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PDF DVD Player Repair Guide Humphrey Kimathi DL
PDF DVD Player Repair Guide Humphrey Kimathi DL
By Humphrey Kimathi
http://humphreykimathi.com
Email::Humphrey@humphreykimathi.com
Email Humphrey@humphreykimathi.com
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y 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.
Part Two: is composed of 5 chapters of how I solved real life Common DVD
player cases on my workbench.
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.
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List of Content
Chapter 1: introduction to DVD player repair
repair
Chapter 7: how I solved ORION DVD player which with DEAD symptoms.
symptoms.
Chapter 11: How I solved LG DVD player which was hit by power surge.
surge.
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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.
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With that basic information let move on to the overview of a DVD
player.
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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.
You can relate the actual units in the picture below, please note that the
placement of these units varies with different models.
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Power supply
Currently most of the DVD players in the market are using switch mode
power supply (S.M.P.S)
(S.M.P.S)
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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.
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
o f the
supply and two legs on the secondary side.
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Fuse
All DVD power supply have a fuse, sometimes these fuses comes in
form of fusible resistor (fr)
(fr ) but also ordinary glass fuse are used.
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
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Filters- this is a device which we find being used in many areas of day
to day life like oil filters' air filters etc
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
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.
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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
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.
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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.
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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
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.
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Chopper Transformer
Common outputs
+5 vdc, +12 from DVDs
vdc, -12vdc power supply secondary circuit includes,
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
shorted coil will read low ohm on
the meter and this will confuse you because coils should have low
resistance reading when okay.
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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.
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When you connect the DVD player to the power outlet and press on the
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After that the current flow into Four (4) diodes combined in a bridge
configuration. The work of these diodes is to rectify (basically
( 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.
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.
Also may I point out here that for DVD player power supply the
monitored output is the 5vdc and therefore it is considered
considered as the main
main
output just like we have the B+ as the main in television set.
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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.
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With the brief introduction of how the DVD power supply works let us
now move to what can go wrong on this supply.
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.
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.
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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
f rom 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.
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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
o f the load.
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
control ic or transistor used in
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.
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The Loader
The loader is another area with a high failure rate, luckily most of the
problems are mechanical
mechanical and the best
best test equipments for mechanical
mechanical
faults are your eyes.
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.
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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
wrong orientation the
DVD will start behaving funny.
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Sometimes the drawer
drawer starts
starts to close and
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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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Tip: Whenever you replace this motor it is very important you note
no te 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
previous motor to the new one.
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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
will be spinning well (500RPM) but
in opposite direction and hence the disc is not read leading to no disc
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.
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.
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The lens.
There are different types on lens depending on the DVD model but the
working principles is again the same.
The lens is the most suspected component whenever the DVD player
present “No Disc” symptoms but from my experie
experience
nce this component is
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.
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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
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
the decoder board and if
if the power supply inc
increase
rease
then suspect a shorted component on the decoder board.
Also be sure to confirm that all the supply to the decoder board are
present and correct value which is usually
usually +5vdc,+12vdc, -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
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.
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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.
After replacement of that one capacitor the DVD started working like
new:
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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
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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.
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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.
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
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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
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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
come to realize iin
n my
troubleshooting experience which are absolutely free, YOUR SET OF
EYES.
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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.
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.
With this I concluded that the sled motor was health. Then I applied
power
pick is to the set with
supposed the pick
to move up on
toward thethe out but
center
center lane.this
Totime
my amazement the
the
it stayed at the
same place (stuck).
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Someone might have opened the set before and did not return the gears
g ears
correctly?
I suspected previous repair because one bolt was also missing which
hold the Loader mechanism. Remember the owner
o wner 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.
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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
the opposite of what you did when opening.
So I reinstalled the gears correctly and the DVD started working like
new.
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Chapter 10: How I repaired a DVD home theatre system with “No Disc” symptoms.
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.
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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.
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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
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I noticed the platter height was quite high and the disc was not loading
lo ading
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
pl atter (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.
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Chapter 11: How I solved LG DVD player which was hit by power surge.
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.
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I noticed the meter was indicating a short on the main DC supply. This is
an indicating that there is also another component which
w hich 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.
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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
m y troubleshooting experience which are
absolutely free, YOUR SET OF EYES.
Wishing you all the best in your future endeavors
By Humphrey Kimathi-Author
Recommended book
Plasma TV Repair By Damon Morrow
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