Dust Problems (1 Viewer)

[Benjamin.D]

I own a Panasonic SC-Ht900 (5-disc changer and reciever in one) and I have lately been having dust problems with my DVDs. Even brand new DVDs pixelate to some extent on the carsouel player. There always seem to be specks of dust on my discs now. This is very aagravating and I need advice. I use a grab-it cloth on the exposed part of the receiver every day and I have only had this Panny unit for only a few months.

Please help!!

Ben

 

[Ted Lee]

Even brand new DVDs pixelate to some extent on the carsouel player

are you sure it's the dust causing the problems? it could be a symptom of the electronics.

also, are you saying that totally clean dvd's come out of the machine with dust on them? that's pretty intense. i guess i would open that bad-boy up and take a can of compressed air to it. just be careful of the laser assembly.

are there vents on the top of this unit? i'm not sure what a grab-it cloth is, but make sure that you're not "wiping" the surface. i guess if there were a lot of dust, by wiping the surface, you could inadvertently be "pushing" it into the unit?

where is the unit sitting? is it by a window or under a vent, etc? maybe that could also be an issue.

 

[Benjamin.D]

The unit sits on the bottom of a VCR, in a stack of components inside a home "entertainment center" piece of furnture. There are no vents on top or on the sides of the unit. A considerable amount of dust had collected on the top of the keep/snapper DVD cases, I dusted the tops (with the grab-it cloth) yesterday, but I am unsure whether that will have an effect. Do carosuel players collect more dust than a single player?

Thank you!!!

Ben

 

[Ted Lee]

hmm...i suppose carosel players may allow more dust into the unit. it does have a bigger drawer.

i guess i'm not 100% convinced it's a dust issue.

does this pixelation occur on all your dvd's, or just some? is it random or does it always seem to be the same dvd's?

 

[Benjamin.D]

It's on some of the DVDs, although my copy of "1776" has dust specks, and dosen't pixelate (or freeze) on this player, but it has on someone else's player. My copy of "Time After Time" froze last night about ten-to-fifteen minutes into the movie, I removed a speck or two of dust, and it did not freeze in the same place. I'm not sure whether it's dust or not.

Thanks,
Ben

 

[Cagri]

I recently discovered that all my DVDs in snapper cases collect dust and develop stains. This doesn't happen with the DVDs in keep cases.

 

[Benjamin.D]

I have quite a few Warner titles...... that's not good news.

Ben

 

[MattJacobs]

I have the sc-ht900 also, and have noticed the same type of problems. I get random pixelation, jumps/skips, and audio blips. I have noticed the dust thing, too. I try to wipe my discs before I watch them but the problem happens sometimes anyway. I am still wondering if it is a dirty disc problem or a problem with the dvd unit. Are you still having problems, Ben?

 

[Jack Briggs]

Benjamin, given where your player is located I think you're letting it overheat -- and overheating will result in video artifacting such as you describe (not to mention shortening the life of the player). JB

 

[Benjamin.D]

I'm still having problems, and I just called Panasonic and the advised me to check the problem out by using the yellow video cable that came with the unit. The overheating idea seems to make sense, I'm going to see if I can try it.

Thanks!!
Ben

 

[MattJacobs]

After reading Jack's last post I felt the top of the ht900 unit and it was quite hot. I had mine sitting in the cabinet of my TV stand with the cable box and VCR on it. I first tried putting 2-inch spacers in to prop up the cable box so there was some space between the devices for the heat to dissipate. That did not work, as I had the same issues happen and the top of the Panasonic unit was still quite hot during DVD play. Now I have a fan blowing over the unit and it no longer is hot when playing a DVD and I haven't had a problem to this point (after watching about 4-5 DVDs). If I can go a month and a lot of DVDs without problem I guess it would be a heat issue and I'll look into getting some smaller fans to put in the cabinet to keep the unit cooler. I'll post back with what I find either way.

 

[Benjamin.D]

I moved the my SC-HT900 unit to a shelf in my cabinet in which there is nothing on top of it. The receiver has about 3 and a half inches of breathing room one the top, and nothing on the bottom but wooden shelf. My copy of Singin' In The Rain (which even after an exchange) still pixelates around the "Moses Supposes" number, but does not seem to stop the movie dead. The person at Panasonic said there was no firmware upgrade for the SC-HT900 (as per another members' suggestion in Home Theater Software), but I will try the video cord switcheroo they suggested, and call them back. If this is a problem that the SC-HT900 has with certain discs, I hope they will work to fix as best they can (If they want to, of course).

Thanks for all the help!!
Ben

 

[MattJacobs]

Well, I'm back to the original problems (i.e. skipping, pixelation, hiccups, screen goes black momentarily, audio blip/buzz/zip). I moved the unit so that nothing was on top of it and it had all the room in the world to breath. I also put a fan over the top and this thing was nice and cool to the touch. I tried putting in the original composite video cable that came with the unit. I cleaned the DVD (Two Towers is the DVD it is worst on) so it was spotless. Same problems over and over. I even played the Two Towers DVD on my other Panasonic DVD player (DVD-RV32) and it played flawlessly! It has to be the unit itself doesn't it? I can't thing of anything else to try. If anyone has any other ideas please let me know. I guess I will also be calling Panasonic support and see what they have to say. Benjamin, are you still having similar problems?

 

[MattJacobs]

I called Panasonic today and they had me try one more thing I hadn't tried yet, reset the system. It did not help, so they said the only thing left to do is take it to a service shop (repaired under warranty of course). So I'll be doing that and hopefully this problem will finally go away.

 

[MattJacobs]

Well, I am finally satisfied (somewhat). I took my HT900 in to a repair shop in February. I ended up having to take it in 4 times during the course of 5 months before Panasonic finally gave me a new one! Panasonic customer service was not impressive at all. I will probably not purchase a Panasonic system again because of this. The good thing about the whole situation is that they sent me the new model (HT920) as a replacement. It sounds much better than the HT900. Tried my trouble movies on it and they play just as they should, only they now sound much better with this new unit! Those of you with the HT900 who are still having problems should look at getting Panasonic to send you the new model, too. You'll be much happier. I am.

 

[MattJacobs]

Well, I am finally satisfied (somewhat). I took my HT900 in to a repair shop in February. I ended up having to take it in 4 times during the course of 5 months before Panasonic finally gave me a new one! Panasonic customer service was not impressive at all. I will probably not purchase a Panasonic system again because of this. The good thing about the whole situation is that they sent me the new model (HT920) as a replacement. It sounds much better than the HT900. Tried my trouble movies on it and they play just as they should, only they now sound much better with this new unit! Those of you with the HT900 who are still having problems should look at getting Panasonic to send you the new model, too. You'll be much happier. I am.