Mulja tv repair portal
Equipment Repairs => DVD/VIDEO/Home Cinemas/Hi-Fi/Mp3/Camcorder => Topic started by: E Parton on December 06, 2011,10:48:21
-
I've already posted this message on another forum ..in the hope someone can help me ....regarding a Small DVD player
Matsui DVD225A
I'm posting this to the QUUQ forum to increase my chances...
>>>>
Hi friends ..
I have yet another lump of Chinese crap on my bench ..
The Irony is I know exactly whats wrong with it ..but I suspect it will end up in the bin ...
For the sake of a 10p micro switch
The DVD mech doesn't know what state its in ..and thinks there is a disc in the machine ..and the tray is closed ...
Its not of course ..its open
Under the tray there is a dual microswitch to detect the in postion and out position ..
a small black plastic lump with 3 connections ..centre pin common ..
Its activated by plastic raised moldings on the underside of the tray ..having 2 nylon pips which push downwords by these raised plastic moldings and the nylon arm extended by the gearing at right angles to the switch..
approx 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch ..
One of the 2 micro switches is intermittent ..ie giving the impression it is depressed (a bit like me when I see such crap) ....but actually isn't..
So a new micro switch would fix it
>>>>>
I'll attach a few photos to help identify the item ...
Hopefully someone in the UK has one of these ..perhaps on a broken laserless unit they want to sell the microswitch from
Hopefully not at a ridiculously high price ..as the DVD isn't worth that much ..
rgds
Evan
-
Hi Evan,
Those plastic lugs make you feel you could take it apart and clean it, or at least give it a squirt - Chris.
-
Hi Chris ...
They do indeed m8 ..and I've already had it apart and tried cleaning ..
Sadly its not down to dirty contacts ..
Inside are 3 tiny coiled springs about 2 > 3mm in length ...
The coiled action of the spring provides the return and sprung contact ..
Needless to say ..the springs have gone down with metal fatigue ..and the memory or the springs are now non existant ..so even after the error is corrected ..its only hours before the response is once again flat ..and contact is lost..
Basically bad design ..using crap sprung metal..
ie ..a limited life expectancy ...
In an ideal world ..such a time/action limited device would be made available as a replacement ...
..unless of course you (as a manufacturer) wanted it to fail ..
..resulting in you (as a customer) dipping once more into your pocket.
Built in Life Expectancy + Shoddy Materials + Unavailability - Repairability = Churn (more profit for Manufactures and Retailers)
BLE + SM+ U - R = Ch(M£ x R£) raised to the power £££
The equation of greedy capitalism
rgds
Evan
-
Desperate times ...etc ...etc ..
Just managed to snag a complete unit on ebay ...
Working or not ...at a Tenner including postage ...
It just about makes the repair viable ...as the customer is prepared to par £25 to get it back working ..
And just maybe ...I'll get a spare laser out of it as well ..
rgds
Evan
-
...Oh well...
Time issue a confirmation of SHYTE alert ..
As mentioned alreay ..managed to buy one of these Masui dvd on ebay ..
It arrived about an hour ago ..
Wasn't going to make much on the repair ...but now I'm actually out of pocket ...
Unbelievably ..the one I bought on ebay ..totally works ..EXCEPT ...for one fault ...
The bloody microswitch ...
Which is just as faulty as the original ..
So now I have 2 dvds in need of a microswitch ..
will I ever learn ..
I doubt it ..but let this serve as a warning to others ..
If you get offered one of these for repair ...
Refuse it ..
That microswitch is the weak link ..and will be resposible for writing off DVDs in their 100s ..if not 1000s..
Just another example of profit over a quality ...with a built in life expectancy..
cest la vie
Evan
-
Just a thought Evan, but they look very similar to the micro switches used on old floppy disk drives,
might be worth a look if you have an old PC kicking about.
regards
Daz
-
Thanks Daz ...
It can't hurt to take a look ...but from memory the floppy ones I've seen ... aren't mounted with a screw ...but soldered directly to the pcb ..
rgds
-
Ahhhh, your are right, well there is always glue, or pehapse you could get the springs out of them to fit yours?
good luck
daz
-
Hi Daz ...am going to give it a go ..
Drill 2 holes in the plastic plate ..and passthe nylon stubs through ...
some glue or a small bracket underside ...and the dual microswitch mounted sideways ..
a lot of work ..but if I can do it ...I'll post the result here ..
Its not about the money any more ...its about once again.. spitting in the eye of supermarket chains ..
rds
Evan
-
Ok ...using Dazs suggestion of sacrificing an old floppy drive ..
When you open one up ..you get 2x sets of micro switches ..which are at right angles to whats needed ..and pcb mounted so no screw fixing ...
So below are a series of photos showing how to do this ..
First the mount point of the original microswitch has to be cut away with a sharp craft knife ..
Next a small file used to open the hole up to the correct width ...
turning attention to the salvaged micro switch bend the ends of the 3 contacts up at right angles ..this makes it possible to solder to the tips once in place..
Fit the microswitch in the cut out you've made ...but it is not yet at the correct height so wont be activated by the whilte nylon gear ..or the disc tray ...
So ...with the tip of a fine soldering iron apply heat to the flat of each microswitch contact in turn ..to melt the plastic underneath ..and bed the switch down about 2mm ...
once level fit ...apply a tiny bit of heat to the floating side to meld the plastic of the switch to the plastic chassis ..
(shown with yellow circles)on the photo ..
The tips of the 3 microswitch contacts should be sufficiently 'proud' to connect the control wires from the original switch..
Test the switch first to make sure the plastic cam levers from the gears ..and the tray do actually close the contacts ..
Mine do ...
Tomorrow I'll refit it in the CD player ..and since these microswitches are designed for a longer life ...hopefully it wont bounce back..
rgds
Evan
-
Limited to 4 photos ..at a time ..
So here are the rest ..
rgds
Evan
-
Patience has never been one of my virtues ..
Just been back to my shop to collect the rest of the DVD ..
Soldered the wires on ..and refitted the mechanism ..
100% cure ...
Nice
Tomorrow I'll fix the one one I bought off fleabay...
..might as well ..as there are 2 microswitches in the floppy drive..
rgds
Evan
-
Well done! :08: :yahoo:
I am sure the customer would love to pay you full price for all your hard work, wouldn't they?
Happy days
Daz