JVC DR-M10 Loading and Repair Question

[trhouse]

mgy999a,

No offense taken. I applaud anyone's efforts to work on these problems and I do not claim to know all the answers. That is why I prefaced an earlier remark with "the loading problem can cover a multitude of ills" some of which we may not be aware.

I recently had the pleasure of working with "Corona" on extracting the TV Guide and timer functions from my Pioneer hard drive recorder so that the code could be archived for anyone to download should it become corrupted or the hdd should fail and need to be replaced. I have never met "Corona" but I see that the fruit of our efforts, that download file and his instructions, has been downloaded by 150 people so it must be helping someone. That is enough reward for me.

[psmedley]

The person who had a "loading" problem and had the resistors in his unit already in the UK found that the thermal pad to the LSI processor on the digital board was not making contact with the metal can which acts as a heatsink. This caused the LSI part to overheat.

This can be fatal for the LSI processor so I would check that next. After that I would look at the power supply especially the electrolytic capacitors for any signs of bulging or leakage. The capacitors have little lines scored in the tops to let out gases so they do not explode if they overheat. Sometimes a brown liquid will ooze out of the top when they go bad.

Good call. I opened up the unit again this evening, both C5203 & C5208 (both 2200 uF, 10V capacitors) have a slight bulge on top of them.

I saw earlier mention of using higher voltage capacitors - what do people suggest?

Cheers,

Paul.

[mgy999a]

psmedley,

For your capacitor replacements, I suggest 16V radials. They are available in the same diameter package as the 10V version, just slightly taller. The next step up is 25V and those are larger in diameter, which probably won't fit (though I confess I haven't tried one).

Also, two temperature ratings are common for capacitors: 85 degC and 105 degC. Be sure and use the higher rating.

One thing I forgot to mention, do be careful working around switching power supplies. Some of them can store high voltages in the input capacitors, even when the device is unplugged.

Good luck,

mgy999a

[trhouse]

C5203 is the first of two ( the other is C5205 ) capacitors that filter the DC voltage that goes to the regulator, PQ5EV3, which provides a regulated +1.8V labelled D1.8V to the LSI chip.

C5208 is the first of two ( the other is C5308 ) capacitors that filter the voltage labelled DV5V that is only used by the dvd drive. It is also regulated down to provide a +3.3V to the dvd drive for US units but is not used on dvd drives of European units.

[psmedley]

Hi mgy999a!

psmedley,

For your capacitor replacements, I suggest 16V radials. They are available in the same diameter package as the 10V version, just slightly taller. The next step up is 25V and those are larger in diameter, which probably won't fit (though I confess I haven't tried one).

Also, two temperature ratings are common for capacitors: 85 degC and 105 degC. Be sure and use the higher rating.

OK i bought some 2200 uF 16v radials today - a whopping $A 0.90 each. These caps are rather smaller than the current caps (physically) - same diameter but I would say its 10mm shorter than the only other 2200uF 16V cap on the board (ie C5204). I guess this doesn't matter so long as the uF ratings match.... size isn't everything

The only other thing is that the caps I bought have a +/- 20% rating on them - is this good enough? These were the only 2200 uF caps my local store had so I didn't have a whole lot of choice. They are Hitano brand just out of interest.

Thanks for all the help - will try find the soldering iron in the morning - already have the power board out of the player.

Cheers,

Paul.

[mgy999a]

Hi mgy999a!


OK i bought some 2200 uF 16v radials today - a whopping $A 0.90 each. These caps are rather smaller than the current caps (physically) - same diameter but I would say its 10mm shorter than the only other 2200uF 16V cap on the board (ie C5204). I guess this doesn't matter so long as the uF ratings match.... size isn't everything

The only other thing is that the caps I bought have a +/- 20% rating on them - is this good enough? These were the only 2200 uF caps my local store had so I didn't have a whole lot of choice. They are Hitano brand just out of interest.

Cheers,

Paul.

psmedley,

Yes, the +/- 20% rating is standard for aluminum electrolytic capacitors. The advantages of aluminum electrolytic capacitors are high capacitance to size ratio and they are very cheap to manufacture. Disadvantages are loose tolerance, poor performance at low temperatures, and high internal resistance and inductance (which means that they don't do very well at high frequencies). But they do a pretty good job as a filter capacitor in power supplies. Your new capacitors should do the job.

A word of caution. These capacitors are polarized (one side positive, the other negative) and it is very easy to put one in backwards. Bad things happen when one is installed backwards. When you plug in the power supply, the backwards capacitor will likely explode rather violently, causing collateral damage to nearby components.

The capacitor will have a broad colored stripe on one side, identiying that lead as the negative terminal. Check polarity when you remove the old capacitors. If there is any question, the pc board is marked on the bottom side with a small "+" sign to identify the positive terminal. Check it three times when you install it and when you are sure you have it right, check it again.

May I suggest that you take a second look at where you keep your recorder? Is it in a well ventilated location? Mine wasn't. Now that it is out of warranty, I am thinking of adding a small dc brushless ventilation fan inside the unit to help with the heat load. 8)

mgy999a

[trhouse]

Here is a link to the Hitano page on their electrolytic capacitors. Do you notice the Life(Hours)?

http://www.hitano.com.tw/electrolytic.html

1,000 hours is only about 42 days if the unit is plugged in all the time. I hope this is a misprint or these parts are not really intended for products that apply voltage to them 24 hours a day.

[mgy999a]

Here is a link to the Hitano page on their electrolytic capacitors. Do you notice the Life(Hours)?

http://www.hitano.com.tw/electrolytic.html

1,000 hours is only about 42 days if the unit is plugged in all the time. I hope this is a misprint or these parts are not really intended for products that apply voltage to them 24 hours a day.

trhouse,

Good catch. I missed that.

Capacitors are rated in terms of hours of life expectancy at rated temperatures. A thousand hours seems rather short but understand that life expectancy doubles with every 10 degC drop in operating temperature. It now becomes more obvious why ventilation of this recorder is so important.

Also note, that it is difficult to find an aluminum electrolytic capacitor rated for more than 5000 hours at 105 degC. That is due to the nature of the device, which evaporate internally with time, temperature and voltage. When they are dry, they die.

I am confused about the Hitano specs. If I read the chart correctly, I hope that psmedley purchased EHR series capacitors. This is a radial, general purpose, high temp version, available up to 10,000 uF and rated for 2000 hours. If he bought the ECR version, then the life expectancy will be short indeed, since that is only rated to 85 degC. I know he didn't buy the ENR, E5R or EMR versions, since they are not available in 2200 uF.

However, you make a very valid point. Since we know that this power supply runs hot, the longer the life expectancy of the capacitor, the better.

Thanks

mgy999a

[psmedley]

Here is a link to the Hitano page on their electrolytic capacitors. Do you notice the Life(Hours)?

http://www.hitano.com.tw/electrolytic.html

1,000 hours is only about 42 days if the unit is plugged in all the time. I hope this is a misprint or these parts are not really intended for products that apply voltage to them 24 hours a day.

trhouse,

Good catch. I missed that.

Capacitors are rated in terms of hours of life expectancy at rated temperatures. A thousand hours seems rather short but understand that life expectancy doubles with every 10 degC drop in operating temperature. It now becomes more obvious why ventilation of this recorder is so important.

Also note, that it is difficult to find an aluminum electrolytic capacitor rated for more than 5000 hours at 105 degC. That is due to the nature of the device, which evaporate internally with time, temperature and voltage. When they are dry, they die.

I am confused about the Hitano specs. If I read the chart correctly, I hope that psmedley purchased EHR series capacitors. This is a radial, general purpose, high temp version, available up to 10,000 uF and rated for 2000 hours. If he bought the ECR version, then the life expectancy will be short indeed, since that is only rated to 85 degC. I know he didn't buy the ENR, E5R or EMR versions, since they are not available in 2200 uF.

However, you make a very valid point. Since we know that this power supply runs hot, the longer the life expectancy of the capacitor, the better.

The Hitano caps I bought are definitely 105°C rated - so much have at least a 2000 hr life.

It looks like the old caps were CapXon GL series - spec sheet at http://www.capxon.com.tw/product_pdf/GL.pdf - these look like they are designed to have a 6000 hr life.

These were the only caps my local electronics store had so if these fail - I'll try find longer life one's next time.

Thanks again,

Paul.

[trhouse]

Your link to capxon reminded me of something else. It is the "low impedance" Hitano capacitors that you want to use if they are available. This means the EXR or ESX capacitors. The model for an electrolytic capacitor is that they look like a capacitor in series with some resistance and inductance. The "low impedance" versions minimize the inductance part. This is important because switching power supplies operate at frequencies typically between 50 KHz and 250 KHz. When the manufacturer says "low impedance", they mean that the capacitor will look like a short circuit to these frequencies. The other capacitors will not perform as well.

JVC does know how to select the right kind of capacitor for this application although a higher voltage part is even better as mgy999a suggested.

[psmedley]

Your link to capxon reminded me of something else. It is the "low impedance" Hitano capacitors that you want to use if they are available. This means the EXR or ESX capacitors. The model for an electrolytic capacitor is that they look like a capacitor in series with some resistance and inductance. The "low impedance" versions minimize the inductance part. This is important because switching power supplies operate at frequencies typically between 50 KHz and 250 KHz. When the manufacturer says "low impedance", they mean that the capacitor will look like a short circuit to these frequencies. The other capacitors will not perform as well.

JVC does know how to select the right kind of capacitor for this application although a higher voltage part is even better as mgy999a suggested.

I did end up with 16V caps.

These were the _only_ 2200 uF caps I could buy - but if the unit fails again for the same fault - I'll try find better quality caps from a different electronics store.

Thanks again for all you help!

Paul.

[emlsnws]

Hi all,

I've been away from the forum for a good long time now, have got married and have a bairn too. A private email has caused me to come back and look at this topic.

Loads of progress has been made -- top work. Mr trhouse is due some credit. You know your stuff and your reasoned thinking is admirable! I saw my name appear once or twice, and am pleased also to have been of help.

Apologies to markatisu, I must have missed the PM notification email but have just read your July message. If you need anything now, do let me know again.

For the record, my DRMV1 unit is still going strong, it is powered 24/7 but only gets out of standby mode occasionally. I guess that is a good sign that my modifications [some with the angle grinder and drill...] were productive.

I'll keep a weather eye on the forum now, and hopefully notification emails won't get buried!
Simon.

[trhouse]

Hi emlsnws,

Welcome back!

This was quite a "whodunit". We all owe you thanks for posting that photo with the factory added resistors. I went back to your post and found that you were thinking about discovering the purpose of those resistors yourself. At the time, all of us missed their significance.

I now have a second M10S sent to me to test this fix. It is now undergoing a 168 hour ( seven days of continuous on ) test.

I am on a business trip at the moment so will finish up the test probably this weekend. My only regret is that we were unable to help Mig-45. His unit was fixed by the factory.

You have a barn? It sounds like you are out in the countryside.

[emlsnws]

Hi trhouse,

Nope, a bairn is an old northern English / Scottish word for baby. Just over three weeks old, so you can see how there's been lots to keep me away.
I'm not Scottish, but we like to use different words now and then!

Simon.

[jethro12]

Trhouse is correct about the capacitors. If you see leakage or a bulge on top, then it is probably blown. However, the capacitor CAN go bad without any bulge or leakage showing at all. Note the capacitor circled in yellow. It is hard to tell in the photo but this one has a very small bulge on top. So small that I missed it until I was checking the voltages in that part of the circuit and discovered that they were much lower than they should have been.

Also please note that my unit did not die suddenly. When I first saw the loading problem two weeks ago, I unplugged it for two hours, plugged it back in and everything worked fine – for a few hours. And then the loading problem came back. I repeated this process three times – with decreasing effect each time. So it is possible (though not likely, I admit) for a bad capacitor to produce a similar effect to a low clock line.

So, if you check your board, the first thing to do is closely examine the capacitors, especially C5202, C5203, C5204, C5207, C5208 and C5209 for damage. Then check the diodes in-circuit. All of them. A good DVM will allow you to do that without unsoldering the diode. Check output voltages. I honestly don’t know what the configuration of the PAL unit looks like but in the NTSC version pin 2 of IC5302 should be 1.8 to 2.0 vdc. At connector CN5101 there should be -29 vdc at pin 3, -12 vdc at pin 4, +12 vdc at pin 6, +5 vdc at pin 11, +5.3 vdc at pin 12, +3.3 vdc at pin 17 and +48 vdc at pin 19. If any of these voltages are low, then you have a power supply problem. Assuming that one or more voltages are low, unsolder and pull the capacitors. If one of them is bad, be careful what you replace it with. If possible, use a capacitor with a higher voltage rating. And in this power supply, don’t use one unless it is rated for 105 degC.

There are 3 main weaknesses in this power supply design:
1. With the exception of IC5302, most of the heat generating components are all tightly packed together. Not good.
2. The large filter capacitors, transformers and such block the air flow from the ventilation fan at the rear of the unit.
3. The ventilation fan does not operate with the unit turned “off” even though the power supply is still operating. (I verified this after repairing the unit.) Thus the unit can cook itself in its own heat when you think it is turned off!

Also note, that just because JVC may have “fixed” your unit once doesn’t mean the loading problem won’t come back.

Bottom line: Please be careful where you put this recorder. It needs as much ventilation as you can give it.

I hope this helps.

MGY999a

The PS seems to be a weak link in many models of JVC dvd/vcr combo players and recorders I have found.
. The big problem I have found in the DR-MV1s is that the LSI chip
even when the unit is off is using alot of power and the unit heats up
quite a bit. I modified the unit so that the fan now turns on when it
is off but not in power save mode otherwise the capacitors over time
will fail from being overheated.

[ggoat!!!]

Hello everyone...

I know this is a long old topic, but the machines I am going to refer to have just started to exhibit the dreaded "loading" and screen-jizz problems. They both acted up in the same week, with similar results. I purchased two of the DR-MV1S units back at the end of 2004 for my parents; long-time videophiles. My mother recently had a stroke, and wanted my dad to make some home movie dvd's for her to watch. Therein came the current situation.

I have been aware of the "loading" problem for some time, but these machines just for some reason never really had the problem for any length of time; they always fixed themselves without having to do anything to them and always worked when you needed them. Well, now it seems they have both bit the dust.

I read thoroughly all the posts here, and performed the necessary repairs on the first of the two units; upgraded the resistors to 560ohm 2watters (they fit fine), the capacitors to 16v 2200mfd (all I could get locally) and installed the two 1k resistors. This first unit I attempted to repair was the one that showed the LEAST problem before-hand. It just locked up with the "loading" message, but never had the green line display problem. Well, once I put it back together, the loading problem was fixed, but the video output was now merely a black screen with occasional whitish noise spots appearing. Nothing else. Remember, this deck's picture output was fine before it locked up the other day (one of the rare times it developed the "loading" lock up). So, I figured maybe I'd damaged the processor board somehow when I installed the 1k resistors. So...

Being very discouraged, at this point I turned my attention to the 2nd unit, much less used but much more frequently exhibiting the "loading" problem recently. Also, this 2nd unit recently actually HAD the green line/screen display problem. Basically, the 2nd unit was stuck in loading lock-up mode with the green lines. So, rather than repair at this time the capacitors/resistors as I did in the 1st unit, I first decided to see if I really did damage the processor board in the 1st unit by swapping out the processor assembly from the 2nd unit into the 1st unit (with the repaired capacitors/resistors) since the "loading" problem in the 1st unit seemed to have been fixed. BUT...when I installed the processor from the 2nd "less working" locked up DR-MV1S (that I hadn't repaired anything in at this point) in the 1st DR-MV1S that I had just "repaired" (loading problem fixed), the previously repaired "LOADING" message appeared in the 1st unit with the subsequent locking up. Since I had just replaced/repaired the components in this 1st unit and the loading problem disappeared, I'm assuming the processor is fried in the 2nd unit, which is why this processor out of the 2nd unit causes the previously repaired 1st unit to suddenly go back into the "loading" lockup. When I put back the processor from the 1st unit (the one I think I might have damaged) back into this 1st unit, the loading problem disappeared but the screen still remains black with occasional white/noise.

****I'm just reading this over, and it seems a little confusing. Here is a quick sum-up:

1) 1st unit..."loading" locked up, but no previous green lines in screen
2) 2nd unit..."loading" locked up, much more frequent, green lines in screen
3) Repaired capacitors/resistors in 1st unit; loading problem disappeared, but screen now black with occasional white noise
4) Swapped out processor board from untouched 2nd unit into 1st unit; loading lock up problem returned to 1st unit
5) Swapped processor boards back to original state; 1st unit loading problem disappears again, screen remains black with white noise randomly
6) Nothing ever repaired or altered in 2nd unit


So, what I'm wondering is WHAT DO I DO??? I spent over $700 for both of these back then as gifts for my parents. My dad loves using them; he copies home movies all the time. Also, what kills me is the quality of the discs these units make. Sure, they are complicated to work, but they make great copies and clean up signals nicely. I know of NO OTHER current combos with the LS1 chipset, FR recording, and the picture quality of this JVC. The newest version (DR-MV7S) I don't think does the FR mode, which is what my dad uses exclusively. LG has the LS1 chips, but no FR mode.

Are these units worth repairing? To repair them at this point, I think they need entire new processor boards each. Does anyone have any ideas about what else these problems could be? I haven't altered anything in the 2nd unit; the 1st unit again has had at least the capacitors and the resistors repairied properly (except for possibly the resistors on the processor board). Am I correct in my assumption of the death of the processor in my 2nd unit as described above?

If I DO need new processor boards, what would be the likelihood that this will fix these units? What else could go wrong? Are the NEW processor boards that you can buy as parts UPDATED so that you don't have to add the resistors? JVC doesn't seem to be able to tell me. I would never buy the boards and then have to solder resistors to them.

So....PLEASE anyone, help any way you can. Does anyone know where I can get new processor boards CHEAP? The JVC site lists them as nearly $300; they are nearly double that almost everywhere else. I'm not spending that much to fix these.


Looking forward to anyone's help!



Thank you VERY much!
Jeff

[gshelley61]

Buy a couple of working MV1's on eBay if you really want to stay with that model. They are available, and most have already been to JVC Service to correct the "loading" issue. Or get MV5's instead... it replaced the MV1 and did not have the "loading" problem that the earlier JVC's did.

You could have sent both your defective units to JVC for repair (at no charge), even out of warranty. They are still doing that for the "loading" problem. However, since you've already worked on them yourself, I don't know if they will do it for you now.

There is also the SR-MV40, which is JVC's current pro-line DVD Recorder / S-VHS combo unit. Check into it.

The newer Panasonic combo units do a decent job of cleaning up VHS before conversion to DVD (have a look at the DMR-ES35). They have an FR mode, and a much improved encoder over the old Panasonic units.

[emlsnws]

Hi everyone,

I'm still around, just visit occasionally now.

I tried a different brand of disc in my DRMV1S recently (TDK DVD-RW 4x, media code TDK601saku) as I wanted to give the 'old faithful' discs I have been using, a rest. However, this change brought back a lot of failed recording issues from the past. These were unattended (instant record) recordings, so the cause I remember from experience : somewhere during the recording the machine does a reset ("loading") and then the disc is part-written and the new recording is unreadable.

I went back to the 'old faithful' discs, Ridisc purple DVD-RW's (2x, media code TDK502sakuM3) which I've had for 2 years, and all was well. The only trouble I could not pin down to the media was a 2 hour VCR-DVD dub which failed halfway through. A second attempt worked ok. That might have been power supply unable to cope with the load of both halves of the machine in operation.

I still have the service manual PDF I purchased for this unit way back.

[canyon]

Thankyou....Thankyou....Thankyou...

I bought a DR-M1 in London, and had the Loading bug after about 15 months. Even though it was out of warranty, JVC swapped it out for a new DR-M10 in September 2005.
Suddenly, I've got the Loading bug on the new DR-m10, again well out of warranty. As soon as I plug it in it comes up with "loading" indefinitely.
It was a bit of a struggle reading through 16 pages of this thread, but when I saw mgy999a's post near the bottom of page 15, showing what a blown electrolytic really looks like, I knew I could do something about it.
A quick trip to Maplin's on Tottenham Court Road here in London (open on Sunday) to get 3 2200uF 16V electrolytics, total cost £2.15. Ten minutes soldering and it now works again.

[garsonia]

I just wanted to thank everyone for all their hard and thorough work on this thread. Using the information given I was able to repair my DR-M10 unit which was built in June of 2004. A friend of mine gave me this unit last month because he was tired of the random shutdowns he was experiencing. I used it for an entire week burning DVD-RW's and DVD-R's with no trouble at all until one day when I was finalizing a DVD-R. The DR-M10 shutdown for a moment and then the dreading "Loading" appeared. I first did the R5307 and R5308 resistor mod by lifting them up above the row of blocking capacitors as suggested by trhouse. I kept the factory resistors which tested OK. Next I added the two 1K pullup resistors to the digital board. I had 1/4 watt 1% resistors on hand which were too large to solder directly to the digital board as shown in the posts. What I did was hot glue the two resistors to an open spot in the center of the board and then use 30 gauge wire wrapping wire to make the connections. I have to tell you the fix worked right away. I have been using it for a week straight and have been burning a number of DVD's with no operating problems at all. I do not use the power saving feature and I have left the unit on 24/7 since the fix. It has been fine. At the same time I did the fix I also removed that annoying blue LED that lights up the disc tray. It was much too bright for my liking and when I used the lower brightness settings in the controls I could not see the display properly. This was a good compromise. Thanks again and keep up the good work!!

[StuR]

Hi, resurrecting this post as opposed to starting a new-

Can models like the JVC MH20, MH30 be repaired in a similar way as the M10.
I realise loading error could be many problems but can they generally be classed as the same problem.
Also how are the later M100, MH300 models bearing up now, are they looking prone to problems after a good bit of test-time, and if so can they be repaired DIY.

[trhouse]

The answer is not simple. Recorders like the M10S and MV1 are the same generation and share the same video processor module. They would both be prone to develop the green lines and loading problem but the MV1 much less so because the MV1 has a better power supply and European M10S's also have a better power supply. Only US and Canadian M10S's have the power supply that gets too hot. The problem begins with interface issues in the video processor which are aggravated by changes in the power supply voltages. This is why the problem seems to come and go and is affected by unplugging the unit from wall.

If the recorders you are referring to have the same video processor module as either the M10S or MV1 then there is an increased possibility of the problem occuring. This problem is cured by adding the two 1K ohm pullup resistors to the video processor module. The posts above contain photos of this video processor module and p/n which can be used to identify it.

[lordsmurf]

Also how are the later M100, MH300 models bearing up now, are they looking prone to problems after a good bit of test-time, and if so can they be repaired DIY.

You assume the other models need repairs. They are not the same as the DR-M10 from 2004. Those are second-generation machines, and the flaws that infected a minority of first-generation machines no longer exist.

The M20 and M30 are first-gen too, but are UK versions. Those are not the same as the M10 either.

Not all M10 versions were affected by the power supply problem (which caused a default error message of "LOADING" to appear on the LED readout), and of those that were, they were primarily North American units.

[trhouse]

Not all M10S's or MV1's or recorders of that generation require the fix. At some point, JVC implemented the change to the video processor assembly to alleviate the problem. This was how it was discovered when enlnws photographed the factory fix in his MV1 and posted it without realizing the purpose of those 1K resistors.

[StuR]

Very helpful thanks,
but I have seen MH200 for sale with 'loading' flashing problems, these can't be first generation. Would they be 2nd or 3rd. The MH300 is euro lasts generation so that I prosume is 3rd. Sadly the MH300 isn't a US model so I doubt if there's been much chance to test it on this site.

[trhouse]

I am not sure about the UK but you should call JVC to see how they support the "loading" problem. In the US, it is not considered a warranty repair so they will fix it outside the warranty period.

[lordsmurf]

"LOADING" is a generic error message. You could have sneezed in the DVD tray and caused it to get stuck, and it would show "loading". The most common reason for a first-gen machine to go into the "loading" error state was the PSU. Later machines, it's more than likely something else.

"LOADING" = "PROBLEM DETECTED"

[StuR]

Whilst search for info on my new JVC HD/SVHS I came across this interesting forum by some JVC electrical repair specialists. It's got details on repairs/faults on DVDRW and the later HD models even some unsettling info on the later HM300. Not for the amateur though, good to hear comments from someone who actually does repair them though.
http://www.cippico.com/bbs/index.php

[xmiinc]

Well...after spending two weekends reading through all 16 pages (and 2 years) of commentary on the loading/lines issue, I feel like some of you are old friends! First, let me grovel in gratitude at the time and effort some of you have put into these issues and the likely fix(es)! The helped clarify and inform immensely. This is what the internet is great at!

Now to my problem/fix which appears to be resolved (for the moment - fingers crossed!) thanks to the information posted here:
I have the JVC MV1(SU) model with an Aug 04 manufacture date. As such, it worked flawlessly with heavy, daily usage, using DVD-RAM disks in a Tivo-style manner on a timer. AFAIK, I was NOT using Powersaver mode. About 4 months ago the unit exhibited its first "Loading" problem. As it appeared to resolve itself by removing AC power, I chalked it up to the oft-used RAM disks wearing out or something. About 10 days ago the problem reappeared, this time permanently. I then came to this thread, learned about all the components that might contribute to the problem and opened up my box. Right off, I was able to identify the C5207 cap had a bulge in it. All others appeared fine to the eye.

I then separated the drive from the digital(?) board, removed the digital board - mostly to observe the zener D5503, R5501, R5502 components properly. Sure enough, as observed by others, there was considerable scorching of the board around all 3 components.

On the PS board I observed scorching on the barrels of the 5207 and 5206 cap, also observed by others due to poor component placement by JVC. On the underside of this board, I also found scorching around the 4 diodes immediately next to the grouping of caps (sorry I don't have the numbers, unit is reassembled as I write this).

So, armed with a list of caps and diodes I wanted to replace - but not being too hopeful finding them in New York City (known for a peculiar deficit of electronic components) I made my first stop Radio Shack. Couldn't find any of the resistors I wanted, couldn't find any of the diodes I wanted, and was only able to find a single, unpackaged cap, rated at 10V 2200mfd, suitable for the project. As it was unpackaged, the store manager let me have it for free(!)

As the barrel of this cap is slightly larger than the one it replaced, and mindful of the heat issue, I decided to mount it high off the board. The bottom of the barrel is a good 1mm above the heat-creating diodes right next to it.

On a hope and a prayer, I reassembled everything, plugged it in and viola! After the initial "Loading" message it went into its proper power-on mode, waiting for a disk to be inserted.

Now I guess its a waiting game to see how long this part of the fix lasts.

One interesting note regarding the LSI chip/box. Though I never had any video degradation, I was worried about the heat dissapation of the chip. No point in fixing the PSU only to have to rip the unit apart again to attempt saving the LSI! But then I saw that the enclosure was point-soldered onto the board and I wasn't crazy about removing those joints just to see what's what. So, using a maglite, I was just barely able to shine enough light into the one opening just large enough to observe the mating between box, thermal pad, and chip. It was a little iffy, but I finally decided that I was seeing a good mating of the chip with the pad, and the pad with the enclosure. The enclosure has an easily 1mm indent the size of the LSI which hosts the thermal pad on the inside. I'm not familiar with the other units mentioned in this thread, but it would appear that by August 04, JVC had made an adjustment in dissapating the heat from the LSI.

Well, that's all for now. I'm now going to drill some ventilation holes in the unit enclosure as per emlsnws's mod...

Cheers, Tom

[Coruscant]

My M10 finally quit this morning after almost three years. I had the "Loading" issue before but usually the machine would shut down after blinking for two minutes. Unplugging it for a few minutes would quell the problem. This time after pushing STOP to end a recording, the blinking just kept going and no amount of unplugging the machine would stop it. I checked the board and one of the larger capacitors was bulged.