UK Supermarket/Chainstore DVD Players

[richie00boy]

My beloved Marantz DV4100ose has started 'sticking' on playback of any discs. It's not a dirty lens.

I have some friends coming over this weekend and we want to watch a film and have a little music, so I'm contemplating buying a really cheap DVD player from the supermarket or big name electrical shop. Has anybody any recommendations or otherwise? Cheers

PS Anybody that can help with the Marantz problem please do as well

[carlosfm]

Originally posted by richie00boy
My beloved Marantz DV4100ose has started 'sticking' on playback of any discs. It's not a dirty lens.

PS Anybody that can help with the Marantz problem please do as well

What do you mean by 'sticking'?
There's a common problem with some CD/DVD mechanics: the lubricant applied to the metal guides that hold the laser mechanism dry out and become 'sticky', making it 'jump' when reading a disk, or even stop playing in the middle of a track.
Clean all the residues from the metal guides and apply new lubricant, in small quantity.
For years I've been having excellent results with a very viscous lubricant that seems to last forever in this role: STP car engine oil additive.

[richie00boy]

The symptom is that the track just pauses as if the pause button has been pressed, then starts again after a random few seconds. Thank you Carlos, I will open it up again and see if re-lubricating is required.

[tlf9999]

they are so cheap this days that it is a crime trying to fix one. I got a DVD recorder / Tivo, with 3:2 pull down, progressive scan, wireless connectivity, usb/ethernet, etc., for just $100.

I have a couple of those super-cheap supermarket dvd players that I picked up from garbage. they seem to be fine. both play CDs / DVD fines. one of them does seem to have trouble with mp3 disks (the other cannot): it seems to have some sort of AGC problem and fairly noticeable distortion.

But it plays pretty much any kind of disks and files you throw at it.

[SY]

Yeah, I'v got a $49 Apex like that. It has survived a few years of abuse from Red Chief.

[Enzo]

I have an Apex I bought at Sears for $29 and got a $5 rebate in the bargain. It seems to work.

[richie00boy]

I want to fix my Marantz because it looks a darn sight better than any cheap player and matches the rest of my equipment. I'm sure it must have better picture and sound quality than a cheapo as well.

I'm going to take the lid off now and see if I can see these rails that Carlos is on about.

[richie00boy]

OK, I've done the cleanup and re-lube and now it's worse than ever Would I have damaged anything by sliding the laser pickup along the rails to gain access to the whole rails?

[carlosfm]

Originally posted by richie00boy
OK, I've done the cleanup and re-lube and now it's worse than ever

What did you apply there?
What kind of lubricant?
It can get worse depending on what you put there.
But hey, seems that the problem is right there.

[richie00boy]

The mech seemed fairly free, but I could see a smearing on the rails of what I presume to be a silicone dry lube. I first cleaned the rails down with WD40 on a cotton bud, then with IPA on a cotton bud (q-tip). Then wiped all over with a clean cotton bud and applied a few drops of some micro oil that I have which is supposedly great for sewing machines etc. I then slid the assembly back and forth a few times to work the oil all over.

I've just been back to the player and now it won't even read a disc. Could I have damaged the lens by wiping it over with a bit of IPA on a cotton bud?