Why do my DVD players keep dying?

[BirdDaddie]

I am on the fifth one it appears that if I leave a disc in for a few days they quit working,don't they have protection from this sort of thing?
My philips 5140 will read a cd but not a dvd now.

[zoobie]

did you feed and water it?

[BJ_M]

dont leave a disk in it

[JimboS]

http://www.howstuffworks.com/dvd1.htm

[buttzilla]

Maybe they don't like your taste in videos and are committing suicide

[SCDVD]

Maybe you are doing something dumb that you haven't told yet.

[lordsmurf]

Do you smoke?
Do you have indoor pets?
Do you have it plugged into a surge protector or UPS?
Do you have a lot of dust in your home?
How humid is your location on the planet?
Are you buying crap?

[cyflyer]

I have a couple of friends who seem to get through a lot of dvd players also, but the one thing they have in common is, KIDS ! Kids that like to poke, scratch, thump, play rough, put marmelade on dvd. Do you have kids ?

[RabidDog]

Because they were sent to the war in Iraq?

[BirdDaddie]

All I do is leave a disc in on the menu for a couple of days and my player quits working.Shouldn't players have built in protection against burn in(which I suspect is what is happening)

[classfour]

The first KLH that I bought.....I sold because it couldn't read VCDs.
The first JVC that I bought.....died within one month. Sold it 1 month after it was repaired (which took 8 months).
The first Pioneer that I bought (when the JVC went into the shop) lasted 4 years, then started getting picky about discs - still plays, just not all the time.
The first Apex that I bought AD1100....bought because it could be hacked, finally died of heat (prostration, exhaustion, etc.) because I kept leaving it on - found out they have a real problem with heat build up....It quit reading -R media, but will read commercial discs.
The second Apex that I bought (picked up on sale for $40 shipped) AD2600...Very nice looking unit, started acting up this year after two years of use (really wierd things, too). I think I kept leaving that one on the "MENU" screen, also.

Had some Panasonics in between these - they all dies HO1 error or H07 error deaths....quit spending money on Panasonic players (I have two Panny recorders that work great!!!)

I'm going to shout this: FINALLY BOUGHT ANOTHER PIONEER. When I opened the box, I found "Made In Japan" on the back. It weighs double the Apex models, and hasn't so much as hiccupped on anything.

[somebodeez]

I've never had that happen but we never leave discs in the players either.
Once we're done watching, the discs get removed and put away and the player gets powered off.

[bbanderic]

All I do is leave a disc in on the menu for a couple of days and my player quits working.Shouldn't players have built in protection against burn in(which I suspect is what is happening)

Leaving the disc in your player for days, on the menu, powered on ...probably explains why your players keep shittin' the bed.

Why would you do that? Lazy?

[ntscuser]

All I do is leave a disc in on the menu for a couple of days and my player quits working.Shouldn't players have built in protection against burn in(which I suspect is what is happening)

That is why I include a "force playback" command on every DVD I author or copy. The clever ones will even cycle through each menu and extra in turn before returning to the main movie

[samijubal]

If you keep buying Philips, no wonder. I've been using DVD players since 98, I haven't had one die yet.

[lordsmurf]

You leave it on for a few days? Well, duh. HEAT!

[TBoneit]

I have to say the same thing why would you leave it on working for days. It is probably a combination of heating problems and wearing out the laser.

The drive is spinning and the laser working when it is on with a disc in it. Even at the menu. They do not just read the menu and then suspend activity.

[spamalam]

get an xbox, mod it, should last a few years.... it will play everything barring hdtv, its got a great interface and its essentially a pc, hence why it won't "philips up" on you.

It even plays games, but i lost my pad about a year ago...

[lumis]

I've had very good luck with Pioneer DVD players. A lot of people consult me when making home electronics purchases, I always suggest Pioneer DVD players.

The only person I know who has had problems with their Pioneer DVD player has all the negative conditions that lordsmurf mentioned, and then some.

[Constant Gardener]

Take the disc out and turn off the player; consumer units are not built for constant use. Vacuum dust, fur, spiderwebs and such at least once a month. If you have young kids, or careless adults, don't buy an expensive DVD player.

[SteveMKIIDub]

I think turning them off when you don't need them off and keeping them and the area around them dust free should be the first concern.

[MJA]

electricity issue ?

[Coolpplse]

Spin motors in DVD Players, CD Players, DVD Drives, CD Drives are not made to spin for days 24/7!

On top of that keeping any movie spinning like that for days will start to wear the medium itself!

Hard drives are different as they were designed to spin constantly for long periods of time.

[BirdDaddie]

it's not the motors that are wearing out,they will still spin up the disc just fine
I would have thought that a player would have some protection from this like an auto power off after a period of inactivity

[Jim44]

I would have thought that a player would have some protection from this like an auto power off after a period of inactivity

I'm surprised no one suggested this earlier - read your manual.

I just downloaded the manual for the Philips 5140, and on page 32 it describes "Sleep" mode. This is a series of settings that will turn the player off after certain amount of inactivity. You need to set it yourself, as the factory default appears to be "Off".

If, for some reason, you don't have your manual, the link for the PDF is:
http://www.p4c.philips.com/na4/d/dvp5140_37/dvp5140_37_dfu_aen.pdf
(it was from a Doom9 forum post, which was the 2nd Google hit for "philips 5140 manual".)

The Internets are amazing

Good luck,
Jim

[handyguy]

"few days they quit working"

Like how? Did you try unplugging it for a minute & plug back into wall?

[ozymango]

I would have thought that a player would have some protection from this like an auto power off after a period of inactivity

That was my first thought as well, I didn't know you could leave a player powered on for days! I've got two DVD players, a Toshiba and a Magnavox, and both default to power off within a couple of hours, if you don't touch anything. I can have it paused, or still frame, or menu, or whatever, and if I forget I left it like that, when I come back (couple of hours later) the player has shut itself off.

So maybe buy yourself a Toshiba DVD player!

[oldandinthe way]

All these posts and no one suggested making sure there is sufficient clearance to allow the ventilation.

Lord Smurf mentioned HEAT, the most likely culprit, but I'd bet that all of these failed players have been in the same location. All with inadequate ventilation.

The players might still fail without leaving thewm on 24/7 but it sure didn't help.

The manual probably recommends clearances. I personally allow 12" on all sides and above on all small case consumer electronics. And I don't use my players to block the ventilation holes on other devices (like VCRs).

[BirdDaddie]

no the players were at two different locations and heat does not seem to be the issue as there is ventalation room

[lordsmurf]

Internal heat is the problem, not external.