I recently got a Hitachi VIP-RX6EX Laser Disc player however it doesn't appear to be working. I was wondering if anybody on here might know what the problem is, and how to fix it.
I don't have any Laserdiscs to test it with currently, so I've just been using a CD to test it since it should be supported. When I put the CD in, it would make a few noises. However it would always stop, and not play the disc. I then decided to take the case off to get a better look as to what was happening. It appears that the Laser is moving around, however it seems to fail either finding the CD, or in getting the disc spinning. The laser then returns to its resting position. I'm not an expert on these mechanisms, so I have no clue if the laser lens is just so dirty that it can't see the disc or if its something more catastrophic like a worn belt.
Tomorrow, I'll go and find some isopropyl alcohol, to see if its the former however I'm not entirely sure its the problem I'll also go down to my local record store and buy a Laserdisc to see if its able to spin that up. If its just CDs that don't work then I could live with it
If anybody knows for certain what the issue is then that would be really cool, and greatly appreciated ! Also if you want to see it in action to be able to make a better conclusion, I recorded a video of it with the top case off, and put it on youtube here:
Also also, if any additional information, or pictures are needed, feel free to ask!
It could be a centering issue but it could also be a dirty laser pick-up. Do you see a red light coming out of it.
As for cleaning, never use alcohol on it. Water with a swab is fine. If you use a chemical on the laser lense, you can fog it up and then it’s toast for sure.
Also…. It can be a stretched loading belt as well. If the belt doesn’t lock in the clamp tight enough, the player will not attempt to spin up the disc.
You can try cleaning the belt for now with alcohol to see if that improves grip and if the CD spins up you need to replace the belt as soon as you are able to.
First I got a Laserdisc to test with. I had the same issue as with the CD, and it didn't work. I then opened it up to try and use a Q-Tip to dust off the laser. This seems to have done the trick, as its now able to see if it has either a CD, or LD inserted. Before the cleaning, the front LEDs for CD, LD and CDV would all be lit regardless of what media was inserted. Now, only one LED will be lit depending on which media type I use. Once I press play however, it'll sit for a second, and then eject.
Hopefully it not spinning is something simple like the belt that you mentioned. Also if it does turn out to be the belt that is the problem, where should I go for a replacement? I've been googling for a replacement one, and the only mentions of this player are on a website called SMC Electronics, and that the belt is a " Square Belt. IC = 4.343". THK = 0.047" ", and that its the same one as in the Hitachi VIP-9600. The only concerning thing to me is that it refers to both LD players as CD Players, although that might just be some weird organization thing that doesn't matter. However if it is correct, then I could probably buy a VIP-9600 belt off of ebay, since I see a few on there.
Sounds more like a belt issue now that the laser can identify the disc type. A stretched loading belt is one of the more common issues to first tackle when acquiring a player you have no history of being worked on.
You need to order a PEB-1013 loading belt to replace the one you have. eBay sells them readily or do a general search on-line for a seller. This will fit in your player as it’s a clone of the Pioneer, CLD-1070. You can download the service manual here….
Watching the video and reading what has been done, you do not need a belt. If the belt was bad the laser would have not moved to verify if a disc is installed. You either have a bad spindle motor or the electronics that drive the spindle motor are bad. You need to put it in service mode, you can find out how in the CLD-1070 service manual, and see if you can get the spindle motor to spin. I'm taking it for granted that you press play as the action of the laser in the video looks like you just pressed close the tray.
You're probably right Krbahr that the belt is not the problem. (I jump to conclusions way too fast sometimes). I'll probably still replace it just for preventive maintenance sake, since the status on its age is unknown
Also I was able to put the player into test mode and made some observations that might be helpful or important:
1. This player seems to have a different motherboard than the one mentioned in the CLD-1070 manual. The layout is similar, however labeling was different, and the model numbers were completely different between the two. My motherboard had a model of VNP1204-G while the one in the manual was VNZ1018-B. The layout was sorta similar enough, because there was a long dip packaged chip next to where the motherboard curves, and I could see the word test printed on the motherboard. However, I couldn't fine the pin TP302. I decided to go back in the manual archives and found one that looks pretty similar to mine: the CLD-980. Its motherboard model number (VNP1258-A) and board layout were closer to the Hitachi. Once I figured that out, I was able to ground pin TP303, and enter test mode!
2. While in test mode, the first thing I noticed was that its layout was more similar to that of the one in the manual for the CLD-980, than the CLD-1070.
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It says that the part numbers on the Key control IC and Mechanical control IC is PDB012A (Key), and 0071A (Mechanical). The Tilt Error display is set to T-1:N, which is normal according to the manual. I then put an LD disc in, and let it go in. The LED display displayed "150071A", and then I pushed play. It then changed to "15FFFFF", and the TV display shut off. The disc did not spin up. It then made a click, with the blue screen returning. Here is the video I recorded of this happening:
Also for some clarification on previous posts:
krbahr wrote:
I'm taking it for granted that you press play as the action of the laser in the video looks like you just pressed close the tray.
When I was testing it before recording that video, I was pressing the play button, however nothing would appear on screen (TV and LED), or do anything. It would only do stuff if I pressed play immediately after putting a disc in, which it would say its trying to play it, however it would then change the LED back to the same state for when it had no discs inserted. It is not doing this behavior anymore, it is now saying at the top left either "Laser Disc", or "Compact Disc", and then pressing play will make the laser move a bit, but not do anything else, and then either stop, or eject.
Anyways, thank you two so much for helping me troubleshoot this! I would be totally lost without your help!
Well, sorry I was wrong about the belt. Most of the time I see a belt start to lose torque strength on the clamping, the disc doesn't spin up.
Anyway, maybe this player of yours is a clone of the Pioneer CLD-1080. We don't appear to have that service manual on file but a CLD-980 manual is available which should be similar.....
I think that might actually be it Ldfan! It has the same front panel display, and also it has two sets of AV outs on the back, which this Hitachi player does.
The spindle motor just magically started working, and can now spin up a CD and LD!!! I haven't done anything physically to it, besides testing it every morning or night. My only guess to what might have changed is that the motor was just frozen and locked for who knows how long, and using it for a bit got it unstuck. Currently it can play my CAV copy of Great Adventurers & their Quests: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) [LV 83064]*. However, either the disc or the player has some issue. As you get further through the disc, parts of the picture loose color. The sound also begins to to make weird noises.
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With this one. Its a little more noticeable then the previous one. Then the player starts to lock on certain frames repeating them until, I have to use the front search buttons to move it forward. It then gets locked completely, and I have to stop the disc to even get it to move. This issue is happening on both sides of the disc. I have no clue if this is either Laser Rot, or just the disc being dirty/scratched. The disc seems to have a few scratches, and maybe some specs on it. I'll try and clean it some time later to see if that helps. I don't know whats the best way to clean a LaserDisc, so if you have any tips they would be helpful! Another issue, is that it still won't play CDs. It will spin them up, but I've only gotten it once to actually play a CD. It tries for a bit, however it'll always return to showing 0000m00s. My only guess is that the Laser can't actually read in the information off the CD, because my cleaning effort wasn't the best. I just dusted it off with a Q-Tip rather then doing anything professional. Although I'm not super sure of this, because it appears to be reading LDs fine, however idk how precise it needs to be in reading those.
Once the new belt comes, I'll clean off the laser better, and post more information here! I'll also go and find another laserdisc to test, and see if mine currently is bad in some way.
Look at the service manual, find the RF adjustment and try turning it clockwise a little and see if it improves.
I tried what you said Krbahr and it appeared that it was able to get slightly further in the disc then before.
I decided to buy some more discs to do further testing. I found a copy of Fantasia (1132 AS) and Home Alone (1866-85) and decided to watch them all the way through. Fantasia played perfectly and I didn't notice anything wrong with it. Home Alone played great until the final fight between Kevin and the burglars. It skipped a little bit, however it was still watchable.
However since both of these discs were CLVs instead of the CAVs like the the Indiana Jones one, I thought it wasn't the best test. So... I bought some more LDs.
Those being Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, and a weird Sony branded one.
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The Sony one caught my eye as it looked quite weird so I bought it. I don't really know a lot about it besides what the contents are on the video. The sleeve has no markings on it besides it being a Sony Video disc and the interactive video at the bottom. The Spine has nothing written on it and the back was even less helpful
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The only new information is that the disc was made in Japan.
When I put the Disc in the player, it appears to be a promotional video about a Sony Computer that can be connected to an LD player and the many uses of that. The audio sounded like it was analog and it said there were two audio tracks. However I don't know how to switch between the two because I don't have a remote. One of my friends told me that its most likely New Dimension in Microcomputers, A: The Sony SMC-70, which appears to be the case. It also appears that no picture is on the LDDB page for it, I will probably submit a photo of mine sometime soon. Although due to the generic branding of the disc, I do fear that Sony could have used these sleeves from multiple different discs although I'm not sure.
However unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), Once I got about 50,000 frames through the disc, I started to notice the same skipping and color issues as on the first Indy III disk from the beginning of this thread. It did get farther so maybe its a sign that I've just been unlucky with CAV discs or it could be that my player has problems with reading CAVs. I would like to also dump or at least record that Sony disc so if my player is the fault then that would be ideal for the recording since it won't have those skips when I fix it or find a different player.
Thank you all for reading and sorry about not posting any updates for almost 2 months!
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