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Fixing your Panny: When there's a fault and lens cleaning doesn't help....
| Panasonic DVD Recorder and Player Forum Discuss, Fixing your Panny: When there's a fault and lens cleaning doesn't help.... at Standalone Video Players & Recorders forum; ES-25's aren't available new and don't seem to be that common in the used market. We see many more ES-15's which lack the HDMI upconversion and SD card reader. I'd tend to think your roller is out of place causing your please wait message. After you plug your unit in |
| ES-25's aren't available new and don't seem to be that common in the used market. We see many more ES-15's which lack the HDMI upconversion and SD card reader. I'd tend to think your roller is out of place causing your please wait message. After you plug your unit in do you notice any grinding or abnormal noises coming from the drive? Personally I'm VERY careful on cleaning the laser and barely touch it. Years ago I cleaned a CD player that was occasionally skipping, after that it never read again  Personally I'd tend to leave the laser cleaning to a CD cleaning disc and mostly concentrate on the spindle. What issues were you having prior to the cleaning? |
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| Hi There DigaDo, Before I opened it up there were no other problems other than the spindle needed cleaning, which was causing sticking and the disk finalization to fail. I opened the unit at my kitchen table, didn't touch anything with metal other than the screwdriver to the screws, opened the housing containing the spindle, cleaned it and the lens, then closed it back up. When I plugged it back in the machine is completely dead other than the "Please Wait" message flashing endlessly. To answer your specific questions... - Were there operational/functional problems present before performing the hub/spindle/lens cleaning procedure on your DMR-ES25? Nope, just the description given in the first message that matched that spindle cleaning was needed (it was filthy). Before replacing the DVD drive lid was the roller/slider positioned to the far left? Yes Was the DVD drive lid properly secured with the screws near the corners? Yes Was there any disturbance to the ribbon cables, their contacts/connections to the Digital PCB (found beside the DVD drive)? Didn't touch anything but the lid, screws and spindle for cleaning. Was the machine disconnected from the power source and other equipment before the procedure? Yes. Were the common cautions concerning static electricity discharge followed? Not sure what these are, but I didn't put it on the carpet or anything. Were any metallic tools allowed to touch power supply, main board or Digital PCB components? The only metal that touched anything was my screwdriver to the housing screws, nothing else. What is the condition of capacitors in the power supply section? They appear to look in okay condition. |
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The system doesn't do anything anymore besides flash Please Wait. Before the problems I could hear the spindle sticking when trying to move during finalizing the disk, so it made sense when I read the initial post. I use to clean the heads on my old VCRs by hand and did something similar to this on my old laserdisc players, so I didn't think it was a big deal. I still have loads of recorded disks that I haven't had the chance to finalize. My concern about buying a different model is that it won't let me finalize or view those disks (that's what happened when I replaced my previous model with this ES-25). Once I get through this I'm going to avoid Panasonic like the plague. With both VCRs and DVDRs I never seem to get more than 6 months of life out of them before they die. I got this model because they had to repair my previous Panasonic about 6 times in the 1 year I had it. |
| There is good news and bad news for you. Good news is you will be able to finalize those old discs, bad news (for you) only a Panasonic will be able to do it. Most any DVDR is problematic and when you add dust/dirt it only makes them worse. My father was always struggling to keep his DVDRs working (I think mostly to his dusty/dirty house, he had dogs and even a cat). I finally got him a Philips 3575 with a HDD. He's had it over a year and a half and used the heck out of it, no problems so far. He does most of his recordings to the HDD and later burns them High Speed and Losslessly to DVD. No more worrying if the DVD would fail during realtime recording. If his disc did fail during the HS dub it would be easy to just make another HS copy. He loves it. The 3575 was replaced with the 3576 and now Magnavox also sells a similar HDD model that so far seems as good or better than the Philips. I believe both are only available at Walmart or online. As far as your unfinalized discs, if you knew someone with a Panny that you could talk into finalizing them for you. Another dishonest solution would be to buy a new Panny locally, finalize your discs and then return it saying you didn't care for it. I didn't mention that last option  Before any of these options I'd take your machine apart again including the cover off the drive and double check everything. You could plug your machine back in with the unit cover off (but the drive cover on) and see if you can see anything that doesn't look or sound right. Good luck  Last edited by jjeff; 12-12-2008 at 02:55. |
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Thanks |
ffice" />| U61 and U88 errors may be found when there are problems with the power supply or the Digital PCB. The U61 and U88 errors are similar, U61 without a DVD in the disc tray and U88 with a DVD in the disc tray. This thread has some brief discussion and a few photos: http://club.cdfreaks.com/f106/panaso...45vebs-254921/ This post and those that follow it have more extended discussion of the U61/U88 errors: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post15056130 This post and the those that follow it describe aspects of the U61 error and include detailed observations of various degrees of functionality within a context of swapping Digital PCBs into and out of one of my parts machines: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post15088527 |
| I'm hoping that cleaning the spindle as described here will fix my E100H. However, I can't figure how to get at the spindle (which I hope I will recognize when I see it: to me, a spindle is the metal post that used to drop a new record on my turntable when the last one finished playing. That should tell you everything you need o know about me.) Has anyone one here ever dug into a E100H? I'm terrified of making a bad situation worse here. M. |
| MFaust, The first post on page one in the present thread has advice for the Saint Baz hub cleaning procedure. The following post has a photo showing the hub/spindle and the correct far left positioning of the roller/slider mechanism prior to reassembly of the DVD drive: http://club.cdfreaks.com/f106/where-...7/#post2148477 The DVD drive in that post is from a 2008 Panasonic model but the interior view of your E100H DVD drive is similar. Your E100H probably has the black plastic DVD drive where the DVD drive lid anchors at the rear and lifts at the front. There is little clearance at the front with those black plastic DVD drives. You may have to remove the Panasonic's front panel to allow removing the DVD drive lid. When fitting the front panel back to the case on VHS models, the VHS door must be held open to correctly align the VHS door lifting mechanism. The first attached photo shows the tight clearance at the front of the DVD drive in a 2005 DMR-ES30V. The second photo shows the rubber hub. The third photo shows the correct positioning of the roller/slider mechanism. Last edited by DigaDo; 23-12-2008 at 04:10. Reason: adding photo |
| I have a DMR-EH65 that suddenly quit writing to a DVD-R, it had the same indications as those detailed by others above,subsequent cleaning as per SaintBaz instructions hasnt fixed the problem. I took it to the local Panasonic service centre and they told me the DVD reader circuitry has failed and quoted to fix will cost $200 plus $160 labour, they explained Panasonic only supply the complete DVD and Reader modules for this repair. The latest Panasonic DVD Recorders with Digital Tuners are only a few dollars more than this repair,why would you bother having them fixed? |
| The corportate Panasonic Digital Service Center in Elk Grove Village Illinois offers a $130 flat-rate repair that includes parts, labor and return shipping. This is the only location with the Panasonic experts and all the parts to return a US/Canadian model Panasonic to new or better than new functional condition. The "module" you mentioned consists of the RAM (DVD) Drive and the Digital PCB, the "brains" of a Panasonic. Depending upon the specific model the "module" may be priced between $150 and $625 when purchased by a local "authorized" repair shop or through Panasonic Parts. That's why it's better to take advantage of the Elk Grove Village flat-rate repair for high-end North American Panasonics: http://club.cdfreaks.com/f106/panaso...8/#post2111599 |
| Digado, you said "North America Panasonics". Isn't the $130 flat rate available only in the US? I think TerenceJ is either in Canada or Europe, going by how "centre" and "labour" was spelled so I don't think he'd be able to take advantage of the great $130 deal(I could be wrong?) |
| SaintBaz, you truly are a saint! You have just saved my sanity and my much loved Panasonic DMR-EZ25. It hasn't been picking up DVD-RAM discs for months but has been playing every other CD/DVD perfectly. I just coudln't understand what was wrong, and even ordered new DVD-RAM discs to see if that was the problem. Now, thanks to you wonderful advice I have a clean spindle and I have a fully functioning unit that it just as good as the very day it was bought. It's reading and writing DVD-RAM like a dream. All I have to do now is get a solution for the U80 problem and I'm all set. Thanks so much for posting this advice, you really have saved me a fortune |
| Thanks very much, you've diagnosed the problem exactly and given clear instructions for the fix! I had been pricing new ones and found your post. Very much appreciated. -Michael in Colorado |
| Hey Everybody, I got a EZ28 about 6 months ago, and I am getting a no read error. It is makeing the chugging sound. I did the tip on cleaning the spindle and lens to no avail. I kept the cover off the unit to see exactly what is happening when I place in a disc (since it makes the same sound with or without the disc). The laser pounds against the spindle housing 3 times, the spindle turns once, the laser then goes one more time and the nothing. Am I having a spindle issue, is it another issue that I have here? Do I need to send it in for repairs? Let me know! Thanks, Dan |
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Assuming you cleaned the spindle and lens OK and reassembled it as per DigaDo's instructions, you've got another problem. If by 'chugging' you mean the drive spins up or revs up, stops and starts again, repeats the process then gives up, it sounds like a spindle motor problem which would need a replacement drive unit, unfortunately. The spindle problem usually comes about slowly with discs taking longer to be recognised, DVD-RAMs appearing write protected and other erratic behaviour that eventually ends in the unit being unusable. Did this problem appear suddenly, and does your machine still play factory-pressed DVDs? SaintBaz. |
| Just so you know, all Pannys come with a 1 year parts and labor warranty(US ones anyway). I think they even pay postage both ways. I've heard of the laser banging the inside of the drive, I think sometimes people are able to gently move the laser back into position and it will work, but then again you don't want to go breaking anything and have Panasonic refuse warranty work. Technically I don't think they'd even like it that you took it apart to clean the laser, but since there isn't a seal on the cover they really won't know you've done it. I sure wouldn't mention it though. |
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If your EZ28 is still under warranty call the Panasonic Customer Service number for a warranty return. If you are in the US and your EZ28 is no longer under warranty contact the Panasonic Digital Service Center in Elk Grove Village Illinois. Their number is found in the linked post. Elk Grove Village is the only fast and efficient location providing the $130 flat-rate repair. See this post for more specific, detailed information: http://club.cdfreaks.com/f106/panaso...8/#post2111599 Avoid local "authorized" repair shops. This would prove to be very expensive and perhaps time-consuming. |
| SaintBaz - you are a genius! Have just done your procedure on my DMR-EH60 and everything is now working fabulously - high speed dubbing from HD to DVD, finalizing DVDs, etc, etc. All for the cost of 15 minutes and about AUS $10 for the isopropyl alcohol (included in an off-the-shelf CD cleaning kit). It would have taken me longer to take the panny over to the 'authorised repairer' who was going to charge AUS $50 just to determine the problem, plus days to fix, etc, etc. I had been getting really nervous before I found your post. I thought that I would probably lose the 60-odd hours of viewing pleasure stored in the HD because there was no way the dubbed DVDs would finalise, plus I have approx 150 DVDs in the collection that also haven't been finalised. This, of course, is going to be my first task. Whilst the cover was off the player, I also took the opportunity to clean out the dust inside (carefully, carefully). Now that I know how to do this, I'm going to tackle my son's old XBox because he said it can't read the discs. If anyone knows of a thread I can access, info would be great. The XBox doesn't have screws on its lid, and I don't want to break the thing taking it off. Once again, SaintBaz, thank you, thank you. I agree with an earlier post - you should be knighted! Cheers H |
| sainbaz if you still about. i used your cleaning tip for my panasonic dmr-es15 for the spindle and guess what it has worked a treat. my machine is 6 years old and i had thought that was it but cleaning the spindle seems to have given it another lease of life. thanks |
| Hi all, I would just like to add that if you use DVD-RAM discs, it's worth buying the ones in a removable cartridge, the double-sided type 4, 9.4GB carts. They keep the spindle and discs clean, and those discs can be removed if you need to transfer files to your PC if your drive doesn't accept cartridges. So, thanks for all the thanks, and stay away from cheap and nasty lens-cleaning discs! Regards, Saint Baz |
| Hello all, I have a Panasonic DMR-ES35V which was bought in September of 2006 and it gave me no problems at all until this month (September of 2009) so I've been very happy with it. I put in a disk that was not finalized and hit play to see what was on it and it played just fine. I then went back to the TV channel and hit record to add to the disk, but an error came up saying the disk was bad. I ejected it and since then it makes odd noises, won't read any DVD's (commercial or copied), and keeps trying to read a DVD that isn't there. I recorded the sounds and errors here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_jRgRtH4mM I tried the solution of cleaning the spindle but did not touch the lazer. After pluging it in an hour later I'm still stuck with the same issue. There were no problems or warnings leading up to this. I'm wondering if this is something that can be handled at home or if it needs to be brought to a professional. I just bought a new one for $300 and would love to return it unopened if this can be fixed cheaper. Thanks everyone for your help, Paul Last edited by Paul1976; 08-09-2009 at 23:09. Reason: misspellings |
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http://club.cdfreaks.com/f106/fixing...ml#post2274781 The first remedial measure is to gently clean the lens (this takes about two seconds when done in conjunction with the hub/spindle cleaning). Remember to position the roller/slider to the far left at the rear of the DVD Drive disc tray before securning the DVD Drive lid. If the lens cleaning does not correct the problem and there has been no disturbance to the DVD Drive and its ribbon cables/connections to the Digital PCB (on the platform under the DVD Drive) the laser assembly has failed or there may be a problem with the Digital PCB itself. This post provides the most recent information concerning the $130 flat-rate repair through the corporate Panasonic Service Centers in Elk Grove Village and Elgin Illinois: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...8#post14451738 Since CD Freaks posts older than thirty minutes may not be edited to provide current information an AVS post link is provided. That AVS post is updated whenever necessary. Laser assembly and Digital PCB failures are common problems, even for newer models. I currently have one Panasonic EZ series drive and four ES series drives that are "clunkers." I also have two defective Digital PCBs pulled from DMR-ES35V "parts machines." I currently have fifteen fully functional ES and EZ series Panasonics (including six DMR-ES35V models). Six of my Panasonic ES series recorders (including three DMR-ES35V models) have each accumulated between 3,000 and 4,400 recording hours. The DMR-ES35V is an outstanding performer, superior to recent and current EZ series combo recorders. For discussions of EZ series combo recorders see this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1014536 Last edited by DigaDo; 09-09-2009 at 02:42. |
| DigaDo, Thanks very much for your response. I just took it apart and cleaned the laser but unfortunately there is still no change. I may just set up my new one and sell this one for parts. Paul |
| I hope you didn't buy the EZ-48v? if so you may be very disappointed coming from a ES-35v. IMO the EZ-48v is the buggiest and most problematic of Panasonics current DVDRs. Truthfully I can't recommend any current Panasonic(or any brand) combos. The Panasonic EZ-28 or tunerless EA-18 teamed up with a VCR is a better alternative. |
| jjeff, Yeah, that's the one. I went in intending to buy one of the three recorders for under $200 but none of them had digital tuners so I got this one on the reputation of the other being so great the past three years. I haven't opened it yet, though. It's a shame in this day and age that it's so difficult to get something moderately priced that works well. Thanks for the warning, Paul |
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