Pioneer Laser Alignment?

[dbedgood]

Hi,

I have a pioneer DV656a and I think that one of the lasers is out of alignment, is there any secret menu system which the engineers may use or something similar where I could do this myself or would I have to send it to a Pioneer service centre?

Appreciate the help

Thanks

Damon

[samijubal]

If that is what it is it requires a special disc to align. What makes you think it's out of alignment? Unless you did something to knock it out of alignment it shouldn't be off. Have you tried cleaning the lens?

[dbedgood]

Well when I first had it it used to play everything VCD, SVCD's DVD-R etc etc but now it will not play any VCD's or SVCD's, even the one's that I used to play on it no longer play, it will still play DVD-R's and original DVD's perfectly but not these for some reason. Someone mentioned that the laser may be out on it. What do you reckon? Any advice would be appreciated as I don't want to get a new one because this one is really good but I would like to resolve it as I have a lot of SVCD movies.

[samijubal]

I have seen a quite a few people on these forums with the same problem, and Pioneer players too. If it still plays DVDs I wouldn't think it's alignment. Have you tried cleaning the lens? You can either buy a lens cleaning CD or open it up and lightly clean with a q-tip wet with alcohol.

[dbedgood]

I have tried cleaning the lens but it still won't play my VCD's or SVCD's. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[samijubal]

Don't know, seems to be a pretty common problem though. I've avoided VCDs for this very reason myself.

[dbedgood]

I think I will have to send it to a pioneer service centre for them to have a look at it. Apparently Pioneers have dual lasers, one for DVD's and one for CD's etc so their may be a problem with one of the lasers.

Do you know where I could obtain the disc to align the lasers? If not I think I will do the above. Thanks for your help.

[samijubal]

The disc is like $80-90, so you could buy another DVD player cheaper. I just bought a JVC which I really like, it has lots of picture settings and plays everything. It also has a direct drive spindle motor, the only way to go. I got it for $39 from Sears liquidation on e-bay. It's an XV-N410B