I recently took a chance and bought a non-working DVL 919E from ebay for a bargain price.

The problem with the player is very similar to this thread. When the player is switched on the display reads "CLOSE," the motors whirr for a bit then the display shows "OPEN" and whirrs for a bit more before stopping with the display still showing "OPEN." Obviously the player thinks the tray is open when it is actually closed and is unable to close it.

I have been able to move the tray into the open position but it only goes out as far as the CD/DVD tray would go before getting stuck, which makes me think that the problem is with the player thinking that the CD/DVD tray is open. When I power on the player with the tray in the open position it retracts the tray then attempts to open it again but the motor doesn't seem to catch the tray teeth and the tray sits there motionless. If I try to nudge the tray forward when the player is opening it makes a juddering sound and seems to force against the tray. I can see the motor turning when I look through the tray door.

I have removed the outer casing, which is how I was able to move the tray. The laser aligns itself when I turn the player on. I have tried to remove the tray but it appears to be held on by screws on the underside of the tray, three on each side. I can remove two of these screws on each side but because the tray won't come out the full length I can't reach the last two. If I could remove the tray I could let the motors spin and realign as suggested in the thread I linked at the beginning of this post.

I have pictures but can't post them just now, I will try and post them later today. If anyone has any tips or advice then it would be a real help.

Thanks : )

Ok, been fiddling with the player more and comparing the movement of parts against my working player and think I have found the part not moving correctly.

Here's the player topless (oo err):



And here is what I suspect to be the problem part:



I've marked the rough location of this part on the picture below:



On my working player (CLD-V2120D) once the draw has retracted this part moves to the side. The picture of the part above is shown when facing the tray of the player so this would mean that the part moves to the left. However on the DVL 919E this part does not move once the tray has retracted, which is possibly the reason why the machine still thinks the tray is open.

I have tried to move this part manually but it doesn't seem to want to budge, and I can't see any other parts that interact with this one on either of the two players.

Any suggestions?

I have pictures of the part on my other player too, I can post them if it would be helpful.

Thanks again for any help.

Another update...I think I have now identified the problem.

Whilst looking over the Service Manual for the DVL 919 (the US version of the player) I noticed this:



I found this part in my machine and noticed that the peg (circled in the picture) is missing. It must have been broken so cleanly that it looks like the peg was never there:



I opened up my other player to check and found:



...the peg is indeed there.

Looking at the underside of the tray (which I have now managed to remove) I found a grove which the peg is obiviously meant to catch in and move the motor gear into the position which raises the clamp and brings the disc into read position:



As far as I can tell I need to either somehow fix this missing peg or get a new part. I think this is the part here : http://parts.pioneerelectronics.com/part.asp?productNum=VNL1631, it's in stock and cheap, but the part looks fairly tricky to replace as there is a spring connected; my experience with parts with springs is that they tend to go flying the moment you release a tiny bit of the tension and you never see them again.

I'm not sure if it would be possible to repair the part as I can't find the peg anywhere and doubt I could find something of the correct size to glue in its place.

I've now gone as far as I can on my own, I really need some advice and opinions on the best way to continue.

Thanks for any help.

The black piece you found needs to move to the right and then the player will load. You will see a "J" shaped hook on the back of the tray and that needs to be moved to the side and the tray will come completely out. The push the black piece to the right with the tray out. The player should then perform a load cycle. The tab should be on the black piece and on the bottom of the tray you will see where the the grove in the bottom is what moves this right during load.

BTW: You are missing a hunk of tray on the back right side of the tray from what I see in the pictures.

As far as I can tell the tray is perfectly intact, I'll remove it and post a picture of it in full when I get home tonight.

Last night I found that I could manually flick the gear into the correct position by sticking my finger through the tray door. Doing this I was able to confirm that the machine plays laserdiscs, VCDs and DVDs. So at least I know that once I fix this part the player will actually work.

However when playing the laserdisc I noticed that the machine is unable to auto play side B. I think I'll order the missing part and while I wait for it I'll try and fix the auto flip.

The player came minus a remote, I can find the remote for the 909 but not the 909E, does any one know if the 909 remote will work with a 909E player?

Does anyone know how/where I can order this missing part? It seems I can only order from the pioneer parts site if I'm a dealer from the US. How would I get hold of this part if I'm an individual from the UK?

Once again any help would be appreciated.

Hello hippiedalek,

If you get in touch with a Pioneer service engineer in the UK, of which you can get hold of on their web page: PIONEER GB, menu Support, Authorised Service Centers.
You can call three Pioneer LD engineers:
1) I.C.T.V. SERVICES LTD IN FARNBOROUGH:01252-510118/514371.
2) J.F.ASSOCIATES, OXFORDSHIRE: 01865-361660.
3) D.K.AUDIO VISUAL SERVICES, HORLEY IN SURREY: 0208-6878850.
4) D.K.AUDIO VISUAL SERVICES MITCHAM IN LONDON: 0208-6878850.
5) There is also an independant Pioneer Laserdisc service engineer in Maidenhead in Berkshire: 01628- ( I shall drive to his location when I have the time and get his number, and also ask if he still repairs Laserdisc players.)

I have a Pioneer service engineer who lives in my town that is still using the laserdisc format himself and has said to me on the Phone that he will service my DVL-909 for me when ready.


They should be able to order spare parts from the US, as they have thier service codes, and so can access these parts for you.

Alternatively they may know these parts, of which maybe exactly the same as the US counterpart.

Plan be is maybe: krbahr may be able to help as he is very knowledgable on the Laserdisc/hardware subject.

krbahr? I hope you do'nt mind myself mentioning yourself.


Regards

Cheers, the closest I can find to something like this on their website is here:

http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/faq/99999/1479/index.html

Which says:



I was maybe going to give them a ring on my lunch break.

I also found this page: http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/support/index.html which apparently allows me to find support for my product. I start to type DVL-919E. I get as far as DVL and then it suggests the correct player then finds nothing...

Hi hippiedalek,

Down load the PDF file,

It's one sheet of Pioneer LD service centres.

Let me know how you get on though as I would be interested, as my DVL-909 is a little tired and could do with some TLC.

Regards

I've found a dealer pretty much right round the corner from my office but the pdf doesn't say they deal with laserdisc. I'll give them a call anyway as I'm just wanting the part to replace myself rather than getting them to do the repair for me.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Hello hippiedalek,

Yes that is the correct PDF.
I hope you are able to get somewhere with this info.
As mentioned, as soon as I find out about the engineer in Maidenhead then I will enter the rest of his phone number.

I just want to make sure that he is still in business, and that he is still servicing Laserdisc players.

Regards

Just off the phone with the place around the corner now, he's going to have a look and see if he can get the parts then give me a ring back. Here's a link to their site, I don't know if it will be useful to you or not though : http://www.audiovideoservice.co.uk/index.htm

Hello hippiedalek,

Newcastle LOL you crazy man!

Yes that is to far for me to go, however I am grateful to you for placing this on the site
You never know It seriously may help someone.

I did drive up to South Shields more than Four years ago, to collect a reserved HLD X9 from a good friend who reserved this player for about 18+ months whilst I paid for it.

It was a long trek and I drove all the way from Maidenhead A404, M40, M53 to Wexham in North wales to pickup my friend, from their we went accross the penines, Leeds then up to Newcastle, of which was roughly an 800mile journey.

When I get my player serviced I would deliver this in person. Laserdisc players do not travel well.

The things we do for our pastimes eh!

I hope your player is repaired soon and let me know how things go.

All the best

They just called me back and unfortunately they say the can't order the parts as they are too old. The fact that they seem to be pretty freely available on the US Pioneer Part site for less than $5 doesn't seem to affect things.

When I get a moment I'll try one of the London based ones that specifically says that they service laserdiscs. Hopefully they'd be able to order the part and send to to me in the mail.

Hello hippiedalek,

There are plenty of parts so you should be able to get this resolved soon.

Hopefully your player will be up and running soon.

In the mean time other members may read your cry for help and offer some assistance.

Sincere Regards

I have just tried the SEME number I found on the Pioneer UK site only to find that they no longer provide the service parts for Pioneer. The correct company is Connect Distribution Services. The guy on the phone apologised and said that it takes Pioneer forever to update their sites. He gave me the following number for Connect Distribution Services that I'll try when I get a free moment: 08445572510.

Hopefully this thread will prove useful for any future UK dwellers looking for pioneer parts.

Another dead end with Connect Distribution Services, neither the part nor model were coming up on their system. I'm going to give in today then try the London AV shops tomorrow that benmbe mentioned previously.

If they all fail then I guess I either need to find a way of repairing the part I have or finding someone with a broken Pioneer LD/CD Combo player who is willing to sell the part.

The saga continues...

Another update!

Tonight I moved my attention to the other problem this player has; it can't switch from side A to B. However I have found a (probably temporary) fix!

If you're interested I've documented this fix in this thread. The short version is that I used a cotton bud and some sticky tape...

You really need to keep all your posts for this in one thread. I already answered your turn problem in the other thread. I have parts I can ship to the UK. But as mentioned in th eother thread, you need to do more research concerning the turn issue as that is not it.

I thought I'd mention my problem in the other thread as the problem described seemed to be the exact same problem I encountered on a very similar model. I thought by posting my findings it might help the original poster and anyone trying to fix a similar issue in the future.

However as a result of posting in multiple threads I'm now chronologically confused...I think in the other thread you checked again and realised that I had identified the problem correctly. If that's the case then I would be very grateful if I could buy replacement parts from you. As stated the parts I'm looking for are the VNL1631 (Cam Plate) and VNL1728 (Shipping Lever). The player is also missing a remote, I have found a few places I could buy a remote for a DVL-919 but none for a DVL-919E. Would I be right in assuming that the US version would do the job for the EU one?

If you are able to sell me the parts then please PM me and let me know.

Thanks again for all the help.