CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

CIR Engineering

So I think I have a BD drive here that has a bad laser pickup in the transport, but I am not certain. I'd like to hear what others think.

Here is the background. The transport in question is out of a DUNE HDMax media player and is made by BTC. It is this one with the tray loader (BP-06):
http://www.btc.com.tw/japanese/2-13-6-BluRayLoader.htm

The drive in question seems to play DVD's fine, but with BD discs it's another story. If the player is cold, than a BD will load and play for maybe 15 minutes then the entire player locks up and needs the power pulled. If you reboot and try again than the next time the disc may play for three minutes before locking up the player. Once the DUNE is fully warmed up, the transport will stop seeing any BD all together; when a BD is in the transport the DUNE reports "no disc." At this point DVD's still play fine though.

I am certain that the problem is the BD transport because I also have a DUNE SMART B1 and it uses the same transport. I pulled the transport out of the HDMax (bad one) and plugged it into the B1 and the problems follow the transport.

I cannot find this transport for sale anywhere, and it must be this exact BP-06 transport for the DRM to work for BD playback in the DUNE. So I thought I would try swapping the pickups between the two BD transports to see if I could narrow down for certain if the transport is the issue or if the "main board" in the transport is the problem. It turns out that the two BP-06 are different versions and the transports and main boards are slightly different and not compatible with one another Evil or Very Mad

The bad transport has a Sony model KEM-430AAB pickup in it and this pickup is easily available. I can get this pickup here for around $50, but in all honesty I don't really need the BD drive to work in the media player so I am not sure it's worth it unless I am pretty sure that the problem will be solved.

What do you guys think? Can a pickup become problematic with heat? Is it more likely that the pickup of main board is the cause specifically because this issue seems to be heat related? I would think the main board would be the more likely culprit since heat seems to be a factor, but the pickup is available because it's a Sony part and the main board is not available because it's only used in this crappy transport. That being said, the fact that the DUNE/transport can still see DVD's when it's warmed up an not BD's makes me think that it must be the pickup and not the transport main board.

The other possibility would be to just replace the laser assembly and not the entire transport. I can't see any markings on that assembly that would allow me to find a replacement though. Below is a photo of the pickup from the defective loader. Anyone know a part number for just the laser?

Thanks to anyone who can help!

craigr

macgyver655 · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 8508

This was real common on the 410 drives, also used in PS3. And it was almost always the BD laser failure and DVD playback would still be fine. I am almost certain it was the BD laser failure and I believe it was verified way back then.

Here is the 410 and you can see how many have been sold. And if you look up other sellers you can see the large volume sold.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PS3-LASER-LENS-KES-410A-KEM-410A-CECHK01-CECHK02-CECHK03-CECHK04-CECHK11-80GB-/231149044106?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35d18e818a

I want to say I remember that I think the 410 and 430 were interchangeable but cannot remember to say it was fact.
but the 410 appears to have a 45 pin connector and so does your 430. And both were used in PS3's.

12 bucks is a pretty cheap gamble.

ecrabb · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 11:27 pm Post subject:

I know nothing about the Dune players Craig, but I can tell you that the laser is a very, very common failure in the PS3's. The typical failure mode is that the PS3 won't read BD discs (movies or games) any longer. The part number is very similar to the one you posted, so I'd put my money on replacing the assembly fixing the issue.

Also, look for the whole "deck" assembly; I think it might be cheaper AND easier to just get the whole deck assembly vs. just the laser/lens piece.

Cheers,
SC

ecrabb · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 11:28 pm Post subject:

Hah! Mac and I posted at almost exactly the same time.

SC

macgyver655 · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 8508

CIR Engineering · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 11:59 pm Post subject:

CIR Engineering · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 12:01 am Post subject:

CIR Engineering · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 12:06 am Post subject:

CIR Engineering · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 12:21 am Post subject:

I found this one for a few cents less, but with faster included shipping. I think it's the same right?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-PS3-Sony-Playstation-3-Laser-Lens-KES-410A-KEM-410A-CECH-K01-CECHK01/261112411471

craigr

macgyver655 · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 8508

Looks the same. Good luck. Smile

CIR Engineering · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 12:39 am Post subject:

Just bought. It was actually more than a whole dollar cheaper!!!

Mr. Green

craigr

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 12:42 am Post subject:

Funny, I don't normally look at BR players, but just picked up an older Samsung at the recycler, so I dove in. The regular DVD vs a BR is a good test, ditto an MP3 disc vs CD in a CD player. If it reads the lower density disc but not the higher one, it's the laser almost always.

this one started working by cleaning the laser with distilled water and a Q tip, but who knows for how long..

macgyver655 · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 8508

I usually use glass cleaner. I find that sometimes you need a little detergent to break down what ever grime is on the lens.

CIR Engineering · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 1:47 am Post subject:

I tried denatured alcohol on this one.

craigr

CIR Engineering · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 2:07 pm Post subject:

So now that you guys pointed me in the right direction I've read that it's almost always the diode that goes bad. I put the transport back together again until the new pickup gets here so I can't look myslef, but would it have been possible to just replace the diode? I mean, are the pickups generally assembled in a way that would allow one to get to the diode to remove and solder a new one on? Or do the optics need to be realigned or something afterward?

Just wondering what folks know?

On a side, what's interesting to me also is that with the Oppo players the software on the player needs to be changed to match the transport. When I replace transports in Oppo players they always send me the new transport and also a DVD with an update that must be performed in a special way to allow the new transport to work with the player.

criagr

Jeremy112 · Joined: 28 Sep 2006 Posts: 2645 Location: Fond du Lac, WI

You don't replace the laser diodes themselves... not on any DVD/BR/CD player I've seen, its simply not worth it first off, second its almost impossible to do...

From what I've read through this whole thread though it sounds like a typical bad laser diode, DVD is working, BR isn't, especially after the unit warming up (I had this issue with several Panasonic blu ray players, they would stop functioning altogether after warming up for about 10 minutes of use).

Did you buy this one off ebay from someone in Wisconsin? Razz

CIR Engineering · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 2:48 pm Post subject:

macgyver655 · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 8508

Since I know you have a scope I'll email you the documents on play station laser alignment.

Jeremy112 · Joined: 28 Sep 2006 Posts: 2645 Location: Fond du Lac, WI

CIR Engineering · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 4:23 pm Post subject:

Well, after I install the new pickup I'll see what I can do on the old one.

craigr