Panasonic E100H won't read disks

[mfaust1071]

Stated simply, the machine will not read any disks. It attempts to do so, and after 10-20 seconds gives the onscreen message "CANNOT READ. PLEASE CHECK THE DISK."

It started doing this about 18 months ago. (It's about 5-6 years old.) I noticed that if I opened and closed the disk drawer a few times, it would eventually read the disk. But over time it took more and more attempts to get it to work, and after about two months it wouldn't read disks at all. The local authorized repair facility said that essentially the entire operating mechanism would have to be replaced by Panasonic at a cost of (as best I recall) $400. Couldn't afford that, so I just used it to record from cable, then output the signal to another DVR.

A few months ago I gave it another try, and voila! It read and recorded disks just fine. But the old problem slowly returned, and now it won't read disks at all.

Can anyone hazard a guess as to what the problem might be? I will happily get it repaired, but I can't believe that the entire "mechanism" has to be replaced. Unfortunately I am too technically ignorant to argue otherwise with a technician, even though I suspect the one who looked at it (not a Panasonic employee) probably did next to nothing to investigate it. For $400 I would be better off investing in a new machine, but I really like this one.

Any help is hugely appreciated. Thanks!

[Captain Satellite]

Sure enough. Believe it or not this has come up many times concerning the Panasonic DVD recorder. The simple solution is a laser cleaning disc. The laser is dirty. At least that was the cure for many of us here with the same problem. I know you're thinking it can't be that easy. Well, this time it probably is...

http://www.amazon.com/Memorex-CD-DVD-Player-Laser-Lens-Cleaner/dp/B00008EM7U

[mfaust1071]

Sure enough. Believe it or not this has come up many times concerning the Panasonic DVD recorder. The simple solution is a laser cleaning disc. The laser is dirty. At least that was the cure for many of us here with the same problem. I know you're thinking it can't be that easy. Well, this time it probably is...

http://www.amazon.com/Memorex-CD-DVD-Player-Laser-Lens-Cleaner/dp/B00008EM7U

Thanks for the reply.

That had occurred to me, so I went out and bought the only laser lens cleaner I could find locally. Manufactured by Scotch, it is a CD-sized disk with a half dozen small brushes sticking out of the bottom. Presumably they are intended to brush off the lens—except that the E100H rejects it, even when it's in the mood to take other disks. Are other lens cleaning disks different in nature?

[handyguy]

unplug it & open it up & clean it that way. Thats what I do. Don't use a disk on a nice recorder like that.

[lordsmurf]

"Disc cleaners" often cause more harm than anything else. Abrasive little pieces of crap.

[jjeff]

When you have it apart you should also clean the spindle. It's the rubber part that holds the spinning disc near the center of the disc. It gets dusty and if the disc slips it can cause what you're describing. Note laser disc cleaners do nothing for the spindle. Taking apart is the only way to clean the spindle.
http://club.cdfreaks.com/f106/fixing-your-panny-when-theres-fault-lens-cleaning-doesnt-help-210507/
Link to a post talking about cleaning the spindle.

[mfaust1071]

I opened the E100H up, with great trepidation given that I'm terrified of this sort of thing. The disk mechanism is enclosed in a black metal box, to which are attached (by screws) several black rubber or plastic strips, whose purpose I gather is to move the disk tray in and out of the body. I tried removing these screws, but it didn't seem to loosen the metal piece any, and I'm frankly leery of proceeding further and possibly causing damage. Does anyone have any experience in opening an E100H? Other posts seem to regard the E55 - are they teh same but for the amount of storage capability on the hard drive?

[jjeff]

I'm not familiar with the E100 but here's a link to a thread with several good photos of the '05 Panasonic DVD drive (black plastic cover) and the '06 DVD drive (silver colored tin cover). Maybe one of these photos will help.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14479898#post14479898
Digado has posted on several forums and has contributed many nice photos of the inner workings of Panasonic DVDRs.