DVD Player Apex AD-2600 'No Disc'

That's not one that uses a standard computer DVD drive, is it? I remember when Apex was Big, at least some of the players used standard computer drives, so you could just plug one in if the drive went bad.

Michael

Unfortunately, not. I have a LiteOn DVR where I replaced its IDE drive with another IDE computer drive (works great), but the Apex drive has two regular plugs, and a small ribbon-cable connector.

A couple of thoughts:

- It might be worth checking the power supply. I think that player was made during the era of the "stolen-electrolyte bad capacitor plague" problem. It's possible that the power-supply bypass electrolytic caps have gone bad (they usually fail as a result of power-on hours, but I suspect they could have gone bad in storage as well). Signs and symptons might be swollen tops on the capacitors, obvious signs of leakage of electrolyte, or (if there's no external failure) excessively high "equivalent series resistance" or excessive noise and ripple on the power supply rails.

The cure would be to remove any such suspect capacitors, repair any damage to the PC-board traces caused by leaking electrolyte, and replace them with high-quality low-impedance/high-frequency-rated "switching supply rated" electrolytics (Panasonic and Nichicon are good brands).

I had a Cyberhome DVD player of about the same vintage which failed due to this problem. Replacing the caps fixed it.

- It's possible that the "sled" which moves the optical assembly back and forth is stuck in place. Whatever lubricant was used on the sled "rails" may have congealed over the years. Fixing this would require opening up the drive (if it's sealed), gently sliding the sled back and forth by hand, cleaning the old lubricant or grease off of the rails (Q-tip or chamois swab, plus 99% isopropyl alcohol would probably do) and then lightly re-lubricating the rails (Tri-Flo, or sewing machine oil - don't use WD-40).

"David Platt" wrote

Thanks David for the recommendations. I had the power supply and the drive out for close inspection. The optical assembly moves freely, and the caps "look" in perfect shape - not that looking good necessarily means much with caps. Normally I would just toss it, but I have a few PAL DVDs which this player plays with an incredible picture quality. I have a newer Toshiba DVD player which is able to play PAL DVDs also, but it doesn't even come close to the video quality of that Apex. Initially, out of the box, I got it to spin up a couple of times after a zillion tried, but since then it just keeps displaying the "No Disc" message, no matter what type of DVD I try.

A few years ago, I fixed my Apex AD-1500 by replacing the bad electrolytic capacitors (mostly in the power supply). I agree with David's advice on ways to identify the suspect caps.

That 19" Acer monitor I brought home, it sort of worked, but would reset so only the logo was displayed, or I had problems when switching from one type of size of screen to another. The electrolytics looked fine. But once I changed the bigger value ones in the power supply, it worked fine. So they don't have to bulge to be bad, and something can almost work yet need new capacitors.

I figure I can get my found in a recycling bin DVD recorder going again when/if I finally get around to changing the power supply capacitors. There again, the capacitors look fine, but operation was slowly declining when writing, and slipping a DVD writer from a computer (yes, it uses a standard drive) didnt' change anything, so I'm assuming something isn't quite right.

I was wondering why the fuss. I have five or six that I've brought home, all found on the sidewalk, so a DVD player is easy to come by. But the ability to play foreign DVDs isn't something every DVD player is capable of.

I got that message with my found on the sidewalk blu-ray player. It would play DVDs. Once I cleaned the lens over the laser, it reads blu-ray disks fine.

Michael

If I can find suitable replacement caps in my parts box, I may just start replacing the larger power supply caps and see what happens...

Never thought of trying a CD - good idea!

Well, same symptoms, except, when I spun the CD by hand after it refused to turn on its own, it all of a sudden sped up to something like 3-digit RPM for half a minute (sounded like the Concorde taking off), still showing "LOAD" in the window. That was it, followed by the "no disc" message.

However, every time the CD was inserted and loaded, I could see the red laser shining through the disc for perhaps half a second only, and then no more. So it would make sense that after a while the "no disc" message would appear. Seems like a faulty laser function to be at the root of the problem. Replacing the Power caps may be a good start.

Interesting. Thanks for the thorough explanation!

"Arfa Daily" wrote