this problem and when I replaced C1260 and C1261 I was able to again power it up. However it then went into the “Please Wait” version of the problem and the hard drive made whirring sounds like it was trying to get up to speed. I powered down and again disassembled and replaced C1270, C1271 and C1272. Thinking that I now had it licked I brought up the unit and the “Please Wait” problem was still there. The only sound now was the hard drive clicking about once per second. What do I try next? I saw a post where someone had also replaced C1413, anyone seen this as part of the problem before? In another post someone suggested replacing all of the black capacitors (I’m assuming he meant all of the ones that appear to be from the same manufacturer). Since there are only 5 more of these originals left is that a recommended plan of action? The replacements that I am using are the ones from Radio Shack (272-1032 and 272-1029 and soon to be others). Is it a problem to replace these (and future) capacitors with ones that have higher ratings of uf and voltage? Should I be purchasing the same uf value replacements from a better-stocked supplier? Anyone have another suggestion based on experience or gut instinct?

In general, power supply filter capacitors (collect pulses of DC and act as a "storage tank" of electricity, emitting a smooth flow instead of pulses) are pretty forgiving about exact value. More is pretty much always better, if you don't go crazy about it. As a practical matter, I wouldn't go more than double. Try hard not to go less. Electrolitic capacitors are polarity sensitive--be sure to line up the white stripe with the white line on the PC board. All boards don't have the courtesy of indicating correct position, so best to mark before removing the old one. Might as well change then all, if it still won't work--they are fairly cheap. Don't change the ones of a different type, as they may be part of the oscillator circuit, which is pretty critical that they be exact. Check also that the connectors you unplugged are exactly lined up in their sockets--the conductors are pretty tiny, and off a fraction of a mm won't do. Note that the grey tape can be put in backwards. The side of the tape with the conductors has to be toward the conductors in the slot on the HD. There's a crossways line near the end of the tape. It should be about hidden when the tape is properly seated. If the HD is still noisy after checking everything, I hate to say, a noisy HD is not a good thing. If the HD has died, the $130 flat fee would look like a decent deal. Note, as others have, an authorized service place is about 1 step up from the monkey exhibit at the zoo. Send it back to Panasonic itself.

There is an article that addresses this very error and it has to do with the power supply filtering capacitors. I just repaired a unit and the fellow that brought into me said this a widely known problem. I replaced three of the capacitors ... two had leaked and the last one was bulging. Works fine now.

http://vassfamily.net/projects/DMRE85H/dmre85h.html

If you have questions or would like your unit repaired send me a note.

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Last edited by jasman_92627; 06-10-2009 at 22:36. Reason: Forgot link to article ..

There is an article that addresses this very error and it has to do with the power supply filtering capacitors. I just repaired a unit and the fellow that brought into me said this a widely known problem. I replaced three of the capacitors ... two had leaked and the last one was bulging. Works fine now.

http://vassfamily.net/projects/DMRE85H/dmre85h.html

If you have questions or would like your unit repaired send me a note.