Panasonic portable dvd player

Dear cathy1017

Well this is a similar problem that i have encountered on many CD/ DVD optical units (cd players, stereos, personal walkmans, DVD players, ROM drives etc) and the problem is likely to be mechanical rather than an electronic fault. The fault is quite easy really, its just possible that your laser head on your dvd player is mis-aligned or out of place. Even by a millimetre or so, the laser wont be able to read the disc, and as a result, the error message is displayed, and while the laser head is trying to read the disc, a "clicking" sound will be emitted.

Now i did say that this fault could likely be mechanical, but do not ignore that it could also be electronic issues too. If the electronics to the laser head or to the read area have been comprimised/ broken, then this will put out the same fault, becuase the problem has been caused electronically rather than mechanically, but both issues usually have the same end-result.

Now in the worst case scenario, and there is an electronic fault, i would not recommend trying to overhaul this device yourself, really i wouldnt, unless you are pretty good with a multimetre, electronics, and have access to precision equipment and solder/ de-soldering irons (and you know how to use them of course). Now, you could take it to someone who knows how to fix these units, or even send it back to your manufacturer/ vendor (and definitely do this, if it is still under warranty), or you can discard the unit/ sell it for spare parts and purchase another one (as these are fairly cheap to buy now).

Ok, now for the better bit, if this is a mechanical problem, then you are more than likely to get this sorted out quickly and easily, you may even be able to do this yourself if the laser head lens just needs realignment. All you would do is carefully either lift or depress the lens accordingly by moving the mount that the lens sits on. NOTE: NEVER EVER TOUCH THE LENS, AS SCRATCHING IT WILL RENDER IT UNUASABLE (they are also difficult and expensive to replace/ repair).

Now Once again if the problem is an electronic fault, then there are some things here which i have listed which you can either have looked at either by an electronic engineer, or yourself, and these are the following

Laser head,

Laser lens,

Motor, and motor spindle (turning the discs)

Laser unit motor (moves the laser sideways on cradle to read different areas of disc)

Laser PCB (printed circuit board)

Motor PCB

DC (direct current) supply to the laser unit and motors

DC circuitry resistance, and resistors (measured in ohms) ω

DC circuitry capacitance (checking that capacitors and storage charges are discharged properly and flow of current is regulated properly (measured in uF, pF, (microfarads, and picofarads)

Check that the powersupply is not failing (if this is of the adapter type wich plugs into the DVD player, then take the unit to your serive personnel in order to have the supply and supply ratings tested)

Now a lot of this may well be out of the reach of most general people in order to carry out these tasks, but if you are willing to give this a try then you can always go to the manufacturers/ vendors website, and try to get hold of copies of various manuals and documents. To do this, you may want to try looking under the support or FAQ (frequently asked questions) section on the website, of you cvan get hold of their telephone number and call them up in order to find out how you can acquire the literature that will tell you more about the fault.

If you go to http://www.google.com and you type in the manufactures/ vendor model of your unit, followed by the words "srervice sheet" you may be able to get hold of the repair manual and disassembly guide, that will tell you how to overhaul the unit yourself, it should also give you a list of every single component and part that is built into your Panasonic DVD player. Now in addition to this, Panasonic are quite a large vendor, and mostly develop their own components, or use certain parts from other semiconductor manufacturers such as Toshiba (and the parts are faily readily available). Now even with the service manual/ sheets in mind, and you still did not want to try to resolve the fault yourself, at least you will have gained a degree of knowledge about the fault, and who to send the unit to for servicing.

Whichever descision you choose, i hope that the solution is right for you, and i hope this fixya, will fixya up with the best way on how to deal with this effectively. Also I would be interested for you to stay in contact through this site and let me know how the projectis going, that way, if you need anymore expert advice or need a specialist in order to overhaul yor unit/ any other electronic device, then i can assist in getting this for you at the most competitve rate for you..

Im readily available here, and will respond to you as quickly as i can with regards to any of your technical related issues for home/ high end electronics, computers, appliances and consumables. and will answer any/ all of your questions and comments in relation to this.

In the meantime, i wish you all the best once again, and please take care and i hope to hear from you soon

yours sincerely

Oz