I'm new to laserdisc players and want to get everyone's opinion on the picture quality (and I guess overall quality) of the Pioneer DVL-700 vs. the Mitsubishi M-V6022. Here's the story...

I bought the M-V6022 online. It played discs, but wouldn't flip or play anything past chapter 8 on any disc. Contacted the seller and he refunded me and let me keep the player. I opened it up and tried to fix it myself, but ended up making it inoperable altogether. Left without a player at all, I then bought a Pioneer DVL-700.

So now I'm wondering if I should try to fix the Mitsubishi and sell the Pioneer, or keep the Pioneer and sell the Mitsubishi for parts. I was never able to really compare the picture quality on them since I bought the Pioneer after the Mitsubishi stopped working. I remember the Mitsubishi had pretty good picture quality, I'm unsure if it's better than the Pioneer.

What are everyone's thoughts?

Welcome to the forum.

The Mitsubishi is better. It is a CLD-D701 clone. The flip issue you could probably fix yourself, but inability to fully play a disc might be alignment related. What did you do to make it inoperable? And do you mean it won't play anything anymore?

The M-V6022 is actually a clone of the CLD-D501. Pretty much the same as a 701 but lacking the digital field memory for CLV special effects playback.

So in that case, the DVL is more full featured and the preferred player to keep.

Regardless, I would not chuck the Mits. See what is really wrong with it as it may not be that serious to correct. If it doesn’t flip, probably a stretch loading belt. In respect to not playing past chapter 8, that means nothing as there can be many or few chapters on a side of a disc; better to just tell us where in “time” the disc gives up playing. I have had a sticky residue issue on a 701’s laser pick-up ribbon cable that gave me playback issues until I cleaned it off.

But obviously, as cplusplus has mentioned, what did you do to make it inoperable? Gotta fix that first.

You are correct! I actually have a M-V6022 here with a dead power supply that I have partially parted out.

OK, It's going to be hard to explain what happened to it because I don't know much of laserdisc player terminology, but here goes.

I hypothesized that the reason it wouldn't play the flip side of a disk and the reason it wouldn't read beyond chapter 8 were the same reason - there was a physical obstruction preventing the laser carriage (laser cartridge?) from moving past a certain point. I opened it up and found I was right.

There was a white plastic piece dangling inside there obstructing it. It took me forever to figure out what it was. The ribbon cable from the laser carriage plugged into it, and then another ribbon wire went from it to the motherboard (circuit board?). I finally figured out this piece had broken off of the white plastic "wheel" in the back of the unit which is used to flip the laser carriage over and read the other side.

The tragedy in all this is that, in order to figure that out, I had to observe the laser carriage attempt to move to the back of the unite and and flip. It did that while the white piece was still detached and in my hand, which means that the ribbon wire that goes from the laser carriage to the white piece got all smashed and tangled in the moving parts. I believe that ribbon wire damage is why it's inoperable now. I say inoperable, but that's not 100% true. It still powers on, the drawer still functions, it will still spin a disk, and the lens still attempts to find a disc (by moving up and down). But the laser carriage won't move any more and it won't play any disks.

I think if I can replace the ribbon wire that got smashed, and reattach the white piece to the white plastic wheel, the machine will work. What do you all think?

Here is the only video I took while I had the machine open: [youtube]https://youtu.be/yP-n463zQaY[/youtube]. It shows the dangling white plastic piece before I figured out where it went, and before the ribbon wire got all assaulted.

But getting back to my original question - which of the two players (M-V6022 and DVL-700) have the better picture quality? That's something else I'd really like to find out, in addition to whether or not the M-V6022 is fixable.

Thanks for your help, everyone!

My fear was you were touching the adjustments on the boards which is probably the worst thing you can do in my book, so it is good you stayed away from that.

You need to inspect the cables for any creasing or tears. As far as I know the orange one can't be replaced, but the white one can. You might can glue the white turn gear back together.

DVL-700 wins on reliability and features. With ldfan pointing out that this is actually a CLD-D501, I think the DVL is the better option. There isn't going to be a huge difference in picture quality, with the DVL-700 possibly having a slightly better one (going off memory).

If you can't repair the Mitsubishi, I might be interested in purchasing it since it sounds like I could build one working unit from the two.

Thanks for that info. Unfortunately, it was the orange ribbon wire that got mangled, and it has visible, yet small, damage to it. Perhaps the whole laser carriage can be replaced or something. Let me know if you’re interested in buying it- I’ll basically let you name your price since I ended up getting a full refund on it.

That white part was essentially a retraction mechanism that is spring loaded to ensure the ribbon cable stays taut as the laser pick-up travels back and forth.

If that ribbon cable is actually damaged to the point that electrical connections are cut, probably nothing can be done unless you get a donor part from another machine that is broken for another reason. However, as crinkled as it may be now and nothing is really broken, one can straighten it out and possibly get it working again.

I'll see if I can find some pics later to post of how that mechanism should look like in different positions.

Found a (bad) photo I have of the "harness guide assembly".

I found two better photos on when I pulled the entire upper assembly on one of these.

Wow, those photos are super helpful. I was wondering what the spring part was for.

Do you think it can be glued back on? What usually keeps it attached to the wheel?

That's a good question as I need to fix an auto reverse mechanism on a CLD-D702 that I got awhile back.

I think the part must insert into the turnstile section but obviously there has to be some adhesive that is needed to keep it locked in. I was planning to use white glue as it would not have any chemical vapors that could cause damage to the board but I'm not sure that would be strong enough.

I would try to do a fitting test first to see where it inserts and judge how strong it holds as is. If it seems to hold on tight just like that, then use the white glue to lock it in. If it still feels loose, then you'll have to move up to a type of cement but I would not rush on doing that until you hear from someone on the site about their opinion on the best type of glue.

What wheel do you mean?

Here are some more I dug up. I was going to make an alpha turn disassembly guide with these, but it seems like the repairs never end to get to the documentation...

Keep in mind that if you remove this top assembly, you might have to readjust side B after reassembling.

The wheel I mean is similar to the one in your pictures. Is it called the alpha wheel assembly? The one in my machine, I believe, is also made of white plastic and I see evidence of some adhesive on there, so I believe it must have been glued before.

I'm going to try to set aside time this week to open it back up and take some photos for this thread so that it's more clear what I'm talking about.

The big white circular plastic piece is "Internal Gear Assembly" VXA1903. If you see dark orange goop, that is old grease not glue.