I have to say I was very sceptical about this fix but thought I may as well give it a go on my temperamental TEAC P650 CD player as I'd had no joy with the more widely recommended q-tip method. I'd also been unsuccessful in my attempts to locate the pot which increases current to the laser, which is mentioned in other videos. Anyway, a few rubs later with the rubber end of a pencil and a handful of discs that were previously not reading at all now do so fine and play through with no errors. I have more to test (discs of 70+ minutes were typically troublesome) but the signs look very good, so many thanks to RDJ for posting this!
Thank you so much. I don't know much about computers but your lesson on cleaning the laser... wow.... that fixed my dvd player in my laptop... haven't been able to use it for 6 months until watching you clean it with a pencil eraser... again.. thanks....
I would NOT recommend using an eraser!!! I ALWAYS use a q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol. Just make sure that after you dip the q-tip in the alcohol that you use a paper towel or a rag to absorb any excess alcohol on the q-tip before touching it to the laser lens. You want it slightly moist NOT drenched.
Holy crap!!! This worked!! I got an entire surround sound system given to me because it didn't play disks. Would read "NO DISC." I took it apart and cleaned it with a lens cloth per a diff video. Nothing. So I watched this one. I used an eraser and... IT WORKED!! thanks!
Hey mate ur a genius !!! Just rigged up my old Samsung DVD-HR738, was prev put away cos dvd stopped reading discs, read all sorts on net about tweaking potentiometers on pcb etc but no need ! I did it slightly differently, used cotton bud with lens cleaning solution on it, out of a kit that the player wouldnt even play ! Like u say, lens was dusty but clean now and all working !! Thanks again for your inspiration :-)
Say what you want. After watching this video I took apart an old Sony DVD player that hadn't worked for several years. I did the eraser trick and BAM, it plays like new. Thanks so much for sharing!
you are A LIFE SAVER!!! I NEVER would have thought to use an eraser...I was prepared to have to buy a new DVD player as I had done every trick I knew with no luck 😊😊 you have just made my night kind Sir. Thank You!!
This method worked perfectly for me. Now my Samsung DVD-VR330 is working great again. Thank you so much for posting this video! BTW, some pencil erasers can be gritty, so I used a draftsman's soft Staedler white plastic eraser rod. They come in a plastic chuck - no metal. These don't get hard and nasty like the red rubber ones. Get one at a Dollar store.
i just opened mine up. it was not a dust problem, but some kind of pink substance, maybe lubricant? anyway i used alcohol and q tips and cleaned out all the pink goo. now it plays beautifully again. thank you so much!
Thank you this did the trick on my player. I tried a cleaning disc and cotton pad to no avail. I'm not an expert on these things but I think the laser components are a lot stronger tougher than given credit for by some commentors. The eraser trick worked and I used a little bit of pressure in order to rub the lens rather then just wipe them, after all they are sprung.
As an HND electronics engineer and a lecturer in chemistry and electronics I will NEVER EVER recommend using a pencil eraser to clean a laser assembly, DREADFUL UNINFORMED BLUNDERBUSS STRATEGY ! DREADFUL ADVISE - IGNORE or use the erase method at your peril ! One uses cotton bud and medical grade iso propyl alcohol to clean the lens, period. This wil remove most organic contamination and detritus cleanly with minimal residue and contamination of site. I use this on professional studio cd players, where quality is the key and results are paramount. Compressed air is also a no-no - why blow rubbish into the air and re-contaminate everything. I really 'enjoy' these videos where the untrained or those with aa smattering of knowledge preach to the 'unconverted' Trouble is that the 'wisdom of the (youtube) crowd appeals to so many' ! Easy fix, never mind the consequences ! Stick to a cotton bud and isopropyl alcohol, this is the ONLY way to clean a laser assembly PROPERLY. Nick W - senior lecturer in Electronics, laser systems and Molecular Chemistry.
Nick Wilson Lol... Umm. Has anyone ever think that it might be to many SCRATCHES/DIRT/FINGERPRINT smudge on the DISCS causing the problem? Because after a while a disc may develope SCRATCHES & etc that you'll need to clean & 'resurface' the dvd/cd. I've had these issues when my player would say 'ERROR' &/or take long to load up. Just clean &/or resurface the disc(s) real good and THIS may cure your problem. Note: Some dvd/cd player's are very sensitive to read your dvd/cd's. Therefore, ANY little scratch &/or dirty can cause this symptom. SO START W/YOUR DVD/CD's B-4 OPENING THE UNIT😁 Just a tip✌
Engineers don't use rubber because it will scratch the surface of lens due to fact that they are plastic in most of the caces... use instead dry cotton swab and clean the lens from dust with circle movements without push at all because you can bend focus and tracking coils inside lens mechanism, if this don't help at all there is a trimmer potentiometer on optic head itself (DVD heads have 2 of them because they have 2 lasers inside - one for CD and powerful one for DVD) - you can adjust power of each laser LEDs inside by turning its potentiometer slooowly by 1 degree each time while disk start to spin and player enter in its normal operation (yes you can hear that scratching noises - make them as low as you can when player reads disk normal and it is in play mode).
+Feni Lusilia yes you can try anyway but probably it wont help at this point because brush of disk cleaners is plastic an when it is mixed with dust it can scratch lens but still there is hope... try it, it may help
Agreed. Wouldn’t use rubber - may even have lead on it !! A dry Q Tip with delicate rotary motions is better. With the cover off, have a clean around with a paint brush to get the dust away. Then lubricate the glide rods with WD silicon oil. Need to be nimble and dexterous and not too heavy - handed as you could break something in there !!
Thanks. I fixed my dvd player with your tip. I cleaned the lazer eye.. i used toilet paper and mild cleaner diluted with water .. barely damp toilet paper wadded tight and lightly wiped it clean. noticed difference by eye of clarity after. it worked perfectly! thanks! I do not know why I did not think to clean its eye .. should have been easy to figure out.. it was making a clicking noise too... and now it is silent. I cleaned alot of dirt and dead roaches and roach poop out of it! It came from a roach infested house. I figured roach carcasses had shorted it out. I was thinking it was toast. I cleaned it all out and wiped roach poop off and washed little bracket and cleaned lazer eye.
"if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" - Aside from your use of compressed air, ;) i think part of the fix was you also agitating the lens mechanism up and down. back and forth. Sometimes this sticks and is therefore unable to focus on the disc. Thanks for showing how simple this is to fix.
This worked for me too. Error was "No Disc".Disassembly to access the lens was a bit more complicated on a JVC UXJ50 but next time should be easier now I know where all the screws are! I used a new pencil eraser, gently, and brushed any surplus rubber away after with a soft artists paintbrush. The lens was visibly clearer after cleaning. Plays fine now. Thanks.
Have you done a similar video for CD Recorders? MIne still records, but it has stopped Finilizing discs afterwards, which is a pain because I can't play the disc on anything else, and I rely on it heavily for recording my music compositions to transfer to computer for subsequent upload. If it helps my recorder is a RCD-W3, which is some years old now, but until fairly recently has had very little use. Any advice you can give me would be valuable, as I can't afford to get someone to look at it, and because of it's age not really sure if it's worth it anyway. Thanking you in advance.
Computers used to have the drop-fix where you'd drop from a bit off the table - it was an oxidized connection issue. It seems they've improved conductors, since.
Cleaning the optics is pretty much always one of the first things to do when troubleshooting an optical drive that won't read discs. But, I wouldn't use a pencil eraser to clean the surface of the objective lens, especially if the lens is made of plastic. There's too great a chance that the abrasiveness of the eraser could mar the lens, thus ruining the pickup. Instead, you should use chamois, microfiber, or even cotton; any clean and soft material that has little to no abrasiveness. However, a pencil eraser can be used to clean the electrical contacts on the flex cable used to connect the optical pickup to the player circuitry. And, of course, careful use of compressed air can do wonders at cleaning things out. You should also lightly lubricate mechanical parts of the drive, if necessary.
I have a 5 disc Sony CD player (13 years old) that hasn't worked right for about 10 of those years but it's been sitting on a shelf begging to get fixed. It doesn't have a pop-out tray. Once the CD finally loads 9 times out of 10 it won't play. Not sure if it is a problem with the laser eye but I sure am going to try this.
I have a digitrex gk1000 that makes a scraping noise when playing a dvd.The dvd drawer is floppy/stays open as well-similar to that one.I presume the springs have gone flying out.
My Samsung DVD-R ocasionally recognize / play audio CD-s, but NEVER video discs (movies). Otherway it appears: disc cannot be played, check it. Lens cleaned by glasses wipe, no effect. Any advice please, thanks...
I've found these simple players are level sensitive...that is, unless the player laser is perfectly level...it won't play. So, put the player on a table top and connect a TV. Move the player around after hitting play until you find a spot on the table where the disc plays perfectly. Adding a rubber pad to the low spot will solve your problem.
Very true. And was talking to a guy in the Panasonic store who said that the disc tray can warp slightly so that the disc can’t sit plum in its seat. So won’t read.
So, the general logic behind the things done in this video is sound, but the execution was a bit scary. Air compressors can and usually do contain moisture, plenty enough to ruin any electronic component, and a pencil eraser is a rather bizarre thing to use to clean such a sensitive thing. A couple of pointers, though. If you use some compressed air, try to gently blast out the space between the diode and the lens (basically UNDER the lens), you'd be surprised what buildup can occur in there, especially in dusty areas. Clean the lens very gently with a q-tip, one end very slightly wet with some sort of non streaking glass cleaner, be gentle so as not to scratch or remove any lens coating. Some laser assemblies have a tiny potentiometer (2 if CD/DVD drive, one for CD, one for DVD reading) to fine tune laser wattage, some aging drives will work like brand new again with just a slight wattage bump to compensate for the decreased efficiency.
There are a few things with your comment that aren't entirely correct. First of all, I'm curious to know if you have ever used a humidity meter to measure the amount of moisture in the air that is coming out of an air compressor? I have measured the relative humidity of the air coming out of my own compressor, and the humidity level is exactly the same as the humidity in the environmental air here. No extra humidity is added to the compressed air in my compressor. It might be possible that some other compressors do add a bit of humidity though, so I'm of course not saying that you're wrong about that. However, since we don't know anything about the humidity of the air in the particular compressor used in this video, we don't have the right to judge the uploader in any way on that point. What I can say though is that it looks like the air blowing nozzle used for the compressor is really some sort of bicycle tire pump used in a garage, and such a nozzle might contain a lot of contaminants that could easily get into the airstream and get straight onto the CD player pickup unit. A clean air blowing nozzle that is only used for electronics work should be used in this case, together with a compressor that doesn't add any moisture to the air, of course. A hand-held air blower also works fine, and will not add any moisture to the air either. Those things are usually used for cleaning and removing dust from camera lenses and is a cheap alternative to air compressors. If we are going to talk about moisture, what we should never do (but what people are often doing, unfortunately) is to blow onto the electronics with our mouths. The humidity level of our breaths is very high, and it can also contain some substances that shouldn't really be left on populated PCBs. As for the decreased efficiency due to aging of the laser diode, you are incorrect in that you need to compensate for the aging of the LD by tweeking the LD power pot. Inside the package of the LD, there is also a PD (photo diode) which senses the intensity of light being emitted from the LD. The "output" from the PD then goes into an APC-circuit (automatic power control) essentially containing some op-amps, which automatically adjusts the power output to the LD so that it always matches the correct output level set by the power trimpot you mentioned. What this means is that the APC automatically corrects for any drift in the output power of the LD. This drift is usually caused by aging of the LD on a long-term basis, or by the temperature coefficiency of the LD on a short-term basis. If you need to adjust the LD power control to get your CD drive working, then this is not because of aging of the LD but rather because of either: 1. Dirt or some other obstruction of the laser beam which requires higher output power for the light to get through properly to the medium (CD in this case), or 2. The user is trying to run a CD-R disc in the drive which has lower reflectivity than original pressed discs, not allowing the CD-R to be played in case the power adjustment is adjusted in factory in regards to originals discs only. 3. A combination of 1 and 2, or some other fault with the unit. I do agree though that pens or pencils should never be used around optical pickup units whatsoever. Both the tip of the pencil and the eraser might (and probably will) transfer contaminants to the optical lens of the pickup, and also to any other parts too for that matter that the eraser/pencil happens to come in contact with.
as far as i observed about the video, it looks educational, and it may help alot for some begginers as enthusiast on finding essential technics and solution to fix a components..but nevertheless im not with or agreeCd on using a pencil eraser, i was also oriented about the operations of dvd system,. the dvd laser compose of two laser wich operates simultaneously, the high and low are beam up a dvd disc that also consist of two layers, the laser reads a bit of tiny data as lands and pits, the lands beam back the laser to laser diode and commands the timing circuit giving a start-up signal on the system, the pits wich actually has the data where the laser dont beam back and reads it to start the center drive motor to achieve the exact rpm as process by the timing circuit. concerning on the the troubles about no disc or error disc, it actually the lens itself must has the problems, the top surface of lens maybe dusty, u might lean it easily by using a glass cleaner just a tiny amount as moisten the surface then it essential to use a piece of paper and gently wipe it, usually this steps doesnt work as that at the back of lens has accumulated more dust.. how to cleans it? air blower might also do the job.. never adjust the petentiometers on the lens at it may lose the timing voltage of lens as dvd are design to operates its laserbeam rythmitically and simultaneos, if u do so, u ruin out or damage the unit, unless you do have enough overviews on measuring its exact voltage the miliamps the amount of laser beams out and the timing that a bit time the timing circuit processes data..
+RetroGameModz Actually, I came across this video while looking for a technique to fix a seemingly malfunction in the dvd drive optical head calibration. It happened after I tried to burn data on a (what turned out later to be a cheap) dvd, the burning process failed and the head stopped recognizing any dvd/cd as if it doesn't see the dvd/cd at all.. Is there a way to fix this please?
Hi, Will you be able to let me know why no sound and picture are coming from my Oppo-BDP83 Bluray player. Will the laser cleaning help. Kindly advise me on how to get about it. Thank you.
I HAVE A COLBY 937 DVD it plays GREAT BUT occasionallly she will SKIP a BEAT or play LIKE THE OPTICAL HEAD JUST A SECOND GOES OUT AND COME BACK AND PLAY GREAT JUST a fraction of a second can i clean the head and will that help
cotton bud dipped in distilled water and a little washing up liquid. not dripping wet and only very lightly touch on the lens. I am a bit concerned here as using a pencil rubber contaminated with pieces of graphite pencil lead will obviously scratch the plastic lens and potentially do more harm than good.
The laser on mine is weak, so I took it out, but I can't find a replacement anywhere. I searched online, but no luck. Anybody know where I can get one?
An advert on amazon for Electcom dvd player says, "Anti-shock protection ensures for dvd player that you have nothing but uninterrupted viewing pleasure as it reads ahead, and provides a smooth, reliable viewing experience" I have a dvd -RW which my Sony DVP 760H always freezes on. Fearing the disc to be warped, I keep pressing it between two pieces of glass. It works a little better but not totally cured! I shall keep pressing! Would "Anti-shock... reading ahead", as described above, be capable of playing my -RW problem disc? In short I am wanting a dvd player I can trust to always play without 'freezing'. I can't relax when I play a dvd - I fear it will stall or freeze. Should I trust "Anti-shock... reading ahead" mechanism, please?
I tried the eraser & then my player made horrible noises while loading & playing. Too rough. I took it apart again & prayed over it & then it worked normal again!! thank God.
My old HP CD/DVD ROM could not read burned CD's or even store bought DVDs. I took apart the drive and did just like you said, and IT WORKED!! Drive was able to read the CD's again!!
Hm well all the people saying they wouldn't recommend but in the end, it worked. I'll add it to my back up plans if lenz cleaners and alcohol doesn't work :) Thanks!
Thanks for the instructional, gonna try this on the Sony DVP-NS57P I've had for years that started loading sluggishly and now throws the "cannot play disc" error, after having played it all night long. First, I must buy a pencil. lol
@@iandiaz4129 Sadly, no. I can't get the outer case to separate from the front panel. And I can't find a schematic or another tutorial that'll show that step by step. So, it lays on the bench partially disassembled. If I can't get help with that, I'll be forced to ship it to a repair shop across the state (or do eBay, which I don't want). Let me know if you figure it out! Paz.
@@uppityglivestockian After removing all the screws,side & rear, try lifting the rear of the case up as high as you can and pull the case back to free it.
@@johnikey38 Hola, I can't believe I'm actually online when someone would throw me a hint on this. I actually did remove all the screws I could put a philips head screwdriver on, carefully put them aside but the front face of the DVR will simply not come off at all. It's as if the dvd tray should have been open first, because it seems to be stuck there. I have turned into a pretzel trying to get it to open, to let go, so I can reach the optical eye. I've had to bend out some snap clips on the superstructure to make it let loose, which worked on every other connection to the machine, but those snaps won't re-grip the same again, which is ok, the DVR will still work with a less than ideal housing fit. If only this video showed all the exact steps, lol. Thanks bud. Paz.
Most cases a light rubbing with a cotton bud will get the dust off ... think of it like you looking through a really dirty window... you definitely can't see everything... to laser reading devices CD/DVD/BLURAY it can block enough that the machine won't acknowledge a disk at all ... and if it does it won't be able to play it correctly
I like q-tip and 91% isopropyl alcohol, or regular Windex in a pinch :) just be sure to wipe it dry immediately, cuz it leaves residue if it evaporates before you can wipe it, and it can evaporate within a couple seconds. Still, your method here is slightly ghetto, but useful cuz it needs no chemicals and should be sufficient for wiping dust from non-porous surface (considering it can wipe graphite from porous paper) as long as eraser is clean with no grit sticking to it. Thanks
A 10 minutes video for you to just say use a pencil eraser. And you couldn't just add that to the description. In no way does this constitute as "how an engineer does it,"
Hi I'm wondering if you can do a Help video on how to fix a cd drawer that doesn't open My Sharp Micro Component System is XL-MP60 I did the reset step...still nothing .... Please help
Fil Faz Hey Fil. It's probably just the small drive belt in your dvd tray , that stretched out. It's on two small pully's. Look it up on youtube on how to fix it. Very easy. I had same problem and worked 4me😝
Hi all i have a toshiba cd player when place cd to play system read as no disc and tried to insert usb drive system still read as no can any one please help me to solve this problem
Unfortunately I spoke too soon. Played first disc, no problem second disc wouldn't play. Also the eject tray ejected with no disc in it?...Back to square one.
ALSO: Anyone know why modern DVD players no longer offer the menu item for DVD discs of "Repeat Disc"? That choice is offered on the new Samnsung when I load a CD but not a DVD, like my old Sony does offer. Maybe modern commercial DVDs are all uniformly formatted so the program that you bought it for is formatted as 1 title, thus, when you pick "Repeat Title", the whole thing repeats continuously. However, I have a stack of homemade DVDs, from friends and family, and they are formatted all over the place. So the only way to play those continuously is have a Repeat Disc option. Unless someone knows how to jury rig a work-around, which I'd love to learn. The Samsung is, and will remain, air-gapped from the internet, forever. Thanks!
my DVD player says no disc and when I try to eject my DVD disc it wunt eject I have to turn the power of and on again to eject my disc .it will play certain discs and all of my music cds
The title is misleading here, 'engineers use it so it's ok' I would use ethanol to clean the laser. This eraser stuff seems to do the same thing, I would not recommend but if you don't have ethanol or methanol at hand it's ok if it works. You have to remember that dvd-players are dirtcheap,30-40 dollars you get one, so if it doesn't work, you still could throw it in the bin.
