DVD recorders and heat problems

[samijubal]

I've never liked how hot my JVC gets when the power is off, the top is very hot to the touch at times. Since heat is the number one cause of part failure, I have been trying to think of a way to keep it from getting so hot without doing anything to void the 5-year warranty. I finally found something very simple that works extremely well. I took one of those thaw trays that are for thawing frozen foods, they are made to dissipate cold but work just as well with heat, turned it upside down and put it on the top of the recorder over where the power supply is with the side and back edges sticking out a couple of inches for better heat dissipation. This works like a charm, it sucks the heat out of the unit and the top never even gets slightly warm anymore. Anyone with recorders that get too hot you can use this method to keep them cool without having to make any modifications to the unit itself.

[lordsmurf]

I'll be sure to try this. Even with my heat mods on the LiteOn 5001, it can still get warm after 3-4 hours.

As far as my JVC, perfectly cool 100% of the time, even with discs in it.

[cchang]

I've never liked how hot my JVC gets when the power is off, the top is very hot to the touch at times. Since heat is the number one cause of part failure, I have been trying to think of a way to keep it from getting so hot without doing anything to void the 5-year warranty.

For JVC you can set the display set to "power save on", then it will turn off display completely (clock off) and stays cold. (manual page 99)

[gshelley61]

I've never liked how hot my JVC gets when the power is off, the top is very hot to the touch at times. Since heat is the number one cause of part failure, I have been trying to think of a way to keep it from getting so hot without doing anything to void the 5-year warranty.

For JVC you can set the display set to "power save on", then it will turn off display completely (clock off) and stays cold. (manual page 99)

Yes, correct. If you leave it in the default "quick start up" setting instead of setting to "power save" mode, the JVC stays on in a sort of suspended but ready state (and gets warm). Mine never gets hot, though. It's out in the open so maybe it is dissipating the heat that would likely build up if it was in a cabinet.

[lordsmurf]

See, this is strange.
I never tinkered with these settings.
My unit is never warm.

I need to see what mode it's in.

[samijubal]

I used one before the one I have now and when it got warm the fan would come on and cool the unit off and then shut off, the one I have now the fan has never come on with the power off. I opened up the recorder before using the tray and after both, before the inside around the power supply was very hot, after it was a little warmer than I'd like but far cooler than it was before. How long does it take to power up from the power save mode?

[pepegot1]

My JVC gets slightly warm, to the touch, in the Power Saving mode.

[cchang]

How long does it take to power up from the power save mode?

It will blink for 20 seconds in "wake up" phase then go into loading phase like the power save off mode.

[samijubal]

Sounds scary after I had to take the last one in to be repaired because it kept going into the loading mode half the time I tried to use it. Don't know if I want to brave that power save or not. The tray seems to work great.

[pepegot1]

Just got a new JVC M10
When I have "power saving on", the machine is cool. However, when I program using "Manual Timer" the last step says, "press "Timer button on remote." When this is done, the machine heats up.
Question 1: Do I need timer engaged to record, or can I just ignore the last step?
This is not a cool design-no pun intended.

Question 2:If you are on vacation, etc., and record a tv show, will the timer setting shut off? If not, you will have a hot box.

[samijubal]

You do have to push the timer button on the remote to timer record if left on the factory settings. There is someplace in the setup menus, I don't remember exactly where, that you can set the timer to activate automatically when the power is turned off without having to push the timer button. It's called (auto timer) look on page 100 in the owners manual. That is not the factory setting though. I've never used power save, so I don't know about timer recording from that mode.

[chicola]

samijubal,

can you post a link to an image of one of those "thaw trays"? To see if they exist around here.

[samijubal]

This is an e-bay link, found other places to purchase but no pictures. http://search.ebay.com/miracle-thaw_W0QQsokeywordredirectZ1QQsonewuserZ1 It's called Miracle Thaw.

[chicola]

Thankx, never saw anything like that around here!

I must enter the Matrix...

[xiaNaix]

Mircale Thaw is one of those "as seen on TV" products. Alot of malls have "as seen on TV" stores in them. Places like Target and WalMart also carry alot of those products.

[pepegot1]

But, without power save you have a hot box. If I am around, I can put on "Timer mode" just before the recording starts. However, if I am away for a couple of weeks I will have a hot box. Not too good.

[samijubal]

That's exactly what it is, one of those TV things you supposedly can't live without. I bought mine at some little store down the street that sells that stuff for 1/3 or so what they go for on TV. I don't think they are as easy to find as they were a few years ago, that TV stuff is popular for awhile and then fades away into obscurity. I've had mine for years.

[ejai]

Since I've gotten my JVC back from repair I have been sure to keep the unit in power save mode. It never seems to get hot, but I'm not sure if that was the problem before that cause the laser to go bad.

I also noticed that I have never gotten that flashing "LOADING" error since I got it back. This is an error that I was getting from time to time before the unit stopped working.

[samijubal]

So it doesn't go into loading when powered on from power save? The replacement I got hasn't gone into loading either thankfully.

[ejai]

I bought another JVC recorder for my son and it has never flashed 'LOADING" since the first time it was turned on. I now look at the the LOADING statement as a warning of things to come. 8)

[ejai]

So it doesn't go into loading when powered on from power save? The replacement I got hasn't gone into loading either thankfully.

Correct, I have not seen the dreaded LOADING statements on either machine even after the power save mode was activated.

[samijubal]

Have to give it a try then. Someone else a few posts back mentioned something about loading and scared me off, don't want to see that again. Do you timer record and if so does it work the same when in the power save mode?

[cchang]

Have to give it a try then. Someone else a few posts back mentioned something about loading and scared me off, don't want to see that again. Do you timer record and if so does it work the same when in the power save mode?

I just said "loading phase", not "flashing loading warning sign". All the recorder booting process will have a loading phase to recognize the disc.

In timer recording, auto or not, the power save mode does not work.

[pepegot1]

In timer recording, auto or not, the power save mode does not work.

And that sucks!

[samijubal]

That does suck. What good is power save if I can't timer record? Oh well, so much for the power save I guess, won't work for me. I guess the thaw tray stays.

[Offroad]

My DR-M10 is in a HT Cabinet with a door. The cabinet "is" ventilated however, with two 80mm PC case fans at the top and there is an intake at the bottom of the door. I recently raised the JVC off of the component below by using two 2''x1/2" strips of wood I covered with black felt.

The DR-M10 seems to be running alot cooler since it now has 1/2" of air all around the bottom. If your not going to use a thaw tray or something like it you might want to try this.

[samijubal]

On the upside of the JVC heat problems, they did at least use high temp capacitors in most of the power supply. That doesn't mean they don't go bad, I've replaced many of them in Panasonic VCRs, but they do last longer in high heat environments. This doesn't really have anything to do with heat problems, but on the downside, I didn't see a single IC protector inside the DVD recorder anywhere, their VCRs used 4-6 or so of them.