Well, I got the player today from eBay. The box looked like it had been packed by Freddy Krueger. NOT happy. I will post pics later once the alcohol wears off.

It powers up but the drawer won't open. I can turn the gear on the outside of the side wall and it will move fine, the problem is with the laser. I can move it to the side B position and once I power on, it moves fine to the starting point , then it stays there and the motor still hums.

Any ideers?

Can you get the drawer to budge at all manually? Not sure on the Panny offhand, but I know sometimes on Pioneer the upper and lower clamps stick together from magnetic force and stop the whole operation. See if you can manually separate the clamps okay, and then manually open the load tray without any snags, with player off. At that point, check the load belt, and maybe clean it and the pulleys. Then power on and watch the laser assembly operation with the drawer open.

The drawer moves fine manually, when I turn the gear. The clamp releases and the drawer extends fully. I left it open and plugged it back in, hoping something got out of whack- no luck, it didn't budge on its own. The laser assembly moves back to place when I manually move it, but once it's in the originating spot, I can hear a motor whirring, like it needs to move a little more or something. Am I correct in assuming it'll probably need realigned?

Where is the load belt located?

Did the tray move bak in on it's own?

I believe that belt is under the tray, so you need to have the tray moved out. Is that motor sound coming from under the tray or from the laser assembly? If from the laser, you should see the gears spinning in place since it moves otherwise, and perhaps there's a problem with the track at that point.

If it's coming from under the tray, then the load belt is slipping or off, or there's damaged gearing under the tray that will not allow complete correct opening/closing/lifting of the tray.

Since it's an ebay item, make sure the seller knows right away about the packing and problems. This is only for future reference if you have to get a refund or partial refund from the seller and ebay wants to do a review to see if you are being honest about things.

The tray stays put. The noise comes from the laser assembly- there's a slight vibration on the black 'U' of the laser flip mechanism.

I sent an email to the seller, telling him about how the box arrived and asked for a refund- he said I could, if I paid to return it. I might just keep it and have it repaired. The seller replied, apologized and siad he followed my packing instructions. The player was bagged... and that was it. I didn't suggest Wal-Mart bags be used as packing material. Grrrr.

So, back to sanity now. Kurtis, grasshopper, Duncan, can any of you help me out???

The motor that moves the belt is at the back at the "U" flip area. It is possible that the micro switch that tells the electronics the pickup is in place is bad. If it is the laser will move forward until it hits something to stop it. The normal resting spot is a little back from the spindle motor and it should be able to move forward or back.

That's it then- the micro switch. Thanks Kurtis! The laser assembly is pushing into the spindle when the power is on and won't budge at all, but it will move when the power is off. Can the switch be replaced or is it one of those 900U "dead parts"?

I doubt the part is available except from another player. If that part is the same as what's on many other Panasonic players, then you can get it off a parts player. I'd still see about getting a partial refund. It's a better deal for both the seller and you because then you don't pay return shipping and he doesn't have to pay all the money back and get a player that doesn't work. The whole ebay refund process allows for partial refund requests for this exact reason.

I'd also ask for a refund as it could also be the processor board bad not reading the signal from the switch. When you move the pickup toward the back you should see a switch.

Gonna keep it- I sent it out to Duncan this morning!

Well, Duncan received it and- guess what? The drawer opens. LOL!

I HATE when that happens It kind of goes back to the old saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it". Only with a new spin..."if it ain't broke what DO you fix" Another day in the life of a laserdisc repairman

Still, dood, yer a saint. Thanks!

Hmmm, what I wrote wasn't politically correct. I should've said "laserdisc repair 'person'"

It sounds like the shipping "ride" fixed the problem. I bought a cocktail table Space Invaders arcade game a few years back, which was described as not working (thus only $100), and after a somewhat rough ride home in the back of a SUV, much to my amazement, the game was working .