DVD Player repair guide

By Humphrey Kimathi
http://humphreykimathi.com

Email:Humphrey@humphreykimathi.com

ImagineX ElectronicS
 By Humphrey Kimathi

The reader of this book is expressly warned to consider and adopt all
safety precaution that might be indicated by the activities herein and to
avoid all potential hazards.
The author particularly disclaims any liability, loss or risk taken by
individuals who directly or indirectly act on the information Contained
herein. The author believes that the information presented here is sound,
but readers cannot hold him responsible for either the actions they take
or the result of those actions.
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the owner.
The book is divided into two parts:

Part one: is composed of 6 chapters - Introduction to DVD player repair.

Understanding and troubleshooting the DVD power supply, the Loader
components and common problems associated with these modules.
Part Two: is composed of 5 chapters of how I solved real life Common DVD
player cases on my workbench.

The book is illustrated with Color photos to make the reader learn faster and get
the concept pretty fast.

To navigate the book just click on the Chapter reference on the list of contents and
it will jump straight to the very topic and to go back to the first page just click on
your keyboard (Ctrl + Home) key.

ImagineX ElectronicS
List of Content
Chapter 1: introduction to DVD player repair
Chapter 2: An overview of DVD Player, Power board, Loader and Decoder

Chapter 3: Component found in DVD Player Power supply (S.M.P.S)

Chapter 4: Introduction to how DVD player S.M.P.S works.

Chapter 5: Troubleshooting DVD power supply.
Chapter 6: Understanding the Loader components, the lens, motors, pickup

Chapter 7: how I solved ORION DVD player which with DEAD symptoms.

Chapter 8: how I solved ‘No disc” symptoms on JVC DVD player

Chapter 9: LG DVD. Disc spins at high speed but no audio no video.
Chapter 10: How I repaired a DVD home theatre system with “No Disc” symptoms.

Chapter 11: How I solved LG DVD player which was hit by power surge.

Chapter 12: Conclusion:

ImagineX ElectronicS
Chapter 1: introduction to DVD player repair

All electronics equipment requires power in order to function, therefore

understanding the power supply section on any electronics equipment is
an added advantage to any technician.
Usually many technicians have phobia dealing with power supply
section because it is considered one of the areas which deals with high
current and voltage but with proper knowledge about this section then
you need not to fear but very importantly is to observe the safety
precaution when dealing with the power supply section.
Basically it is very important to use isolation transformer at all times if
you have one on your work bench.
Never work on the power supply if you are tired or late night (sleepy).
If you are not doing voltages testing always switch off the equipment
and remove the power cord from the power outlet.
Another import precaution is that you must not look at the lens if the
DVD is powered otherwise it may damage your eyes.
I suggest you modify your meter ground probe tip with a crocodile clip
so that you can use one hand when doing voltage test on the primary
side of the power supply.

ImagineX ElectronicS
With that basic information let move on to the overview of a DVD
player.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Chapter 2: An overview of DVD Player, Power board, Loader and Decoder

Basically a DVD player has three main units which work together in
harmony as shown in the figure below.

We have the power board which is usually S.M.P.S but in the older ones
they used to have special types of transformers with many output to
supply to the other circuits.
Next to the power board we have the Loader which houses the pickup
and then the Decoder (electronics board) all interconnected by use of
wires (conductors) and ribbon connectors.
You can relate the actual units in the picture below, please note that the
placement of these units varies with different models.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Power supply
Currently most of the DVD players in the market are using switch mode
power supply (S.M.P.S)

ImagineX ElectronicS
One common thing with all the switch mode power supply is that they
have the primary side (HOT) and the secondary side (COLD)
The primary side includes all components from the power supply input
to the input of chopper transformer down through the middle of the
Opto-isolator.
The secondary side includes the output of the chopper transformer,
secondary rectifier diodes, and the secondary filter capacitors for each
line.
When doing voltage testing on DVD power supply, be sure to use the
main capacitor negative pin as your ground when testing the primary
side and on the secondary side use one of the Ground pin on the
connector output or negative pin of any filter capacitor on the secondary
side.
Also note that the opto-isolator has two legs on the primary side of the
supply and two legs on the secondary side.
To test for voltage on this ic be sure to use the correct ground.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Chapter 3: Component found in DVD Player Power supply (S.M.P.S)

Fuse

All DVD power supply have a fuse, sometimes these fuses comes in
form of fusible resistor (fr) but also ordinary glass fuse are used.
Fuses in electronics are usually used for safety purposes, so whenever
you see a fuse has failed don't blame it because that why it is there to do-
that is to blow if there is a problem on the power supply like a short, the
fuse will cut off the power to the equipment to avoid further damage to
the equipment. And also preventing the equipment from catching fire!
So next time you see a fuse has blown you need to appreciate it for job
well done, on the same note I believe you have understood why you
should never replace a fuse with a Jumper wire- always think safety first
to you and also to your customers.
Fuse often fail by being open and you can easily confirm that with a
meter set to low ohm resistance (if you hear the buzz or have a reading
then the fuse is considered good)
EMI FILTER
EMI (Electromagnetic interference also called radio frequency
interference) FILTER

ImagineX ElectronicS
Filters- this is a device which we find being used in many areas of day
to day life like oil filters' air filters etc
In electronics when we talk of filters we are referring to devices used to
pass desired signal and block undesired signal.
To achieve this we use some known behavior of capacitors and inductors
toward frequencies:
Inductors
Inductors allow low frequencies to pass but make it very hard to high
frequencies to pass
Capacitors
Capacitors allow high frequencies to pass but very hard for low
frequencies
We know that power supply has low frequency of around 50 Hz to 100
Hz and Radio frequencies are pretty high
Looking at our circuit of the EMI above you will see that the inductor is
in series with the supply line and therefore will pass the low power
supply frequency of 50 Hz but make it hard for the high radio frequency
to pass.

ImagineX ElectronicS
On the other hand the capacitor which is connected in parallel with the
power supply effectively shorting the high radio frequency to the ground
hence allowing only the low supply frequency to pass

Effect on the supply when the component of EMI filters fail

1. Capacitor shorted= fuse will blow
Capacitor Open= no effect but you will loss filter function of that
capacitor
2. Inductor Shorted- no much effect on supply but you will loss filter
function of the inductor
Inductor Open- supply will be cut off because the inductor is in series
with the supply line
Diodes
Diode are one way valve i.e. allow flow of current only in one direction,
this property of diode makes it ideal for use in power supply for
rectification purposes.
Electronics equipment are not designed to use Alternating Current (AC),
therefore diodes are used to rectify (basically means to convert from
Alternating Current to Pulsating Direct Current)

ImagineX ElectronicS
In S.M.P.S you will find them as a bridge or four discrete diodes

Effect on the supply when the Diodes (Bridge) Fail.

Open: This will cause the DC voltage to go down;
Short: The fuse will blow
Main Capacitor
Looking at figure 2 above you will notice that the diode has only
managed to change from alternating Current (AC) to Pulsating Direct
Current (PDC), this is still not clean for use in electronics circuits
Therefore a Capacitor is used to smooth out the pulses to get Direct
Current (DC) ready for use by the Electronic circuit.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Effect on the supply when Main Capacitor Fail.
Open: The output will not be filtered and hence will affect the power
supply proper functioning.
Short: Fuse will blow
Control I.C / Chopper Transistor

Basically chopper transistor act as a switch that open and closes very
fast in order to cause current to flow through the chopper transformer
which then generates various voltages for the secondary circuits
Effect on the supply when chopper transistor Fail.
Open: Nothing happens, the power supply just stop working
Short: Very common failure mode is to have this transistor shorted
collector-emitter junction in this case the fuse or the surge limiter must
go.
Short on base-emitter is also possible but not common
Where the supply is using the control ic please note that this also have
inbuilt transistor which also get can get shorted and the same symptoms
appears like above.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Chopper Transformer
Basically the Chopper transformer is used to provide line isolation and
generates multiple output Voltages for the secondary circuit.
Common outputs from DVDs power supply secondary circuit includes,
+5 vdc, +12 vdc, -12vdc are common.

Open: Primary coil may get open and if this happens nothing happen
only the power supply will stop working. You can test this by using
meter set on low ohm range and should have a reading.
Short: A shorted primary coil can only be tested with a ring tester/fly
back tester but not the meter because a shorted coil will read low ohm on
the meter and this will confuse you because coils should have low
resistance reading when okay.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Feedback & Regulation circuit

The Opto-isolator (PC-817) is used to provide isolation between the

primary supply and secondary supply and together with TL431 are used
in the switch mode power supply for regulations purposes.
If the internal transistor of the opto-isolator shorts the power supply will
stop working, same to the internal diode.
Also if TL431 is shorted it will also cause the power supply to stop
working and appear dead and therefore whenever you see the power
supply is dead and you have changed the entire suspect component on
the primary side then consider replacing these two components directly.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Below you can see actual components on the board

Another power board from a different model which is more advanced

but the major components are similar.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Chapter 4: Introduction to how DVD player S.M.P.S works.

When you connect the DVD player to the power outlet and press on the
power button on the DVD.
The 240V/110V flow through the fuse which is used for safety purposes,
then through an EMI filter which is usually a combination of inductor in
series and capacitors in parallel to the power line.
The work of the EMI(electromagnetic interference) is to filter out the
high radio frequencies which could have been picked into the power
line.

ImagineX ElectronicS
After that the current flow into Four (4) diodes combined in a bridge
configuration. The work of these diodes is to rectify (basically means to
convert from alternating current to pulsating direct current)
The output of this pulsating direct current (pdc) then passes by the
capacitor which smoothes out the pulses to get a clean direct current
(dc).
This direct current then enters the primary pin of the chopper
transformer down to the Drain pin of the control I.C or collector leg
(middle) of the chopper transistor.
At the same time a voltage from the main DC (300vdc or 155vdc) is
dropped across a high value resistor or two to three resistors in series
and reduced to around 12vdc and applied to the start up pin of the
control i.c or the base of the chopper transistor.
When the two voltages are present (the start up and the drain voltage)
and everything is okay then the control i.c/Transistor start to switch very
fast and voltage will appear on the secondary side of the chopper
transformer.
Among the secondary output will be 5vdc, 12vd and -12vdc among
others depending on the model.
Off course the output of any transformer is always an alternating current
(ac) and therefore to get a clean direct current (DC) like the 5v dc and
12v dc we need again to do some rectification again and hence the work
of the secondary diodes and the secondary capacitors to get a clean dc to
feed other circuits.
Also may I point out here that for DVD player power supply the
monitored output is the 5vdc and therefore it is considered as the main
output just like we have the B+ as the main in television set.

ImagineX ElectronicS
This voltage (5vdc) is sampled back to the primary side via photo-
coupler which in most cases they use I.C PC817 via the feedback circuit
which is composed of I.C photo-coupler PC817 and I.C TL431 which is
a reference regulator. Pin 1 is the reference voltage and is usually 2.5
Volts. Pin 2 is anode leg and is usually the Ground while Pin3 is
Cathode leg and usually connect to the pin 2 of the opto-isolator.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Chapter 5: Troubleshooting DVD power supply.

With the brief introduction of how the DVD power supply works let us
now move to what can go wrong on this supply.
First it is very important to isolate if the problem is power supply related
or the problem has been triggered by a fault on the load.
Luckily with DVD power supply unlike the TV power supply it is
detachable and therefore if you suspect power problem you can easily
disconnect the power supply from the Load and troubleshoot separately.
First scan through the power supply board carefully both sides to check
for any burnt areas or burnt components or capacitors with the top
silvery side bulging.
This is usually an indication of capacitor failure due to high voltage
hence it’s important to consider that source peak working voltage of the
capacitor when replacing.
So I suggest when replacing such a capacitor to use higher voltage rating
is better but same capacitance( for example for 1000uF/10V use
1000uF/16Volts) otherwise if you use the same voltage rating for
replacement chances are high for the customer coming back again with
the same complains.

Basically DVD Power supply unit is Just like any Power supply unit
using Switch mode power supply (chopper), so use normal PSU fault
finding techniques.
Start with, any power from secondary of chopper transformer, at the
diodes? Usual PSU voltages are +5v,-12, +12v.

ImagineX ElectronicS
If yes the power supply unit is okay, if no check for 320v/155v across
mains smoothing Capacitor. If 320 /155 Volts is okay but no output,
check for shorts on the output lines diodes, capacitors ESR gone high.
Please note that a capacitor on the secondary side of the supply which
has developed high ESR can cause the power supply to appear dead and
a technician without good knowledge about how the S.M.P.S work may
spend a lot of time checking the problem on the primary side whereas
the problem is on the secondary side.
Sometimes a Capacitor with a high ESR will have no visual signs and
the best method to isolate this failure is by use of ESR meter. If you
don’t have one then is suggest you directly change all the capacitors on
that board.
Sometimes you may receive a DVD player that has been hit by voltage
surge (high voltage) from the power outlet and from my experience only
the main capacitor (22uF/400V) and the control I.C/chopper transistor
which I replace and the power is restored back to normal.

ImagineX ElectronicS
If the power supply has output when disconnected from all other loads
and appear dead when connected to the load then you can conclude that
there is a short on one of the load.
In most cases I have noted capacitor on the motherboard has developed
high ESR and after replacing them the power is restored.
Please note also that any shorted components on the motherboard can
also cause the power to appear dead.
Also note that the S.M.P.S working principles are almost the same and
therefore you can apply the knowledge you learn from this and apply it
to troubleshoot other equipment using the switch mode power supply.
If the main fuse is open and darkened inside expect a short on the
primary power supply. First suspect is the control ic or transistor used in
that supply.
Usually when this ic or the transistor short, testing across the main
capacitor with a digital meter set to diode range will beep.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Chapter 6: Understanding the Loader components, the lens, motors, pickup

The Loader
The loader is another area with a high failure rate, luckily most of the
problems are mechanical and the best test equipments for mechanical
faults are your eyes.
Take time to do keen observations on this module so that whenever you
see something funny you would know.
I would advise you have a good working loader to compare with
whenever you are in doubt.
Again most of the components of the loader are almost the same and
therefore you can even swap components and see if things will improve.
Most of the faults which points to a problem within the loader includes,
tray problems, no disc, not able to read disc, disc does not spin, draw
open and close continually and not able to open or close the drawer
normally…most of these problems can be traced down to the loader and
the associated components.

ImagineX ElectronicS
These components include pickup, lens, motors and the gears.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Below you can see the loader top view

I wish to point out here that whenever you de-assemble the clamper you
should note its orientation otherwise you may end up creating more
problems. If the clamper is re-assembled with wrong orientation the
DVD will start behaving funny.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Sometimes the drawer starts to close and open continuously. To check
if the orientation is okay, after inserting the disc try to rotate the disc
using the clamper magnet. If the orientation is correct the Disc should
spin very smoothly.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Bottom side

Motors found in DVD Player.

There are three main motors on a DVD player mechanism, the Spindle
motor, sled motor and the tray motor.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Spindle motor. This is the motor which the Disc actually sit on when
spinning. The motor spins at around 500RPM when all is well.
Because of this the spindle motor is actually the most worked motor and
therefore it is prone to a lot of wear and tear and hence has a very high
failure rate compared to the other two.
A good spindle motor should read between 5 ohms to 20 ohms between
the red wire and the black wire.
For testing purposes I recommend using analogue meter set to X1, if the
motor is okay then it should spins smoothly.
I have also noted most of the motor come from the factory not working
and therefore I recommend technician to test them right at the point of
sale.
May I also point out here that when this motor fail is can lead to all sorts
of problems but the most common one is “No Disc” symptoms.
Also when this motor is shorted, it can overload the power supply such
that even the tray is not able to open even when you press open button.
Other times the DVD will take a lot of time loading and after 3minutes
gives a “No Disc” error.
I strongly recommend to always checking the health of this motor
whenever you have funny behavior with the DVD player.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Tip: Whenever you replace this motor it is very important you note very
well the height between the spindle motor and the spindle platter
highlighted above.
If this height is not observed the DVD will also not work and will
manifest different symptoms.
I have one time noticed the different of this height causing the DVD
drawer to open and close continuously.
The best way to take care of this height I recommend salvaging the
platter (table) from the previous motor to the new one.
Also it is very important to note here that motor are not sold with bolts
and therefore the small bolts you remove from the previous motor must
be kept safely for use in the new motor.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Also be sure to check for any previous repair from other technicians,
sometimes I have seen this motor replaced with a good one but has the
polarity changed and hence the disc will be spinning well (500RPM) but
in opposite direction and hence the disc is not read leading to no disc
symptoms again. Usually DVD disc should rotate clockwise when
reading the data.
Also be sure you have soldered back the read wire and the black wire to
where it is supposed to be.
Tray motor
This is the motor used to open and close the tray, again test it using the
above method.
When this motor is working well and you use your analogue meter set to
X1 again you will find that the draw will move in smoothly and when
you reverse the probe the draw will jet out.
The movement should be smooth...The failure rate of this motor is very
low.
Please note that if the tray is not coming out it could point to wrong
height setting on the loader and should be checked so that the tray is
level with the tray window.
Sled Motor.
This is the motor used to carry the pickup across the rail while reading
the disc. The movement should be smooth. Again the failure rate of this
motor is low but you should always confirm with a meter in case you
have any doubt.

ImagineX ElectronicS
The lens.
As we conclude this topic on the components of the loader let us look at
the objective lens.
There are different types on lens depending on the DVD model but the
working principles is again the same.
Below you see a popular model KSS 213C.

The lens is the most suspected component whenever the DVD player
present “No Disc” symptoms but from my experience this component is
quite reliable and should be considered as suspect after you have
exhausted all other areas I have mentioned above.
A quick test I do for lens is that I move the pickup to the outer lane
manually by using relevant gears.
Then apply power, if the pickup moves to the inner area smoothly and
after reaching the inner lane the lens start moving up and down emitting
red light then most probably the lens is okay.
For safety precaution don’t look at the lens directly with your eyes, just
look at an angle from a distance.

ImagineX ElectronicS
C) The Decoder board

ImagineX ElectronicS
The decoder is the main board in the DVD player and it is usually very
stable in terms of causing problems to the player.
Most of the time when technicians are not able to solve a fault they like
blaming this board but from my experience this area problems are
limited.
One common problem with this board is the capacitors on this board
developing high esr and end up pulling down the power supply and the
power appear dead.
So if you find the power supply is appearing dead and the fuse is not
blown, dis-connect the decoder board and if the power supply increase
then suspect a shorted component on the decoder board.
In most cases there is a capacitor which is near the connector to the
decoder board which usually develop high esr and replacing this
capacitor solve this problem.
Also be sure to confirm that all the supply to the decoder board are
present and correct value which is usually +5vdc,+12vdc, -12vdc etc
depending on the model.
Usually when the DVD player is working the main ic on the decoder
board is usually hot but if you find that this ic is too hot for your fingers
then consider it is shorted or there is a problem on the power supply.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Chapter 7: how I solved ORION DVD player which with DEAD symptoms.

On pressing the power on button the set was dead as dodo. No sign of
life anywhere so I suspected power supply.
As usual I scanned through the power supply board carefully both sides
to check for any burnt areas or burnt components and alas I noticed a
capacitor on the secondary side which was slightly bulging on the top
silvery side.

This is usually an indication of capacitor failure due to high voltage

hence it’s important to consider that source peak working voltage of the
capacitor when replacing. Higher voltage is better but same capacitance
Culprit: capacitor 1000uF/10v on the secondary output of switch mode
power supply. I replaced by 1000uF/16V which I figured was the best
for that output source. This was a design error by the manufacturer. Very
commons with china made equipment.

After replacement of that one capacitor the DVD started working like
new:

ImagineX ElectronicS
The DVD Power supply unit is Just like any Power supply unit using
Switch mode power supply (chopper), so use normal PSU fault finding
techniques: Start with, any power from secondary of chopper
transformer, at the diodes? Usual PSU voltages are +5v,-12, +12v.If yes
the power supply unit is okay, if no check for 320v across mains
smoothing Capacitor. If 320 Volts is okay but no output, check for
shorts on the output lines diodes, capacitors ESR gone high

ImagineX ElectronicS
Chapter 8: how I solved ‘No disc” symptoms on JVC DVD player

No disc problems in all types of DVD is a common phenomenon, before

a DVD start reading the disc, there are several test it does just like the
booting of the computer (CPu) called start up process.

If by any chance any of the stage is not working the DVD will display an
error on the screen, most of the time it is disc error, no disc etc.

Among the components which are first suspected is the LENS but from
my experience this is one of the most stable component with a relatively
very low failure rate.

Top suspect is the Spindle motor (the motor that spins the disc), over
75% no disc error is caused by this small motor where the disc sit on.

ImagineX ElectronicS
How to measure spindle motor with a DMM, set your meter to low
resistance test (200 ohm) range, if it is okay should read between 5 and
20 ohms.

On analogue meter, this is my favorite set the meter to X1 and measure

across the two wires coming from the motor(red and black) if the motor
is okay, it will spins at very high speed indicating to you that it is up to
the task.

A word of advice- I have found several of these motors which are not
working right from the shop and therefore I advise you to ask the store
keeper to give you the meter and test on the counter before taking it
home only to realize that it’s not working. This is also true with other
components make it a routine to test components before replacing them
in circuit.

Back to my JVC DVD

As usual my first suspect- Spindle motor. Measuring this motor, YES it

was dead short.

I replaced with a new one, alas still no change...Still no disc symptoms.

Looking at the logic circuit (motherboard) I noticed a swollen cap on +5

volt line. A good hint what might be pulling the spindle motor power
supply down!

ImagineX ElectronicS
I replaced the capacitor (470uf/10v) with 470uf/16v…still no change but
this time I noticed that the lens reader is trying to focus, I mean moving
up and down.

But as the lens move up I noticed it is hitting the spindle motor table
when trying to focus.

Another clue, that the disc table (spindle platter) is not adjusted properly,
meaning when I replaced the spindle motor I failed to set the high
correctly.

Hence no disc error. I adjusted the spindle motor table up slightly and

ImagineX ElectronicS
the DVD came back to life. BIG PROBLEM --- SMALL SOLUTION
Conclusion; Most of DVD problems are mechanical and very
inexpensive to repair and doesn’t require sophisticated machinery to test
just observation using the best tools I have come to realize in my
troubleshooting experience which are absolutely free, YOUR SET OF
EYES.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Chapter 9: LG DVD. Disc spins at high speed but no audio no video.

This LG DVD was brought in by a friend of mine, it was also not his so
he didn’t have much history of the problem but the owner has told him
that the DVD has never gone to any other technician.

It didn’t take long before I realized that this was not true, usually
equipment from other technician referred to another has its challenges
especially if the one handling it before was not a professional.

Before opening I powered it up and it came up pretty well, the disc is

spinning at high speed but no audio or video coming out.

I took some time observing the DVD and I noticed that the track count is
also stuck, I opened the set and tried to push the pickup to the outer
side..Alas the pickup was very hard to move, it should move softly either
way.

I checked the sled motor by applying some dc voltage to it and rotated

very well minus the load of course. Never apply power to the CD motor
in circuit. You might end up doing more harm to the circuit.

With this I concluded that the sled motor was health. Then I applied
power to the set with the pick up on the out lane. To my amazement the
pick is supposed to move toward the center but this time it stayed at the
same place (stuck).

ImagineX ElectronicS
I checked the gears and all seemed ok to my judgment. So what next…..
After careful checking I realized the gear is not locking up well.

Someone might have opened the set before and did not return the gears
correctly?

I suspected previous repair because one bolt was also missing which
hold the Loader mechanism. Remember the owner claimed that the set
was never opened before.

So always be careful to check if the unit was ever opened before because
this will allow you to think outside the box. Always be careful with unit
which had previous repairs by other people.

ImagineX ElectronicS
I believe the previous technician repaired the machine but only missed
when it came to re-assembling the machine, as a technician please note
that there is no school to teach you how to open and close the equipment
you will be working on and therefore it is up to the technician to be keen
when opening especially new machine because when closing up you will
be doing exactly the opposite of what you did when opening.

So I reinstalled the gears correctly and the DVD started working like
new.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Chapter 10: How I repaired a DVD home theatre system with “No Disc” symptoms.

A friend of mine brought to me his home theatre to me to check it out,

the initial complain was that it was not able to read disc.

Upon receiving it on my workbench I pressed the power button and it

came up well...

I pressed the eject disc button and the tray was not opening. May I
point out here that sometimes if the spindle motor is shorted it can
load down the supply such that even the drawers are not able to
open..This gave me a clue that the spindle motor may be shorted even
before I opened the machine.

ImagineX ElectronicS
I pulled my best friend analogue meter to confirm if the spindle motor
is shorted or not and true the spindle motor was gone.

I pulled one from my drawer (I always keep several pieces because this
motor has a high failure rate and replaced the faulty one).

Because the polarity of the wires were not marked on the board I
decided to cut the two wires to the spindle motor one inch from the
board so that I won’t have problems to figure out which wire is which
when replacing them.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Please note that I have seen a DVD player brought to me with “No Disc”
symptoms and I traced the problem was the spindle motor was
replaced with a good one but the technician inter changed the positive
(+) and negative (-) wires and therefore the disc was spinning at normal
speed (500RPM) but in the opposite direction and hence the tech never
solved the problem.

After replacing the spindle motor with a new one which my meter has
also confirmed to me that it is okay, the home theatre developed
another problem.

The drawers were closing and opening throughout. So I tried to figure

out what could have gone wrong while replacing the motor.

ImagineX ElectronicS
After a lot of mind searching, I started to observe the behavior of the
disc (movement in and out with the top cover of the home theatre
removed.

I noticed the platter height was quite high and the disc was not loading
smoothly.

To solve this problem of the height I had to use the platter from the
previous motor and that solved the height problem and the home
theatre DVD module started working again.

Advice. Please note that whenever changing the spindle motor be sure
to note the height of the platter (table) from the spindle motor body
because this is very critical otherwise you may solve a problem and
create another and end up not repairing the machine.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Chapter 11: How I solved LG DVD player which was hit by power surge.

I received this LG DVD player in my workshop and the customer

suspected power surge as the cause of the problem.

I opened the DVD and I started to scan around the power supply
section primary side for any sign of stress or burnt component.

I noticed the main filter capacitor was slightly swollen on top and this
was enough evidence that it was gone.

Usually when you find a capacitor with the top swollen don’t even
waste your time testing, the cure is just replace it directly.

I replaced the main capacitor with a new but testing across the main
capacitor with my digital meter set to diode test.

ImagineX ElectronicS
I noticed the meter was indicating a short on the main DC supply. This is
an indicating that there is also another component which is shorted on
the supply line, usually the main suspect is usually the control ic or the
transistor used on that supply.

To confirm this I removed the control ic from the board and testing
again across the main capacitor the short was gone.

I replaced the control and that brought the DVD back to life.

ImagineX ElectronicS
Chapter 12: Conclusion:

Dear electronics repairer, we have come to the end of this DVD repair
guide. In conclusion let me say that most of DVD player problems are
mechanical and very inexpensive to repair and doesn’t require
sophisticated machinery to test just observation using the best tools I
have come to realize in my troubleshooting experience which are
absolutely free, YOUR SET OF EYES.
Wishing you all the best in your future endeavors
By Humphrey Kimathi-Author

 Basic electronics course

 CRT Television Repair Course
 DVD Player repair guide
 CRT TV Real Life Repair Experience Guide Volume 1

Recommended book
Plasma TV Repair By Damon Morrow
LCD TV Repair by Kent Liew
LCD Monitor Repair by Jestine Yong
Troubleshooting and Repairing S.M.P.S. by Jestine Yong

ImagineX ElectronicS