Pioneer DV333 woes

[kenmo]

My Pioneer DV333 is now giving me some woes....

When I use either the tray open button on the player or on the remote, 4 out of 5 times the tray will open and then close really fast. I can live with it but it's really annoying. When it first happened to me, I placed a dvd-r into the tray but it was not sitted properly, causing a bad scratch on the disc....Which ironically still plays fine in all my dvd players, but I can not backup.....

Anyone else having this tray problem with their Pioneer ?

[vpower]

Yes...I do have the same problem....with 2 different pioners drive!!!

[FOO]

I have one that does that. I think the MPAA has remotely
changed the firmware.
Can't imagine why
I think it's trying to bite me.

I keep a piece of raw meat handy to bait it

[lordsmurf]

One of my customers blamed me recently for bad service... turns out it was a Pioneer DV333 giving him hell.

[vittorioviegas]

The same tray problem happened with me. But there's nothing more to complain, I think besides that it is a very good DVD.

[kenmo]

My trays woes are still continuing with my Pioneer DV333....anyone know of any fixes for this....?????

Thanks

[Manokat]

One of my friends has a DV333. He has been having this problem for months now. It is a nice player though....picture quality wise.....

[kenmo]

I took the cover off of my Pioneer and it appears it does not use a generic IDE DVD-Rom like my Norcent DP300. It looks like something proprietory...The ribbon cable is really not near as wide as an ide cable...

[kenmo]

sorry to sound like a broken record....but can I assume no one else is having this problem with their Pioneer.... ???? Or knows of a fix for this.....

Thanks

[Edmund Blackadder]

I have Pioneer DV-535, which is the PAL/NTSC multiregion version of DV-333. It has developed the same exact problem. Just now I tried, and it took me 6 times to push "Open" button to make the tray stay open. When it was just beginning to happen, it was only one time it would close by itself, but now the number of times increases.

Saying all that, it's still my favorite DVD player of all times. It works like a tank, the loading times are lightning fast, the picture quality is great, no chroma bug, plays any media in almost any condition, including DVD+R DL. So I'm gonna keep it as long as the rest of the features work.

I have also Pioneer DV-533 (same as DV-440 I think), it's got more features, including MP3 playback, but has a chroma bug.

Now I got Pioneer DV-366 which can play one of my DVD+R DL's with 998 high quality VBR MP3 tracks on it (having 88 hours of music on one disc is something else ). Great multiregion player, no chroma bug, but it's slower in response than the previous 2 players.

So, for DVD-Video playback DV-535 is still my favorite player, even with its tray going nuts. Long live DV-535!

[kenmo]

The problem is sometimes the tray will open, close several times...maybe 10....

I tried cleaning the mechanism by removing the cover and blowing compressed air on it....It did work fine for 3 days then went back to it's bad boy mode...

It appears the dvd drive is not a generic ide rom drive....

Surely there most be a way to fix it....

[Edmund Blackadder]

I tried cleaning the mechanism by removing the cover and blowing compressed air on it....It did work fine for 3 days then went back to it's bad boy mode...
Surely there most be a way to fix it....

I honestly think that it's not a mechanical problem, but a logical/electronic problem. It must be a firmware bug that keeps growing larger the older the player gets. So I don't think there could be a fix to it without reprogramming/upgrading firmware.

One way to find out if it's a mechanical issue is to find somebody with a properly working DV-333 or DV-535 and trying to swap the DVD readers. But as I said, I think it's a logical problem.

[kenmo]

No firmware upgrade available....I just checked the Pioneer site....

[kenmo]

Anyone know if the firmware on this player can be upgraded....???

[otpw1]

Didn't Baldrick have one of these critters?
Maybe I'm drinking bath water!!!

[kenmo]

Was Baldrick having this problem as well ????

[Baldrick]

Yes and I'm using my pioneer as a footrest now.

[kenmo]

Can I assume you had the same disc tray problem....????

[kenmo]

This player is highly rated here....so can I assume not everyone who owns this player has this problem....????

When I first had this problem I took it back to the retailer (Future Shop) who had it for about a month....after which it worked flawlessly for about 8 months...then started doing the same thing over again....

The work order for the previous repairs reported the only work done was a thorough cleaning....

[kenmo]

Just opened the case on my Pioneer DV333 and using a can of compressed I cleaned inside... I also had the tray in the opened position....

I then put it back together...AND I was able to successfully open the tray door at least 20 times in a row... with no sudden closings....

Prior to this I would have to open the tray at least 5 times before it would stay opened....

I don't know if my success is a flike or not....

[Edmund Blackadder]

Just opened the case on my Pioneer DV333 and using a can of compressed I cleaned inside... I also had the tray in the opened position....
I then put it back together...AND I was able to successfully open the tray door at least 20 times in a row... with no sudden closings....

Maybe I should try that too with my DV-535. Because in recent days I literally have to hold the tray by hand in order to make it stay open! If I try my luck otherwise, it takes about 30 to 50 times pushing eject button before the tray will stay open.

[pbhalerao]

I have the same problem with my Pioneer DVD Player (DV-K301C). I thought that this might be because of dust. Haven't got around to cleaning as yet. Will check and confirm.

Regards,

[FulciLives]

My Pioneer DVD player is model DV-606D which is a USA model that I bought pre-modified to be region free (it plays NTSC and PAL but does no internal conversion). As I recall this model was a 3rd generation DVD player by Pioneer when most other companies were only on a 2nd generation model. The damn thing cost me $725 but I think the standard, non-modified region one USA version was about $550 at the time.

This is a rather old model now but it is built like a tank and still works and the quality of the output is most excellent so this is my main DVD player except for PAL DVD discs ... for that I now use a Cyberhome CH-DVD 500 since it is region free and does PAL to NTSC conversion (before I used the Pioneer DV-606D with a separate PAL to NTSC standards converter box).

My Pioneer DV-606D is also doing the tray in and out trick. I often just "grab" the tray and hold it so I can insert or remove a DVD disc without the damn tray closing on me and scratching the DVD disc (yes this happened once to me). I thought it was just because the thing was so damn old ... I had no idea it was a Pioneer DVD problem (which apparently covers several models over several years).

However, despite this, I will be sad when this player eventually stops working

My next DVD player will probably be a JVC pre-modifed to be region free since the JVC DVD players seem to do the best PAL to NTSC conversion. The Cyberhome CH-DVD 500 is good at this (especially the frame rate aspect of it as well as the image sharpness) but the image is a bit dark and has a slight "redish" tint.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[edDV]

I've got the Pioneer DV-363 and so far have no problems. I'm going to baby that disc drawer from now on.

[ice-berg]

i recently got a pioneer dv-578A-s, and it giving me a bigger headache than a tray problem. the player is scratching my discs. and when i say scratching i mean deep wide scratches.
anyone has this problem?

[proxyx99]

Maybe I should try that too with my DV-535. Because in recent days I literally have to hold the tray by hand in order to make it stay open! If I try my luck otherwise, it takes about 30 to 50 times pushing eject button before the tray will stay open.

My Pioneer DV-606D is also doing the tray in and out trick. I often just "grab" the tray and hold it so I can insert or remove a DVD disc without the damn tray closing on me and scratching the DVD disc (yes this happened once to me).
- John "FulciLives" Coleman

You could use a stick to hold the tray.

Ha ha, this seems like a good material for a short film...
Fulcilives, gotta watch your hand, you may loose your fingers... That would be first time in history... it may qualify for a recall if this is a safety hazard sorry, but that sounds hilarious

[FulciLives]

Hey at least my Pioneer is one of those old models built like a tank ... in other words it weighs a ton.

These newer models weigh so little ... I'm surprised when people pull on the tray to hold it open that they aren't pulling the DVD player out and off of the rack LOL

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Edmund Blackadder]

Hey at least my Pioneer is one of those old models built like a tank ... in other words it weighs a ton.
These newer models weigh so little ... I'm surprised when people pull on the tray to hold it open that they aren't pulling the DVD player out and off of the rack LOL

I have a nice lamp sitting on top of my fairly lightweight DV-535. So this Pioneer is not moving anywhere when I'm holding its naughty tray

[proxyx99]

This qualifies for a Sticky TIP OR TRICK I guess.

[edDV]

I have a 15" CRT side monitor sitting on mine