DVP642/37 Power light flashing constantly.....won't power on

Thank you apeman00!!! The replacement of the cap did the trick!!! the old cap didn't look bad at all!

Hi Everyone.

I had a more extreme version of this problem, and I hope my fix will help those who had no luck changing the capacitor. The player I worked on had a dimly lit power LED and nothing else. The troublesome C316 that you guys diagnosed was in fact bulging upon inspection. However, I wasn't so lucky. After replacing C316 with a 20000uF 35 Volt I still had no life. Using a Scope and my gut knowledge of fixing literally thousands of switching supplys, I found that Q303, Q304, and Q305 were not oscillating and driving the transformer. I thought Phillips was marginal on the C316's ratings, these transistors are only rated a 600 mw at 150 volts. With C316 leaking so bad, it blew them. I should say, my Cap was really bulging on the stress cracks at the top.

Anyway, this fix gives you a better supply that will charge the bigger and better cap you choose. Q304 and Q305 are 2N5551's. Basic NPN General purpose transistors. I replaced them with TIP41's. Q303 is the PNP compliment of the Oscillator so I used a TIP42. Just be careful with the leads if you need to do this fix. Looking at flat side of the original transistors, the leads are Emitter, Base, Collector. The TIP transistors facing you, heat sink away from you, are Base Collector Emitter. So you have to do some fancy lead bending to fit them in. They will fit, and they do hold their peak-to-peak voltage really stiff when motor operations are being performed (like loading or ejecting a disc).

This was another problem I have seen with this unit in the past. The power supply would cave in under the load of the disc tray opening or closing. Probably because C316 was leaking and I didn't know it.

Anyway, this version of the fix is for extreme cases and it will save you some trouble since I could not find a schematic easily.

Here is another tip: For those who don't have a supply of electrolytic caps lying around, you will find something that will work in an old PC power supply. I always keep these boards in my scrap box for these situations. Just Use a Cap that has a greater voltage and capacitance than the old one. And of course, the same lead configuration helps. Use a big "Hog" soldering iron to heat the solder and gently pull out the one you want.

Good Luck

jplandry@hughes.net for Electro-Lab Corp.

thank you for the advice! I have the dvd player hooked up to a power strip and perhaps turning it off and on has cause the capacitor to go funky. Anyway, I had the blinking red power light syndrome, too. I went to radio shack, bought the part and then opened the dvd player to find the 1000uF 10mv capacitor. It was bulging. Next, I ripped out the old capacitor and then realized that I should have used a soldering iron (or gun) to melt the solder and then remove the old on. After removing the faulty part and realizing my mistake, I went back to radio shack and purchased a soldering iron and then watched the following url video http://www.expertvillage.com/video/49420_soldering-capacitor.htm. I put the new part in, plugged in the dvd player and voila! no more flashing light! Thank you for your help!

It's all good, but how do I find which of the capacitators on supply board is gone?

The capacitor was the problem on mine as well. But it was a 1000 uf 10 volt cap rather than a 16 volt.
Replacing it with a 1000uf 35 volt cap (cat. no. 272-1032 $1.59 at Radio Shack) has it up and running again.

This origional post has been up since June 2006. The answer(s) about the 1000mf capacitor are right on target and has helped people even up to today (Aug. 26, 2008). It worked for me and the following might help others.

First find the power supply board. It is the one with the power cord attached to one end (make sure you unplug all power first!). This power supply has about nine minature electrolytic capacitors in the output of the supply. There is a large electrolytic near the input (elecrtical cord). Disregard this one and go to the other end of the board. The 1000mf, 10volt component you are looking for is near the middle of the 9 or so capacitors on this end. It will probably be the largest in this group (because it has the highest electrolytic value of the group) and the board surface will have an I.D. number of C316 adjacent to it.

DO NOT ASSUME THAT THE CAPACITOR WILL HAVE ANY SIGN OF A BULDGE, DISCOLORATION, OR ANYTHING THAT WOULD IDENTIFY IT AS A FAILURE! In my case the replacement solved the problem but there was absolutely no signs on, or around the capacitor. After replacing it, I checked the old capacitor with a (ANALOG) multimeter. The test showed leakage across the capacitor. In other words it was still working but had a high resistance path through the capacitor. This is exactly what I expected because when I checked the output voltage of the supply to the other 2 boards, voltage was present but was reading about 1/2 of what it was supposed to. The markings on the front (output) edge of the board indicate a -24 volts between ground (pin 4) and pin 3. Mine was reading approximately -12 to -13 volts.

I hope this will help others. As a matter of interest, this is an electrolytic capacitor and you should notice that the component taken out is marked negative ( - ) near one lead. Be certain to install the new one with the negative lead in the same manner! Also, any replacement you might find with a higher voltage rating should be at least 16 volts but a 200 or 1000 volt rating will work fine. Although, the higher the rating, the larger it will physically be. You probably would not be able to physically install anything over 50volt rating. The 35volt rating seems to be very available and a very good choice. With regard to microfarad (mf) value, 1000mf are very common but a 1200mf to 1500mf in a power supply circuit will work fine. Do not use anything less than 1000mf. Hope this helps others. This is going to contiue for this Phillips product until they all die.

replace bloated cap on power supply board - 1000 microfarad 16 volt - replace with 35 volt cap

Sollution #2 worked for me too. Had the 1000uf 10V. switched with RS part and Voila back in action.

Thanks

m

go for solution #2 thank you! very much!

Sorry to say you have done about al we would have adviced you. it sounds like maybe you got a power surge or the power supply went bad. If you understand power supply circuits or electronic repair then yopu should have no problem finding the bad supply or seeing if the problem is system control related. If its only a player It will probably cost more to repair then to replace Sorry!! if I buy something electronic like this and an extended warrantee is offered for a good price go for it as I did this with a portable 99.00 dvd player with a screen and its broken down 4 times now and every time I got a new one. i only paid 15.00 for the extended warrantee. Good Luck

Another thank you - I just fixed mine.  Much appreciated!

Well, I *had* the same problem, but followed the instruction herein (on March 22, 2009) and fixed the problem. I had the red flashing power light, and the disc eject (or any other function) did not work. My daughter's copy of Serenity was stuck in the unit.

When I opened up the case on the DVP642, The capacitor at location C316 on the power supply circuit board had a bulging end. I replaced capacitor C316 with a similarly rated capacitor that I took from an old power supply for a PC. It has 1000uF and 10V, just like the C316 capacitor on the power supply circuit board in the DVP642. I could not be happier with the outcome. Everything works perfectly after replacing the one capacitor.

I am not a soldering expert, but I find that patience is the main source of my success. I used a 30W soldering iron of the most basic design (not even gun shaped, just wand shaped) and I held the end of it against the solder bulge on the back of the circuit board that held in the capacitor. I applied slight sideways pressure to the top of the old capacitor. When the solder bulge melted, the capacitor shifted to the side and retracted the lead part way out of the circuit board. Then I would apply pressure in the opposite direction and put the solder iron tip on the bulge of solder on the capacitor's other lead. The bulge melted, and the capacitor rocked the other way taking the lead with it, also part way out of the board. I repeated this slow motion melting and rocking maneuver until the capacitor's leads were completely free of the circuit board.

Placing the "new" capacitor in the board was even easier. I made sure the leads were the same width apart as the holes in the circuit board, placed the capacitor leads into the holes, held the capacitor top with my thumb and light downward pressure, and remelted the solder bulges on the backside of the circuit board. The capacitor sank into position one lead at a time, and I alternated sides until it was in all the way. I put a tiny amount of new solder on the back of the circuit board to make up for the old solder getting displaced from the lead ends.

The TV I that this DVP642 hooks to is an old Sony CRT (Trinitron) in my daughter's room and its best input is s-video. New DVD players from Philips no longer feature s-video. I was in a bind, not wanting to buy a used DVP642 ($65 at Amazon) when I had paid like $47 for my new one about 4 years ago (also at Amazon).

Thank you to all who posted this problem and its solution. I am in your debit. I hope my confirmation of the solution does someone else some good.

It worked for me too!

Thanks a lot!

JM

I tried the cap fix first, but it only worked 50% of the time. I went through with the TIP41/42 swap and now it works everytime. Thanks jplandry !!!!

I had the same problem . I bought a 35v/1000uf capacitor from radioshack and replaced the faulty ( 10v/1000uf) one. I followed instructions from http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/philips_dvp642/message/1720.
Now my dvd palyer works great.

Bala

Solution # 5 was very detailed and worked very well

This was my first-ever transplant. From your directions, easily found the 1000mf, 10volt capacitor & extracted. Replaced with a “new” one from a salvaged phone.. This “new” DVD player, compliments of a nearby university dumpster. Works perfectly.

Thank you, Apeman !!

Thanks so much for this solution. Went to Radio Shack today, and followed the instruction from Solution #2 and it worked wonderfully.

I picked up a 1000uf/35V capacitor form Radio Shack today and just finished installing it per the solution 2 instructions. Worked perfectly!

WOW, this was fantastic help! Thank you to all who posted!!

Just a few notes from a newbie perspective...

1) Skill level: if you've ever taken apart a computer and used a soldering iron once or twice, you will be fine doing this.

2) Total time was less than an hour.

3) If you DON"T feel comfortable soldering, I still recommend taking the unit apart. The board with the problem cap can be removed completely very easily and if you bring it with you to the electronics shop where you buy the part, chances are someone there will solder or know someone who can do it for you for a very nominal fee.

Once again, thank you to everyone for the help and I'll definitely be using this site again in the future.

This Works!
alrighttttt!  Bought another DVD Player but didn't like it.....    Found this thread and replaced the slightly domed capacitor (yes the 1000uF/ 10V)  and replaced with another that cost me $0.67 at a local electric component shop (1000uF / 16V).  It might be slow to load etc., but this player reads nearly everything ive thrown at it.  The new one wouldn't play jack - despite advertising DIVx.
Happy days.

Yay! My DVD player is working again!

Finding the faulty capacitor was the tricky part. I didn't really know what to look for. I was looking for something obvious, but after finding some pictures of bad capacitors on the web, I spotted it. The top of the capacitor was bulging ever so slightly.

Radio Shack didn't have a 10V capacitor, so I went with the 1000uF 35V as suggested. It's a bit larger than the original, but it fits alright. Thanks for the help, guys!!

exact same problem.
same solution worked for me (replace the cap).

Thanks everyone!!!

go for solution #2 thank you! very much! Worked like a charm, I had a old computer power supply laying around and pulled a 1000uf/16V to replace the 1000uf/10V that blew!

Thank a bunch,,

TF

Thanks guys!!
I had a 1000uf/35V in my "extras" box and it now works great.
The top of the old capacitor was just slightly rounded up.