A CRAZY repair adventure: a Sony MDP-605....

[Reinhart]

Hi all!

I had recently posted repair stories of my Sony MDP-600 (which I
managed to trade for a different player as I couldn't stand the
terrible picture; an RCA LDR-600) and my Pioneer CLD-59 (which, right
now, is awaiting a new part from Pioneer, part no. VNL1700; a gear
holder for the kicker mechanism, which is a common failure part).

I had also done some work on my DVL-700; turns out someone else had
worked on it before I bought it and they snipped out the thyristor
diode. I installed a new thyristor of the correct type and now the
player has the proper electrical protection characteristics restored.

Now, I had acquired a Sony MDP-605, which is actually a nicely built
player. But, it had problems reading LaserDiscs. The problem was
just as I had suspected; board LV-20 required service.

LV-20 is a board containing the video process circuit, system control
circuit, analog audio/CX circuit, and servo control circuit. The
board made liberal use of surface mounted capacitors ... and they ALL
failed. Fortunately, the board wasn't too far gone and was able to
repair the board, replacing every single surface mount capacitor,
cleaning off any leaked electrolyte, and patching the board to fix any
damaged copper traces.

It took me about six hours to do the work and around 80 capacitors,
but I did it! I am now the owner of one of the very few reliably
functional MDP-605 players in the world!

As for why I did it, well, I did buy it for a song, but, even though I
didn't spend much to get it, I wasn't about to let that money go to
waste. In addition, I was up to a challenge and I was not going to
let a Sony LaserDisc player beat me. A little crazy, yes, but I
succeeded. :-)

As for picture, the MDP-605 was actually pretty good for a Sony; it's
almost equal to my RCA LDR-600, which is, more or less, a rebadged
Pioneer CLD-2090. It is a far cry better than the Sony MDP-600.

And, I thought it was kind of cool how the auto reverse on the MDP-605
worked and the mechanical operation of the player is pretty silken.

Another successful repair ... but I'll admit I was lucky with this one
as the board could have easily been so far gone that repair may not
have been possible.

[c***@SPAM_yahoo.com]

Post by Reinhart
It took me about six hours to do the work and around 80 capacitors,
but I did it! ... A little crazy, yes, but I succeeded. :-)

Congratulations! I recognize that sweet taste of victory.
The opposite is also true: I remember my disappointment when I bought
a "defective" CLD-925 for spare parts and the only problem was an end
switch in the disc loading mechanism. Nothing to be proud of!
Now that player is too good for spares, but one too many for using...

Cheers!

[d***@gmail.com]

Hi i got a MDP-600 it works pretty good it just has a hard time reading the top of the desk when it reads the bottom the disc really well not sure what the problem is if it's mechanical or if it's electronic but I figure it's somebody with more experience like yourself maybe could tell me what might be wrong with it

[c4urs11]

Post by d***@gmail.com
not sure what the problem is if it's mechanical or if it's electronic

You're in for a challenge.
Sony has a fairly bad reputation when it comes to laserdisc players...

If you want to take up the glove, there is a service manual here:
http://elektrotanya.com/sony_mdpa1_mdp600.pdf/download.html

Recapping is probably a wise thing to do.

Cheers!

[b***@yahoo.com]

On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:59:37 -0800 (PST), Reinhart

Post by Reinhart
Hi all!
I had recently posted repair stories of my Sony MDP-600 (which I
managed to trade for a different player as I couldn't stand the
terrible picture; an RCA LDR-600) and my Pioneer CLD-59 (which, right
now, is awaiting a new part from Pioneer, part no. VNL1700; a gear
holder for the kicker mechanism, which is a common failure part).
I had also done some work on my DVL-700; turns out someone else had
worked on it before I bought it and they snipped out the thyristor
diode. I installed a new thyristor of the correct type and now the
player has the proper electrical protection characteristics restored.
Now, I had acquired a Sony MDP-605, which is actually a nicely built
player. But, it had problems reading LaserDiscs. The problem was
just as I had suspected; board LV-20 required service.
LV-20 is a board containing the video process circuit, system control
circuit, analog audio/CX circuit, and servo control circuit. The
board made liberal use of surface mounted capacitors ... and they ALL
failed. Fortunately, the board wasn't too far gone and was able to
repair the board, replacing every single surface mount capacitor,
cleaning off any leaked electrolyte, and patching the board to fix any
damaged copper traces.
It took me about six hours to do the work and around 80 capacitors,
but I did it! I am now the owner of one of the very few reliably
functional MDP-605 players in the world!
As for why I did it, well, I did buy it for a song, but, even though I
didn't spend much to get it, I wasn't about to let that money go to
waste. In addition, I was up to a challenge and I was not going to
let a Sony LaserDisc player beat me. A little crazy, yes, but I
succeeded. :-)
As for picture, the MDP-605 was actually pretty good for a Sony; it's
almost equal to my RCA LDR-600, which is, more or less, a rebadged
Pioneer CLD-2090. It is a far cry better than the Sony MDP-600.
And, I thought it was kind of cool how the auto reverse on the MDP-605
worked and the mechanical operation of the player is pretty silken.
Another successful repair ... but I'll admit I was lucky with this one
as the board could have easily been so far gone that repair may not
have been possible.

Great story. Keep up the good work. Keep fighting the good fight. Keep
the fires (of laserdisc) burning. Keep on posting your stories. They
help keep this NG alive and keep SPAM levels down. Thank you for
taking the time to tell everybody your adventures.

Best regards,
Bill N.
Deaker's Room Staff
I-Con Science Fiction, Inc
120 Peachtree Ct.
Holbrook, NY 11741
www.iconsf.org

[Reinhart]

Post by b***@yahoo.com
On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:59:37 -0800 (PST), Reinhart

Post by Reinhart
Hi all!
I had recently posted repair stories of my Sony MDP-600 (which I
managed to trade for a different player as I couldn't stand the
terrible picture; an RCA LDR-600) and my Pioneer CLD-59 (which, right
now, is awaiting a new part from Pioneer, part no. VNL1700; a gear
holder for the kicker mechanism, which is a common failure part).
I had also done some work on my DVL-700; turns out someone else had
worked on it before I bought it and they snipped out the thyristor
diode.  I installed a new thyristor of the correct type and now the
player has the proper electrical protection characteristics restored.
Now, I had acquired a Sony MDP-605, which is actually a nicely built
player.  But, it had problems reading LaserDiscs.  The problem was
just as I had suspected; board LV-20 required service.
LV-20 is a board containing the video process circuit, system control
circuit, analog audio/CX circuit, and servo control circuit.  The
board made liberal use of surface mounted capacitors ... and they ALL
failed.  Fortunately, the board wasn't too far gone and was able to
repair the board, replacing every single surface mount capacitor,
cleaning off any leaked electrolyte, and patching the board to fix any
damaged copper traces.
It took me about six hours to do the work and around 80 capacitors,
but I did it!  I am now the owner of one of the very few reliably
functional MDP-605 players in the world!
As for why I did it, well, I did buy it for a song, but, even though I
didn't spend much to get it, I wasn't about to let that money go to
waste.  In addition, I was up to a challenge and I was not going to
let a Sony LaserDisc player beat me.  A little crazy, yes, but I
succeeded.  :-)
As for picture, the MDP-605 was actually pretty good for a Sony; it's
almost equal to my RCA LDR-600, which is, more or less, a rebadged
Pioneer CLD-2090.  It is a far cry better than the Sony MDP-600.
And, I thought it was kind of cool how the auto reverse on the MDP-605
worked and the mechanical operation of the player is pretty silken.
Another successful repair ... but I'll admit I was lucky with this one
as the board could have easily been so far gone that repair may not
have been possible.

Great story. Keep up the good work. Keep fighting the good fight. Keep
the fires (of laserdisc) burning. Keep on posting your stories. They
help keep this NG alive and keep SPAM levels down.  Thank you for
taking the time to tell everybody your adventures.
Best regards,
Bill N.
Deaker's Room Staff
I-Con Science Fiction, Inc
120 Peachtree Ct.
Holbrook, NY 11741www.iconsf.org

Thanks.

I need to make a correction on LV-20; it does not have a servo control
circuit; just SYSCON, video process, the comb filter on a separate
board encased in a shield box that is mounted on LV-20 (YC-117), and
AFM/CX processes.

And, having more time to play with the player, for video quality and
overall reliability, I'd ultimately must recommend against ever
getting an MDP-605 (nothing new here as Sony LD players are usually
never recommended anyways).

The video quality is definitely much better than another Sony LD
player I've tried: the MDP-600. Colors are nice and about right with
very minimal streaking on reds and blues (a BIG surprise there), there
is nowhere near the amount of grain in the picture as the MDP-600 and
the picture is pretty good and decently sharp ... for a Sony. That
said, the picture is very close, but not quite at the same level as
some mid-range Pioneer players. My RCA LDR-600 (Pioneer CLD-2090)
holds a slight edge in overall picture quality, exhibiting a tad less
grain.

Audio quality for digital sound is excellent. But, audio quality for
the analog tracks are mediocre, which is typical of players of this
era (early 1990s).

Mechanical design is unique. Complication is about average for an
auto-reverse player, though it is, perhaps, a tad simpler than the
Pioneer Alpha-turn mechanisms, though the Epsilon Turn is far simpler
in execution and, IMO, Gamma Turn is about par on complexity but
superior in performance. But, what I like about the MDP-605's
mechanics are that they tend to be a bit on the slick and smooth
side. It runs pretty quietly for a LaserDisc player and it doesn't
sound quite as clunky as an Alpha-turn when it operates.

The bigger problem with this model is, specifically, board LV-20,
which is extremely unreliable, prone to massive failure and fairly
difficult to repair because of liberal use of surface mount
electrolytic caps and all the complications that go with it. If
you've ever had to do circuit level work on old Video 8 or Hi-8
camcorders, you definitely know what I mean here!

Although I've been able to get the player up and running, I'm not
confident on how long the fix will last so, even though I've got it up
and running again, I will never sell it because I'm not confident on
its reliability (aside from the fact that I consider my MDP-605 a
trophy of sorts).

If you ever come across an MDP-605 being sold broken, DODGE IT unless
you are willing to invest time and money into replacing all capacitors
on LV-20 and are also willing to assume the risk that the repair may
not be successful. With exception of repaired MDP-605s that have had
all caps replaced, I'm confident in declaring that *ALL* MDP-605
players will have this problem.

Or, considering that the overall performance of the MDP-605 is just
average, you're better off getting a Pioneer.

[mscott]

Post by Reinhart
And, I thought it was kind of cool how the auto reverse on the MDP-605
worked and the mechanical operation of the player is pretty silken.

I don't know the chronology of the Sony players, but I've had good
luck with most of the recent ones. I think my favorite is the MDP-650
because of its glow-in-the-dark jog-shuttle remote. I have three
650's. Two had electrolytic capactor problems on the display board
but the third one has not had any problems. All three are quiet
turners. I have a couple of MDP-750's and an MDP-800. The remote on
the MDP-800 is also a jog-shuttle, but is not glow-in-the-dark.

The 650 has digital optical out, but no AC3. I only have one Sony
with factory AC-3 but I don't think it has optical out (MDP-V1).

Thanks for the repair tips.

Mike in Sacramento

[Reinhart]

Post by mscott

Post by Reinhart
And, I thought it was kind of cool how the auto reverse on the MDP-605
worked and the mechanical operation of the player is pretty silken.

I don't know the chronology of the Sony players, but I've had good
luck with most of the recent ones.  I think my favorite is the MDP-650
because of its glow-in-the-dark jog-shuttle remote.   I have three
650's.  Two had electrolytic capactor problems on the display board
but the third one has not had any problems.  All three are quiet
turners.  I have a couple of MDP-750's and an MDP-800.  The remote on
the MDP-800 is also a jog-shuttle, but is not glow-in-the-dark.
The 650 has digital optical out, but no AC3.  I only have one Sony
with factory AC-3 but I don't think it has optical out (MDP-V1).
Thanks for the repair tips.
Mike in Sacramento

No prob, though the MDP-650 is a much newer model than the MDP-605 and
both use very different designs so repair advice for the 605 may not
be carried over to the newer models.

The 650, for instance, uses the C-Quick Reverse mechanism, which is
very different to the mechanism used in the 605.

Here are a couple of YouTube videos that show the differences in
mechanical design:

This video shows the insides of the MDP-600, including how its auto
reverse works. This player shares many things in common with the
MDP-650, including the disc drive.

This video shows the insides of the MDP-605, including how its auto
reverse works. This player is very different compared to the
MDP-650. Electrically, because the MDP-605 uses a lot of surface
mount electrolytics while the MDP-600 and, if memory serves me, the
MDP-650, avoids the use of surface mount capacitors.

Another difference between the 650 and the 605 is that the 650, as you
know, has digital effects while the 605 does not.

Thanks for your support.

[Reinhart]

Post by mscott

Post by Reinhart
And, I thought it was kind of cool how the auto reverse on the MDP-605
worked and the mechanical operation of the player is pretty silken.

I don't know the chronology of the Sony players, but I've had good
luck with most of the recent ones.  I think my favorite is the MDP-650
because of its glow-in-the-dark jog-shuttle remote.   I have three
650's.  Two had electrolytic capactor problems on the display board
but the third one has not had any problems.  All three are quiet
turners.  I have a couple of MDP-750's and an MDP-800.  The remote on
the MDP-800 is also a jog-shuttle, but is not glow-in-the-dark.
The 650 has digital optical out, but no AC3.  I only have one Sony
with factory AC-3 but I don't think it has optical out (MDP-V1).
Thanks for the repair tips.
Mike in Sacramento

Ugh, I messed up in writing my reply.

"Electrically, because the MDP-605 uses a lot of surface
mount electrolytics while the MDP-600 and, if memory serves me, the
MDP-650, avoids the use of surface mount capacitors."

I forgot to add.

Because the MDP-605 makes liberal use of surface mount caps while the
MDP-600 and MDP-650 does not, the MDP-605 is electrically unreliable.