I don't want to hijack the other post so figured I would document and share my information here.

I got this for bid of $10.77 on Yahoo with a typical vague description of the issues. First thing I had to do was change the belt as the tray was stuck causing the unit to power itself off, as stated in the other post this is pain (front panel has to come off to get the gear which you spin to pop the tray), though this is a bit of a pain it is easier than reaching under the tray on some Pioneer's as once you get access to the gears they pop the tray quickly and easily (gears much larger than typical Pioneer).

Once the belt was swapped (this is larger than 3.6, I am guessing 3.8 or 4.0) the loading process was completing and it was able to accept a disc but would not spin. I was able to get it into test mode following the instructions from the other post (this one responds to my standard Panasonic LD remote) and verify that the disc could spin (thus spindle motor is ok).

Next step was to swap the pickup (I purchased a NOS pickup from Germany), to do this you have to remove (2) screws on the pickup and pull it straight up and out then transfer the rollers from the right side of the old pickup to the new pickup and reinstall (actually probably a little easier than a typical Pioneer). Once I swapped the pickup I was in business and discs started to read.

The next (and most difficult) problem to overcome was alignment of the new laser pickup, discs would play for a few minutes and then stop completely and chapter / time searches did not work reliably. Again as stated in the other post there is a special harness required to even access the scope test points (which no one has and if I did I don't have the Muse test disc anyway) so I had to wing it through trial and error / listening to the laser work and testing different adjustments until laser sounded healthy, loaded quickly and easily, CAV and CLV discs played clean start to finish, and chapter / time searching worked 100% (this took me probably 5-6 hours total, probably could be done in 30 min with proper jig and test disc). I concur with information from other post, Muse alignment is first then NTSC follows. I am not recommending anyone do a full and complete alignment like this without a scope but in this case there really is no other option, its either sit there and stare at a non working player or dig in and wing it.

One note for pickup replacement - if ribbon cable is not properly routed it will rub on the disc and block the laser from flipping to side b (I am quite lucky my mistake here didn't cost me the ribbon cable).

I can now report she is working 100% perfectly with both Muse and NTSC, if you want to hear me ramble in audio form check out this video - https://youtu.be/dUuMuzPEnnM

Sources -

Service Manual - http://manuals.lddb.com/LD_Players/Sony/HIL/HIL-C3/ (in English from the never released HIL-C3)
NOS Laser - http://www.lasertrader.de/ (they report one left in stock)
Excellent info from publius - Sony HIL-C2EX / Panasonic LX-HD20
Random blog with good info - http://www1.synapse.ne.jp/takata/av/pan ... index.html

Initial impressions of player -
Good build quality, laser runs on a belt similar to Panasonic's, no small plastic gears / MHolders to break.
Muse playback with my Sony decoder is miles above X9 + Sony decoder (we are attributing this to better matching of player / decoder combo).
NTSC playback is impressive, a bit noisy but very good if I use my C2 to tame the noise just a bit.

I like the workbench

It took so much time and effort to align the wrong (but only) way that eventually I just hooked to my setup with the cover off so I can play while watching movies.

Cool! ...one day..

Thank you very much for sharing your work !

I was under influence last night and this morning when I woke up I had won a HIL-C2EX from Japan, it also can't open the drawer.
Not sure if I should get a use decoder as well and include it in same shipment. Its all a gamble.

One thing is certain on that player, it needs a new belt which will solve the first problem, the only question is will there be other problems...

Those decoders are a steal, no idea why no one has jumped on one of them.

I got the MSC-3000, to bad it didnt have matching wood sides. Can you run the Sony player and the decoder of US 110 Voltage mains ?
Or do I need a stepdown transformer to bring it down to 100 Volts.

I heard that the Pioneer HLD-X9 you have to have a step down seems very finiky about the voltage, I would expect a good power supply design to cater for 10% variance on the mains grid so it is a bit strange that you can't run 100 volt gear on 110 volt supply.

My X9 was unhappy in France but that's because I was initially using a divider by 2 from French power voltage that is more likely to move around 230~240V and therefore reach the X9 around 115~120V.

I don't know what a "true" 110V would give.

Julien

Half wave rectification you mean? Yeah, I can see that being an issue.

The need for a step down seems to be up for debate and some really knowledgeable folks have said not necessary, I do own multiple and use for all of my japanese players just in case.

What is the size of the drive belt for the tray ? Is it 3.8 or 4.0 and is it square or round ? My player should arrive this weekend.

Regards /// Carl

From service manual the part number is 3-725-562-01 which in my translation table corresponds to SCQ4.8

Hi pbiancardi,

Thanks for your information of hil-c2.
I hope you could advise. I replaced the laser pick up on my c2. It plays ok on some discs from start to end. But some disc it does not. It shows some horizontal lines as the last chapter of the disc. For some 8 inches ld single. It skip and stop playing at ten min.

I have no meter to help. I have the service manual. It need the special cable which is impossible to get hands on.

Alan

You can make it yourself.

Thanks cplusplus,

Could you advise me how to make it? I can borrow a meter to measure it.
What to get and how to work on it?
I have basic solder and and solder iron.

Please advise

Alan

I have the official one. I haven't tried making one, but I think someone did. You would just need to buy the connectors, resistors, two switches and capacitors as indicated in the schematic though.

Unless you have an oscilliscope and test disc (one of Pioneer's GGVs is fine), I wouldn't go to the trouble. Do as pbiancardi did and just trial-and-error it.

You can start by playing the part where you saw the horizontal lines at the end of the disc and see if making very small adjustments to the tilt helps clear it up.

Is it possible to borrow it from you?
I will pay all the necessary cost.

I have the pioneer gvv test disc.

I use it for the occasional Sony's I get, so I can't send it out but building one is really easy.

Go to frame 115 on the GGV disc. Adjust the tilt until the noise to the left and right of the center black bar is even. Recheck the disc where you saw horizontal lines at the end and see if they are still there.