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Old DVD player question

#1
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12/29/07 at 7:52pm
  • Joined: December 2003
  • Post Count: 82
I have a question and I'm not sure if this is the right board to put it in.

I have just a standard DVD player, had it for about 4 years now.

Up until just a few weeks ago, it was working fine. Actually it's still working just fine now, the problem is that it's really noisy.

It's like the disk is spinning really loudly. I don't know exactly how to explain the sound it makes, but it just sounds like it's going too fast.

But it doesn't happen all the time. I was watching a 2hour movie the other night and it didn't make any extra noise at all. Then last night I was watching something and within 15 minutes it was noisy to the point that I had to turn the volume up a little bit to hear what I was watching.

And I'm kind of afraid that I'm going to wreck something with the dvd or the player by using it when it sounds like that.


So my questions,

1. Is there a way to clean the inside, like the old head cleaner for a VCR, is there anything like that I could be using?

2. Could I be doing any harm to my DVD's or the player itself by using it when it's starts making the noise?

3. What's the average lifespan of a standard dvd player?


Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
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#2
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12/29/07 at 8:05pm
  • Joined: December 1969
  • Post Count: 7,218

Re: Old DVD player question

1. Is there a way to clean the inside, like the old head cleaner for a VCR, is there anything like that I could be using?

Not really. The mechanisms are totally different. The only "cleaner" available for DVD and CD players is a lens cleaner. That wouldn't help in this situation because if you're hearing a funny noise it has to be a mechanical problem.

2. Could I be doing any harm to my DVD's or the player itself by using it when it's starts making the noise?

It is certainly possible. Could you be doing damage to your car by continuing to drive it when it is making an odd and unexpected noise? Same thing. If the drive is spinning incorrectly, if it is out of balance or spining too fast it could also harm the drive. CDs have been known to "explode" when defective drives spun out of control.

3. What's the average lifespan of a standard dvd player?

The format is only 10 years old, so it is a little hard to tell. I had a Toshiba from 1997 that started acting up after about 5 years and I retired it. But I have an Apex region-free player from 1998 that still works fine. I doubt there is any such thing as an applicable "average" lifespan for SD-DVD players. There are enormous differences in quality and build from one manufacturer to another and from one production year to another from the same factory.

But I'd be thinking about putting that puppy on the shelf and buying something else.

Regards,

Joe
My Home Theater

My DVD Collection

My niece, "Miss Goofy Face"
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#3
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12/29/07 at 8:11pm
  • Joined: December 2003
  • Post Count: 82

Re: Old DVD player question

Actually I'm in the market for a dvd recorder or something like that that I can use to record shows onto dvd. So I plan to be getting something new in the next few months.

But I just got LOST season 3 for Christmas, so I really want to watch it. But now that you said exploding dvds, I may hold off on watching it until I get a new player.
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