LaserDisc Database :: View topic - Ended up buying a VP-1000. DOA. Help? [DEAD AGAIN, HELP]

Very cool!

You know what is even more rare than a remote with the original "LaserDisc" logo? A player with that logo! My player manufactured in May 1980 has this logo, the June player has the updated logo. The player wasn't released into the market until June 1980, so only those in the initial launch would have had the original logo.

Interestingly, the player above was manufactured in July 1980 and has the old logo. Maybe someone mucked with my June 1980 player before I got it and replaced the plastics....

In any case, the player brochure dated October 1980 has the new logo.

blam1 wrote:

That pinion gear was the bane of Pioneer's top loading models. That same pinion gear is used on the LD-660, LD-1100, PR-8210, LD-V1000, Magnavox VC-8010 and Sylvania VP-7200. It is driven by the slider motor and runs the slider assembly forward or backward. The part is VNL-028. The one in the VP-1000 was open in the center, with three legs that held the outer band of teeth. It was later modified to have a solid back so that the legs wouldn't break. The little legs would break off if the unit got shipped without the shipping screw. I've had to replace almost every one of mine.

Yep, that's exactly the type that broke. The one I pulled from the second VP-1000 I bought had the same type, too:

Who came up with that design? :think:

So in my last thread I was contemplating buying a VP-1000. I decided to go for it because I think they're cool and they're half the price of a PR-7820. Unfortunately, it seems to have sustained damage in transit -- cracked shell, sheared-off case screws, bent transit screw in disc compartment. Some photos of the injuries.

I'd be okay with all of this if the player actually worked. Instead, when I attempt to play a disc, it spins up, and I can hear the laser move up and down, but after about 15 seconds, it shuts off the motor without ever syncing to the disc. This video illustrates it. The laser DOES work, as I've been able to activate it by tricking the player into thinking the lid is closed.

Naturally I've gotten in touch with the seller about it, but I'd love to get it working if possible. I have the service manual and I've followed its guidance for discs not syncing. It requires adjustment of variable resistors, which I've tuned to the manual's specs, but still no luck. If anyone more experienced than I am in LD player repair can give me some guidance, I'd really appreciate it!

Author:	tasuke [ 19 Aug 2016, 15:24 ]
Post subject:	Re: Ended up buying a VP-1000. DOA. Help? [THE JOURNEY ENDS]
did any of your three player chassis happen to sport that original logo?

Author:	happycube [ 19 Aug 2016, 17:42 ]
Post subject:	Re: Ended up buying a VP-1000. DOA. Help? [THE JOURNEY ENDS]
Congrats! (I'd keep some spare parts around myself, just in case.)

Author:	blam1 [ 20 Aug 2016, 00:43 ]
Post subject:	Re: Ended up buying a VP-1000. DOA. Help? [THE JOURNEY ENDS]
Very cool! You know what is even more rare than a remote with the original "LaserDisc" logo? A player with that logo! My player manufactured in May 1980 has this logo, the June player has the updated logo. The player wasn't released into the market until June 1980, so only those in the initial launch would have had the original logo. Interestingly, the player above was manufactured in July 1980 and has the old logo. Maybe someone mucked with my June 1980 player before I got it and replaced the plastics.... In any case, the player brochure dated October 1980 has the new logo.

Author:	cjm [ 21 Aug 2016, 03:54 ]
Post subject:	Re: Ended up buying a VP-1000. DOA. Help? [THE JOURNEY ENDS]
Sweet, that is awesome. Nice Kraftwerk box by the way.

Author:	shinchan [ 23 Sep 2016, 15:38 ]
Post subject:	Re: Ended up buying a VP-1000. DOA. Help? [THE JOURNEY ENDS]
Believe it or not, the remote was NOT included with the player, it was a separate purchase and from what I was told by a former Pioneer dealer the remote by itself was somewhere in the $75-100 range.

LaserDisc Database https://forum.lddb.com/

Ended up buying a VP-1000. DOA. Help? [DEAD AGAIN, HELP] https://forum.lddb.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=6454	Page 2 of 2

Author:	tasuke [ 23 Sep 2016, 17:03 ]
Post subject:	Re: Ended up buying a VP-1000. DOA. Help? [THE JOURNEY ENDS]
yep, they even clearly stated as such in at least one of the U.S. VP-1000 ads i've seen. in fact, first time i ever even seen or heard of the VP-1000 was an ad in an early-80's issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC about 15 years back when i was beginning take a serious interest in A/V and Hi-Fi...

Author:	forty-six-and-2 [ 28 Nov 2016, 13:37 ]
Post subject:	Re: Ended up buying a VP-1000. DOA. Help? [THE JOURNEY ENDS]
I've been a little absent from the LDDB boards (traveling and pursuing a new hobby), so a quick update on this! The player is still going strong, and gives superb picture and audio quality on every disc I've tested. It's actually become my preferred player for most discs, especially those with analog-only soundtracks -- which is a good chunk of my collection even discounting my DiscoVision discs. On CX-encoded discs, using the external CX decoder makes the audio sound simply lovely. Even more modern films (Star Wars Ep. I, for example) look stunning! I wish I had an AC-3 RF decoder, because the AC-3 signal will make noise if I don't shut off the 2/Right channel, and I'd love to know if the decoder would make use of it. Mono soundtracks on these titles are hit or miss; Star Wars Ep. 1 sounds great, but something like Godzilla only has the commentary track on Analog Left. I've used this player to digitize four DiscoVision movies so far. Using "A Video Standard" and "Video Essentials," I tweaked my capture device's settings to perfection, and it produced some superb transfers. The four DiscoVision transfers I've made are Dracula, Frankenstein, Diary of a Mad Housewife, and Fellini's Casanova. Everything looks and sounds as wonderful as DiscoVision can produce, which in some cases is pretty impressive. On that note, not long after finishing the transfer of Casanova... I discovered it was released on Blu-Ray last year. Would certainly explain why the price on it is reasonable now... bah. Oh well, still a lot of fun to work on, even if I'm adding the Blu-Ray to my Christmas list...

Author:	forty-six-and-2 [ 30 Aug 2017, 11:03 ]
Post subject:	Re: Ended up buying a VP-1000. DOA. Help? [IT'S DEAD AGAIN H
THE OLD DEMONS HAVE REAPPEARED Sadly... A few months ago I rearranged my living space to make room for a new TV (40" Samsung 4K!). I discovered my VP-1000 was acting up yet again... wouldn't sync discs. So I pulled it apart once again and did the potentiometer adjustments recommended in the service manual, got it working again. Flipped it over to put the bottom shell back on, put it back upright to test it one more time, aaaaand... MOTOR SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL. No waiting to see if there's even a disc to read, just power on and the motor spins way too fast. A little math estimates it's going around 2200 RPM. I got so frustrated with the whole thing that I just shoved it, along with my two other VP-1000 carcasses, in the basement. I attempted to simply get another one and take the gamble on it working, reasoning I'd have plenty of parts to pick over if it was DOA, as well as an isolated unit that I can quarantine and troubleshoot individually, but have been ultimately unsuccessful thus far. I'm now out of work (quit my job at Tesla... long story) and will be moving up to Montana soon, and just had to drop $2200 from my savings account on car repairs (transmission rebuilds are EXPENSIVE), so I no longer have the free funds to simply buy another. However, I recently did a VHS digitization and restoration project for my Dad of a few home movies from 1983, and I've been badly wanting to do more more digitization projects. I also scored a BEAUTIFUL copy of one of my Holy Grails -- The Beatles' "Let It Be" -- and while I enjoyed it on my Elite CLD-59, I want to see and hear it in its best possible form -- so I decided to try again to fix my player. Inspection showed a blown fuse on the Fuse Board, but nothing else out of the ordinary. I picked up a bunch of replacement fuses from Home Depot and popped one in. No more out of control spinning! But it still won't sync up discs, or even attempt to spin them. I checked the potentiometer values and corrected those, but no luck. Following the service manual. it suggested it might be an issue with the FTSB (Focus, Tracking, and Slider) board, as that board has to instruct the player to start spinning the disc once it detects the presence of one. I decided to connect it to the system outside of the shell and do some testing. Before I hooked it up, I wanted to see what would happen if I powered it up without the board installed at all. Same behavior. I suspect the board isn't getting any power, as neither of my other two FTSB boards make a difference when connected, either. I used a multimeter to check my voltage levels against the service manual. There's a three-wire bundle labeled N18 that carries +14.5/+15 volts (the manual lists both), -15v, and ground, to the board. However, the +15v line has continuity with ground, so I know there's a short somewhere. I've traced it back to the Fuse Board, and sure enough, there's shorts there too, but no issues with the board itself that I can detect. Confirmation testing on one of my dead players shows no such shorts. I also found more shorts on the DRVB board, but I'm currently unable to narrow them down to a single point of failure. One observation I did make, however: while I had the player upside down for testing, I accidentally dropped it onto the work table -- only about two inches -- and that started the disc motor spinning out of control again. Same fuse blew. I replaced it and it stopped again. I'm wondering if there's a board that accidentally made contact with the metal shielding in the player, and if that's tied to what issues I'm having with a grounded-out power line. Does anyone have any insight they can provide, or steps I can take to narrow down the issue? (Or maybe just a working unit I can buy once I have a bit more funds to spare?)

Author:	Guest [ 27 Jul 2019, 17:45 ]
Post subject:	Re: Ended up buying a VP-1000. DOA. Help? [THE JOURNEY ENDS]
blam1 wrote: Very cool! You know what is even more rare than a remote with the original "LaserDisc" logo? A player with that logo! My player manufactured in May 1980 has this logo, the June player has the updated logo. The player wasn't released into the market until June 1980, so only those in the initial launch would have had the original logo. Interestingly, the player above was manufactured in July 1980 and has the old logo. Maybe someone mucked with my June 1980 player before I got it and replaced the plastics.... In any case, the player brochure dated October 1980 has the new logo. Mine has the original LaserDisc logo like the one in the pictures above. July 1980 date of manufacture.

Author:	yaffle2345 [ 28 Jul 2019, 13:28 ]
Post subject:	Re: Ended up buying a VP-1000. DOA. Help? [Edit: Dead again
forty-six-and-2 wrote: blam1 wrote: That pinion gear was the bane of Pioneer's top loading models. That same pinion gear is used on the LD-660, LD-1100, PR-8210, LD-V1000, Magnavox VC-8010 and Sylvania VP-7200. It is driven by the slider motor and runs the slider assembly forward or backward. The part is VNL-028. The one in the VP-1000 was open in the center, with three legs that held the outer band of teeth. It was later modified to have a solid back so that the legs wouldn't break. The little legs would break off if the unit got shipped without the shipping screw. I've had to replace almost every one of mine. Yep, that's exactly the type that broke. The one I pulled from the second VP-1000 I bought had the same type, too: Who came up with that design? My guess is that the idea was to try and prevent damage to the gears if the player took a knock when the transit screw wasn't in place. With a solid gear, what would happen is that the heavy laser carriage would move, and the teeth would be damaged on either the rack or the pinion, meaning an expensive repair job. But with this 'springy' gear, instead of the teeth taking the hit, the gear would deform slightly, allowing the pinion teeth to disengage from the rack, and then spring back and reengage when the incident was over. But as the plastic's aged over the years, those legs get more brittle and so the original idea doesn't work any more...

Author:	dragongirl6045 [ 03 Aug 2022, 23:10 ]
Post subject:	Re: Ended up buying a VP-1000. DOA. Help? [DEAD AGAIN, HELP]
forty-six-and-2 wrote: So in my last thread I was contemplating buying a VP-1000. I decided to go for it because I think they're cool and they're half the price of a PR-7820. Unfortunately, it seems to have sustained damage in transit -- cracked shell, sheared-off case screws, bent transit screw in disc compartment. Some photos of the injuries. I'd be okay with all of this if the player actually worked. Instead, when I attempt to play a disc, it spins up, and I can hear the laser move up and down, but after about 15 seconds, it shuts off the motor without ever syncing to the disc. This video illustrates it. The laser DOES work, as I've been able to activate it by tricking the player into thinking the lid is closed. Naturally I've gotten in touch with the seller about it, but I'd love to get it working if possible. I have the service manual and I've followed its guidance for discs not syncing. It requires adjustment of variable resistors, which I've tuned to the manual's specs, but still no luck. If anyone more experienced than I am in LD player repair can give me some guidance, I'd really appreciate it! Do happen to still have the shipping/transit screw? I have a VP-1000 that I am wanting to sell,but need to make sure I package it well,and I have been unable to get a hold of this part. If you could maybe give me the measurements of it that would be great also.

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