Panasonic FZ-1 3DO unit died

[David Burgess]

Hi all,

Earlier I put an audio cd in my 3do, went out the room for 5 minutes and
when I came back it was off. Checked the fuses in the plug and the
mainboard (there might be more in there though, I guess) and even tried the
power supply from a working FZ-1 - nothing happened.

Are these things easy to repair or would it be cheaper to hop on ebay and
get another one? Even if I do do that I've got to work out how to manually
work the tray mech. to get my disc back!

Thanks,

David Burgess

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Earlier I put an audio cd in my 3do, went out the room for 5 minutes and
when I came back it was off. Checked the fuses in the plug and the
mainboard (there might be more in there though, I guess) and even tried the
power supply from a working FZ-1 - nothing happened.

Are these things easy to repair or would it be cheaper to hop on ebay and
get another one? Even if I do do that I've got to work out how to manually
work the tray mech. to get my disc back!

Thanks,

David Burgess

I can try and help you. I also own an FZ-1. - Reinhart

 

[David Burgess]

I can try and help you. I also own an FZ-1. - Reinhart

Ok, thanks. What do you suggest? I've had the whole board and drive mech.
out and there's no visible burns or dry joints. I've also resistance-tested
a lot of the components and all seems fine. I did manage to manually work
the tray mech. in the end to get the disc out.

I might try the drive mech. from the broken fz-1 in the working one, to see
if that's the problem.

David Burgess

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Ok, thanks. What do you suggest?

Simple things first. Is the power cord still good without any internal breaks
in the wires?

Check the power switch. When it's set on, does the switch close or stay open?
Don't go by mechanical evalution. Check for continuity on the solder points of
the power switch.

Check the main transformer. Take a multimeter and measure continuity through
the plug blades, with one probe on one blade and the other probe on the other
blade. If continuity reads infinity, then the transformer is still good. If
it has no reading (reads as open) or reads resistance, then the transformer may
be bad. The only solution is to replace the transformer with the same type.
You may also have to check the power supply circuit in case there is a problem
which may have caused the transformer to go open-circuit in the first place.

Check the fuse closest to the transformer for continuity. If blown, replace
with a 3.15 amp fuse. If it blows again, you have an internal anomoly with the
power supply.

Check the resistor closest to the fuse. Is there any resistance, or is it
open?

Check the exhaust fan that is near the power supply section of the mainboard.
Does the fan spin easily or has some resistance? Take the fan out and feed it
power in the amount of 9 volts DC, observing correct polarity. If it runs like
it should, then it's good. If it doesn't run or has difficulty running, then
it's likely that the fan failed to adequately cool the system, which resulted
in failure.

Check the capacitors, especially those that are rated with high capacities.
You may also have to check the coupling caps as well (the ones rated at or
below 1 microfarad).

Check the condition of the diodes and zeners.

I think this thing also has a bridge rectifier which is close to the main fuse.
Check it. - Reinhart

 

[David Burgess]

"LASERandDVDfan" <laseranddvdfan@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030901005103.18164.00000256@mb-m06.aol.com...

Simple things first. Is the power cord still good without any internal
breaks
in the wires?

Yup, tested it for continuity.

Check for continuity on the solder points of the power switch.

Already done, it seems fine.

Check the main transformer. Take a multimeter and measure continuity
through
the plug blades, with one probe on one blade and the other probe on the
other
blade. If continuity reads infinity, then the transformer is still good.
If
it has no reading (reads as open) or reads resistance, then the
transformer may
be bad. The only solution is to replace the transformer with the same
type.

I got an infinity reading on the transformer; moreover I tried the power
supply from a working fz-1 unit and still got nothing.

Check the fuse closest to the transformer for continuity. If blown,
replace
with a 3.15 amp fuse. If it blows again, you have an internal anomoly
with the
power supply.

This fuse is fine.

Check the resistor closest to the fuse. Is there any resistance, or is it
open?

Checked, and got resistance.

Check the exhaust fan that is near the power supply section of the
mainboard.

Er... I had all the boards and the power supply out of it, I never saw a fan
anywhere.

Check the capacitors, especially those that are rated with high
capacities.
You may also have to check the coupling caps as well (the ones rated at or
below 1 microfarad).

Checked all the capacitors and they all gave resistance.

Check the condition of the diodes and zeners.

I went over both sides of the board with a magnifying glass first thing and
there's no visible burns or dry joints.

I think this thing also has a bridge rectifier which is close to the main
fuse.
Check it.

If that's the slender black block, I checked that too and it seems fine.

David Burgess

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Check the exhaust fan that is near the power supply section of the
mainboard.

Er... I had all the boards and the power supply out of it, I never saw a fan
anywhere.

There should be a small exhaust fan that looks like something that came off of
a CPU heatsink next to the power supply section close to a heatsink, or at
least this is the case with my Panasonic FZ-1. The fan itself is not on the
mainboard, but placed within the bottom section of the main enclosure. -
Reinhart