Used a Lens Cleaner, now Player won't work

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VCrimmel
Used a Lens Cleaner, now Player won't work

We have a Panasonic DVD Home Theater System, model# SC-HT900. We've had it a little over six months now and have had absolutely no problems with it. Lately we have been cleaning it every couple of days. (We purchased the Blockbuster Movie Pass so we've been getting a lot of their DVDs. When one gives us issues, we clean the DVD and the player.) Tonight however, we decided to pick up a new DVD cleaner as the one we were using was usually used for the computer and was over two years old. We purchased a Trackmate HyperBRUSH DVD Lens Cleaner. The player picked it up, spun it, then told us No Disc. No surprise, the directions said most players will automatically stop after 5-10 seconds (it's not one of the video/talking cleaners), so we assumed cleaning was done and attempted to play our movie. It was a no-go. It now refuses to read DVDs and won't even play a CD. No matter what we put in there it can't see a disc. We took the top off to watch what it does. When we select a disc number it will mount it, and we can hear the lens rolling back and forth on its track, but it won't spin the disc. However, if we select a disc number where there is NOT a disc, it won't attempt to mount the empty air. The radio still works, and the sound system as well. It's just the player that's not cooperating. I'm baffled. What in the world is going on here? If the lens cleaner actually screwed up my player I'm going to be pretty ticked off. Any ideas out there?

Matt Whitlock (not verified)
It seems "convenient" that

It seems "convenient" that the player stopped spinning discs after you used the cleaning disc, but the main issue is that the disc isn't spinning. It would be hard to convince me that the cleaning disc was the culprit, but it's too early to rule anything out. One way or another, I'd avoid using the cleaning disc again until you're sure.

Since you're not afraid to remove the top of the player, look for something that looks like a cap at the top of the loading mech, and make sure it isn't stuck. It's this piece that applies enough pressure to the top of the disc that allows the spindle to rotate it. I've often found that somehow these get jammed, and don't properly rest on the top of the disc. Use your fingers to readjust it to the right spot.

If you can verify that the motor isn't even attempting to spin the disc, there's not much you can do about it since the actual issue gets really hard to diagnose. The best you can do in this case is have it fixed or replaced.

Let us know what happens.

 

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