How does one test or check DVD laser?

In general, there's not an awful lot you can do to 'test' an optical block, as such. In general, if the unit plays CDs but not DVDs, or, more rarely, the other way round, you have a better than even chance that it's the laser (optical block) that's at fault. If your player is used a fair bit, then 3 years is not at all uncommon for the laser to be showing signs of wear. Another good pointer is if the player starts freezing up after about 3/4 of a full length feature film has played. This is when the player has switched to reading layer 2 on the disc, which has to be read through the semi-transparent layer 1, so consequently has less reflectivity of the laser beam.

Other causes of poor playability are bad spindle motors, when they are the brushgear'd little Mitsumi DC types, and (very) occasionally deposits on the outer surface of the lens, particularly if it's a heavy smoking household. Geoff in Israel who posts here, also tells me that it is more common to have a dirty laser, if you live in a climate like his.

As far as replacing lasers goes, on most players, it's not a difficult job. Often, the laser comes pre-mounted and aligned on a sub-deck, which also includes the spindle and sled motors, and limit switch. Where this is the case, it is pretty much guaranteed that it is just a 'drop-in' replacement. Some lasers are supplied as just a 'bare bones' optical block. In most cases, these will also just drop in, but some players, such as Panasonic for instance, require the tilt to be mechanically adjusted. Some other players have electronic setups to match in the replacement laser to the machine. Most machines also have a degree of self diagnosis built in, but it's often hard to get at unless you have a service manual, and sometimes a service remote. In my experience, unless you have a particular liking for a player, or if it's a HC system, and you have all its speakers and cabling 'plumbed in' to your walls, the cost of a replacement laser is prohibitive, and you might as well go and buy a new player, with a new 2 year warranty, at the cheapest place you can find ...

Arfa

player?

even

I would replace the entire assembly + drive motor + spindle motor and control boards if you just wanted to shotgun it. A couple weeks ago I did something very similar with a stand alone DVD burner swapping parts from a PC burner. Here are a few pictures:

player?

even

This is a cheaper dvd player and the drive doesn't even have an onboard controller. I do have an older player that could use regular PC dvd drives.

I am not coming up with much searching for anything inside this player,yeesh.

Thor

I used some 92% alchohol and cleaned the lens. I have taken hundres of cd players apart and I was happy to see the focus assembly is held floating by ribbons versus wires, a bit tougher than the wire type. After the lens cleaning the player did play two dvd's in question but I am not sure how long this will work. I uselessly went googling for the optical assembly or even the entire drive but I found nothing.

The only numbers I found are, VR 502W SV, this is stamped in plastic and I think it is for that plastic part only.

Two stickers on the back of the drive, KDA898SA and W4XD8898. One of these turns up a russian web page but no actual part. I had a look through Dalboni and they do have an optical assembly but I have no idea if it is for this player or not.

If you could, let me know of any other suppliers? My phone line is down for a couple of days and when it comes back up I plan on calling Sanyo, probably to hear them tell me to take it to a shop and they don't sell parts to individuals.

I am looking at a Pioneer DV-300-K. This seems like a newer player and the reviews, for what they are worth, look favorable. I am looking at this player because I don't have anything HDMI and really don't want it.

Thanks for the reply, Thor