Standalones and heat effects.

[dxj40c]

I recently bought a Sony DVP-NS725P because it accepts the DVD+ formats. In the beginning, it sat alone (on top of a speaker cabinet) and worked great. Then I stuck it in the stereo component rack with only a VCR sitting on top of it. The front and back of the rack are open.

Now, after about an hour into movies, the audio continues but the video reverts back to the movie beginning (an hour off-sync). This only happens with copies and these copies worked fine when the unit was on the speaker cabinet.

I observed that the standalone unit gets a lot hotter when it plays copies, not originals. My question: Does a DVD player have to work harder to read the copies? I mean the top of the unit is about 120 degrees where it only gets about 90 degrees with a pressed disk.

I'm going to put the unit back where it was, but I was just curious if anyone else has experienced this? I have read in this forum where heat is an issue with labels but this is doesn't really make sense unless the unit has to work harder for copies.

[Tommyknocker]

What speed were the copies? 2, 4x?

[GT Music]

I too had a strange effect with my backups. After about an hour or hour and a half the playback began to studder / pixulate and freeze up. I took the cover off of the unit and played the same backup DVD and it played through just fine. Put the cover back on and again the same problem I took a can of compressed air and when the disk began to pixulate I gently shot a blast of air through the crack of the drive tray and the disk began to play again until 5 minutes or so and ... OOPS! 8) ... studder again.. sprayed a little air... and it continued to play.. Now how weird is that???. My solution was to drill small holes in the cover of the player to allow the heat ot escape quicker. I have had no further problems with playing my backups. Go figure!

[Roll Tide]

I recently bought a Sony DVP-NS725P because it accepts the DVD+ formats. In the beginning, it sat alone (on top of a speaker cabinet) and worked great. Then I stuck it in the stereo component rack with only a VCR sitting on top of it. The front and back of the rack are open.

There's your answer. NEVER put a DVD Recorder in an enclosed cabinet. Most have vents and a fan and must get adequate airflow. They simply create too much heat. I have a Panasonic recorder and it requires that the vents on both sides are clear, as well as the fan at the back. Mine sits on top of an entertainment center, and I've never had a problem.

My belief is that you should always go with an open-air type of setup on all components. I fried a very nice Sony VCR once by leaving it closed up in an entertainment center cabinet for months.

[redwudz]

I've ran into the same problem with a APEX 1500. My guess is that overheating affects the focus of the laser on the disc. I've noticed when I have problems reading a disc and I open the drawer, that the disc is unusually warm. If I leave the drawer open for a few minutes, the player will resume reading normally. I think the player companies are trying to cram too much electronics into too small an area with little regard to heat dissipation. Maybe install a small fan (40MM) on the back of the case would help.

[boonie]

dxj40c, you wrote...

I observed that the standalone unit gets a lot hotter when it plays copies, not originals. My question: Does a DVD player have to work harder to read the copies? I mean the top of the unit is about 120 degrees where it only gets about 90 degrees with a pressed disk.


I'm having the same problem, now with three different standalone DVD players. And only with copies. I'm wondering if you found an answer to your question above, because this is getting pretty frustrating to watch a movie, get interested, and then it starts skipping when it gets warm. I can put it in another player and go to the place where it skipped, and it's fine for a while. Then it starts skipping when it gets warm again... Any suggestions?

[redwudz]

Probably the same suggestion as I gave above. Install a small 12V fan, if possible. I have a SONY DVD player now, slimline case. No heat problems, but it doesn't get hot where I live.

12V DC is pretty common inside of DVD players, just tap in. If that worries you, get a 'wall wart' DC power supply and run it from that. If taking the cover off your player solves the heat problems, then a fan might be the easy solution.

I think a DVD player has to work a little harder to track the 'grooves' on a burnt DVD as compared to 'commercial' DVD.

I can hear my laptop DVD drive 'seeking' after about 10 minutes of accessing files on a data DVD. If I open the drive, the disk is hot. If I let it cool down for a few minutes, it reads fine until it heats up again. I don't think the heat is from the laser, but from the tracking motor/actuator.

[NightWing]

Heat is a killer for electronics. When I work on a electronic line the next to final test was to cycle the Tranceivers for about 30 minuts to 1 hours simulating standard use. Found a few but made the product more stable.

Also different materia expands diferently. In that, parts that may meet spect in the few seconds of testing may go out of spect after running warm and hot. The old SR71 plane leaked like a sive untill it got up to operating tempature.

I know that in the CD world Pressed disk are more reflective than a burn disk. I am guessing DVD are in the same concept. So odd are it takes a bit more omph to see it. This could be the reasion why burnners go bad. Heat and poor disk that require more energy in the beam.

The main thing is vent hot air from these units.

[overloaded_ide]

I agree witht the heat stuff.

Don't sit it on anything (that makes heat), anything on it, and keep it in open air space, not enclosed in any type of cabnet.

I often see VHS decks on top of VHS decks, same with DVD players. They all make heat, heat rises! So the bottom unit is making warm/hot air to cool the top unit with! Doesn't seem to smart to do that, but yes even I have done that at times myself. Mostly for short times like dubbing Tape to Tape or DVD to tape and space was limited.

Keep em cool!

[maansingh169]

i have a cabnet with a glass door in the front....sometimes i forget to turn off my vcr and dvd players......and i have been noticing a slower playback or malfunctioning like described by other users above......if just installing a normal fan....like a small deskfan from walmart....just to keep the air circulating...do you think that will do it......

[samijubal]

I use one of those miracle thaw trays over the power supply, hanging the edges over the side for better heat dissipation, keeps the unit much cooler.

[RickTheRed]

I'm happy to have found this thread
I was suspecting heat to cause playback problems.
Why?
Perfectly burned TY01 with Nero - Iso file with pioneer 108 latest upgrade (f/w & s/w) was playing in every player that I've tried except one that was freezing after 10 minutes.
I've tested the media. Perfect burn.
I've tried many different TY01 - same results.
I've tried Ritek G04 and they were all playing 'till the end.

I was questioning myself.
Why the TY01, one of the best media, is not playing well? I can understand that a player is media picky but I did not expect to be picky with TY01s. And why after 10-15 minutes?
Heat seems to be the cause.
And the TY01 that I've been using are thicker (compared to G04).

I'm wondering if thickness can be a factor, but at least, I know what to try with this player.

[lordsmurf]

Heat ruins things. The end.