Panasonic DMR-EH60D Repair Details. Getting more life out of this ageing machine.

Thanks Gavin!

Another Q if I may...

The machine now works really well but often when I switch it on, there's the "New Digital Channel Found" (or whatever it is) message displayed. I then have to choose whether or not I want to save it.

If I choose No, all's well, but the machine won't work until this is done. This is annoying if I just want to record something quickly and the telly's not switched on as it's not apparent why the machine is not responding to any key presses unless you read what's on the TV screen.

If I choose Yes, then the machine does a slowish scan, and finds.... no new channels! 5 minute of my life gone!

Any suggestions?

Nick.
 
Thanks Gavin!

Another Q if I may...

The machine now works really well but often when I switch it on, there's the "New Digital Channel Found" (or whatever it is) message displayed. I then have to choose whether or not I want to save it.

If I choose No, all's well, but the machine won't work until this is done. This is annoying if I just want to record something quickly and the telly's not switched on as it's not apparent why the machine is not responding to any key presses unless you read what's on the TV screen.

If I choose Yes, then the machine does a slowish scan, and finds.... no new channels! 5 minute of my life gone!

Any suggestions?

Nick.
Hi Nick.

This is the machine being fooled by picking up more than one transmitter. It thinks there are new channels available but they are in fact just duplicate channels.

The solution is to turn off the 'New Service Message'

Go to Functions / To others / Setup / Display / New Service Message ... and set it to off.
 
Hi Gavtech and All

I've just completed repair of the notorious DC_DC converter in my Sony SLC9 Betamax and my attention has turned to my Panasonic DMR-EH60 HDD and DVD recorder. I saw this thread after searching for EH60 information so I have joined AVForums as a result.

It displays all of the faults referred to above - I.e. dim display and horizontal banding on the video so I aim to replace all the electrolytics referred to above. But first, as it has been some time since the original posts I wondered if there is any further advice or information about pitfalls to be avoided? Unlike my Sony, I do not have a copy of the service manual for this machine so I will be working in the dark concerning the circuit operation.

Thanks for the help already given in the forum.

J
 
Hi GPO Jim.

Unless you can get hold of another display that is known to work brighter than the one you've got (taken from either an EH60D or an ES20D), there's nothing you can do about the dim display.

Hopefully, as was the case with mine, the aforementioned caps are to blame for the horizontal banding.

Regarding pitfalls, I'd just stress the point that you need very competent soldering skills to replace the caps recommended for replacement within the Tuner/VIF section. I was very lucky to have successfully soldered the first one I attempted in that section, but I left the rest, fearing I may do more harm than good. Thankfully, my EH60D was cured of the banding with just the caps recommended for replacement which I felt comfortable in replacing (i.e. all the ones recommended for replacement, except the ones within the Tuner/VIF section, with the exception of C0707, the only one I replaced within that section).

Best of luck, and do post again to let us know how you get on.
 
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Thanks for all the advice.

I found only C1406, C1687 and C1518 showing obvious signs of distress but ordered enough components to make all the recommended replacements.

I replaced all those recommended on the PSU board: I thought I'd have no problem using my somewhat aged Weller iron with its smallest bit and a solder sucker but the bit temperature was too low to melt the solder! I moved up a size to an intermediate (hotter) bit that was really too large for the job but with very careful use and a steady hand I managed to release and replace the components without causing any obvious damage.

I contemplated removing the system board to replace C1518 but baulked at the challenge as it seemed to require almost complete disassembly of the machine so I resorted to clipping the leads (they were just long enough). I laid the replacement on its side and hooked the protruding leads over its leads to avoid any problem of them dropping through the board when heat was applied. Then a quick application of the iron and a small blob of solder completed the job.

I decided not to replace the tuner components as they all looked healthy and the tuner is still working.

The result? Restored to a good quality picture with no horizontal banding but (as expected) no improvement in the VFD brightness. I've since copied several VHS tapes (the reason why I reactivated the machine) and am very pleased with the results.

So many thanks to all and please continue the excellent work on this site.

J
 
Well done. Good luck with the machine.
 
Hi Gavtech and other EH60 fans
My aging machine, bought in December 2005, started showing the signs described in the other posts, dimmed display, and interference on the live TV pictures and any subsequent recordings.
Decided to bite the bullet and ordered the necessary capacitors from a local Maplins. Took the top off and saw that all the 680uF capacitors on the PSU and main boards had leaked quite badly.
Changed only these ones and put the recorder back together, expecting more might need to be done. Bingo, the machine is back to 'as new' except the display is still dimmed somewhat.
Many thanks for such a well detailed description of how to resurrect a perfectly usable unit. Here's looking forward to a few more years of use.
 
I'd just like to add my thanks to those of Brerfox: I replaced the suspect capacitors earlier this year and the machine is now nearly as good as new (the display remains dim). Many thanks for the guidance.
 
Same machine, but different problem. I am finding that programs on the COM4 SDN multiplex are not getting included on retuning. So, for example, 10 (ITV3) and 20 (Drama) are completely missing. No such problem with the associated television, even after re-tune, so the programs are being broadcast. I'm wondering if this multiplex encodes slightly differently compared with the others, and the machine is too old to understand the encoding. Any thoughts, folks?
 
Hi Gavtech

My DMR-EH50 kept going into self-check mode then died altogether - dead, won't power up. I use it for recording audio off a good FM tuner (as the analogue-only tuner won't do TV any more). The hard drive has a number of programmes I'd like to retrieve, even if I then stopped using the machine. I did come across a guide to do this but seems like a rather complicated job.

Came across this thread and took a look at the PSU board. The caps you refer to as needing replacement are domed on top, others look flat. I checked with a meter and all seemed to give a reading - I believe if dead, they would give an OL or zero reading so thought perhaps they're OK and the problem lies elsewhere. Checked eBay and no sign of replacement PSU but maybe buy a cheap machine and swap the board... Would you say it's still worth a punt replacing the caps? Never done board level repairs before but guess I have little/nothing to lose.
 
Any domed caps are definitely faulty and should be replaced.
 

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