[OKDXA] Tales From The Bench...

[Mark Duensing]

nelson thanks for this info I have a dvd that is doing the same as you have
described.I will let ya know how it turns out.
----- Original Message -----
From: Nelson Derks <ac5up@vei.net>
To: OKDXA Mail Reflector <okdxa@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 8:51 PM
Subject: [OKDXA] Tales From The Bench...


>
> Here's a repair tip that I wouldn't believe if I hadn't done it myself...
>
> Picked up a nice older Toshiba DVD player at Goodwill this afternoon for
> $30... Not exactly a screamer deal as you can buy cheapies all over town
for
> $40 new and in the box. But, this Toshiba is a mid-range model, looks
good,
> and gave me the 'take me home' vibe.
>
> Fired it up to find it would play audio CD's like a champ but failed to
> index DVD's something like 8 tries out of 10. Every once in a while it
would
> load and play OK, but it's a PITA to keep pushing the LOAD button until it
> finds track zero. As you can imagine, the golden screwdriver came out for
a
> look inside.
>
> It got dusted, the sled rails got a touch of oil, the two laser lenses got
> cleaned (gently!) and none of this made a damn bit of difference.
>
> Did you know that DVD's rotate much faster than CD's? Yeah, they do, and
the
> play head has two lasers that flip from one to the other while it's trying
> to figure out if it's loading a CD or DVD. The init sequence runs the disc
> at both speeds and it goes through the disc interrogation fairly quickly.
I
> was about to decide the DVD laser was probably at the tail end of its
useful
> life when I noticed that every time it changed spindle speeds the disc
would
> 'chirp' very softly...
>
> Did you know the spindle has a flat rubber doughnut that grips the disc?
> 'Spose the donut was a little glazed and the disc wouldn't come up to
speed
> fast enough to satisfy the init sequence due to slippage? Did the soft
> 'chirp' from the disc indicate a poor grip on the spindle? A light shot of
> WD-40 on a Q-Tip was all I needed to clean up the rubber surface and it
gave
> me a little color on the Q-Tip. That told me there was some crud and/or
> oxidation on the rubber surface.
>
> Now it loads DVD's first time, every time... Plays as good as new.
>
> In case you're wondering why I didn't use alcohol on this rubber part,
> alcohol will dry out the surface and usually leaves it less 'grippy' than
> before the cleaning. WD-40 tends to penetrate and rejuvenate rubber while
> loosening the surface glaze. Let it dry for a bit, rub it down with a dry
> Q-Tip and the rubber ends up with more grip than before. On a belt that's
> contaminated with oil, alcohol or mineral spirits are the way to go, but
on
> dry rubber that's become glazed, try a little WD-40 instead.
>
> - AC5UP
>
>
>
>
>
>
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