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Monday, April 15, 2013

Fixing My Sony DVD Recorder RDR GX-300

After years of faithful service from my Sony DVD recorder, it finally had it.  Every time I inserted a disc, it said the disc is dirty and C1300 code.  Even though it was a new disc and I know it is "clean".

Last month I opened up the machine and disassembled the components all the way down to the DVD drive and vacuum every part to rid of dust.  It has accumulated quite a thick layer on the circuit boards and fan.  To my surprise the DVD lens was clean with no dust on it.  I re-assembled the parts, the symptoms remain.

Disassemble Sony RDR GX-300


 I was already looking online to find a replacement, when I thought why not look online to see if there is a solution for this.  If I am having this problem then someone else must be having the same problem.  To my surprise, there are many documented problems on this issue regarding these Sony DVD recorder models (RDR-GX300, RDR-GX315, RDR-GX330 just to mention a few). Namely the DVD drive not recognize the disc.

During one search I found a posting on Fixya.com stating my exact problem and steps to fix the problem.  Since I had already opened up the machine once already, it was very easy to get down to the anatomy of the drive.

The laser carriage attached to the slide rails was loose on the grub screw side (If looking from opening tray toward the back it is on the the left side of the rail). All I did was finding an hex key small enough to fit in the screw and tighten it until it touches the rail then back it off about 1/4 turn just so the laser carriage will slide freely on the slide rail.

Sony DW-U15A Drive with grub screw adjusting location



Reassemble the parts and Done! So far it has worked flawlessly, just like a brand new machine. If you have the same trouble, hopefully this will help!


29 comments:

Unknown said...

I appreciate your post on the Sony rdr-gx300 DVD repair. Great article. I realize you did that a long time ago.

Mine has been working fine with Verbatim discs (only), but when I opened the newest batch of Verbatims, it would not format the DVD.

I tried to fix it using your instructions, but when I got the covers off the DVD itself, the disc tray is blocking access to the adjustment screw and I cannot figure out how to get the tray to slide open.

It did not appear to have a hole to insert a paperclip to pop it open as most drives do, and I just couldn't find a way to get it open. Can you possibly remember how you got the tray to open?

A second issue was the inner and outer doors for the DVD slide drawer... they stuck firmly in place when I was wiggling the DVD unit, trying to pull it away from the front panel, and then it suddenly broke loose, with the 2 doors flying in different directions... I am not sure I'll be able to get it all back in place since I'm not sure how the doors fit together... but, that's only an issue if I can make the screw adjustment, otherwise the unit is junk because I can't keep buying more DVD's to see if they'll work.

Thanks,
Wayne
wcsbca@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Hong, I appreciate your post about fixing your Sony DVD recorder. I have the same model and had luck with Verbatim DVD's until the most recent purchase.

I tried to follow your instructions but had a major problem: after I finally got the DVD unit free of the unit and removed its covers, I could not find a way to open the DVD drawer, which blocks the adjustment screw. There is no pin hole in which to insert a paper clip. I know it was a long time ago, but can you possibly remember how to open it?

Thanks.
Wayne wcsbca@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

You have to plug all electrical connections back in.....then power the system on.....press the power button on the front panel.....then press the OPEN Button to open the drive tray.....remove the front door cover..it just snaps on the cd holder tray....power off....then remove whole DVD drive assembly from the side brackets....remove front plastic cover....then remove four screws and remove metal cover...you should have access to the screw now. Hope this helps!

Anonymous said...

Yes, thanks for trying to help, perhaps someone else will profit from your suggestion.

Too late for me, I buggered something when first trying to open the tray manually. I have since found the repair manual for the GX-300 and it shows the method for opening the tray manually (there is an opening for a wire to be inserted into the side of the DVD). It also says if you open the tray manually, remove the DVD, and then close it manually without the DVD, you may never get the DVD to work again. The DVD is listed as a FRU (field-replaceable Unit) so there are no instructions for repairing it.

My old DVD has the "sled" stuck about halfway down, and I could find no way to free it; the tray moves by hand, but grudgingly. Despite disassembling the DVD as far as I dared or could figure out how to do, I could find no way to free the sled.

After more Googling, I found a post that said a Sony DRU-510A works as a substitute; I found and purchased one, but it did not work (error code when it tries to open the DVD tray); tried removing the jumper and tried all 3 jumper positions.

I have pretty much given up on the GX-300 unit.

Anonymous said...

Well, I lied about giving up; I kept pulling the RDR-GX300 unit out and fiddling with it.

I found a second DRU-510A DVD drive on eBay. I first tried testing this DVD on a PC (I found a driver for it) and was able to read from it, but was unable to write to it with my ImgBurn program, even after cleaning it and adjusting the sled screw.

But, on a lark, I tried attaching it to the GX-300 and it appeared to work,
it even appeared to record! At the time I had the GX-300 on a table,
not attached to a TV or antenna. When I did attach it, it DID work!

One problem, though: the end of the DVD tray is larger than the original DVD. So, I had to enlarge the cutout in the large front fascia trim of the GX300.

The next issue is how to attach the outer trim plate to the tray face.

Meantime, while searching for the DRU-510A, I found and purchased a
Sony RDR-GXD455 unit, which is very similar to the RDR-GX300 except
it can record the newer wide-screen ratio TV format.

Wayne

Anonymous said...

Well, I lied about giving up; I kept pulling the RDR-GX300 unit out and fiddling with it.

I found a second DRU-510A DVD drive on eBay. I first tried testing this DVD
on a PC (I found a driver for it) and was able to read from it, but was unable to write
to it with my ImgBurn program, even after cleaning it and adjusting the sled screw.

But, on a lark, I tried attaching it to the GX-300 and it appeared to work,
and it even appeared to record! At the time I had the GX-300 on a table,
not attached to a TV or antenna. One problem, though: the end of the tray is
larger than the original DVD. So, I had to enlarge the cutout in the large
front fascia trim of the GX300.

The next issue is how to attach the outer trim plate to the tray face.

Meantime, while searching for the DRU-510A, I found and purchased a
Sony RDR-GXD455 unit, which is very similar to the RDR-GX300 except
it can record the newer wide-screen ratio TV format.

Wayne

Anonymous said...

Hong...This fix worked like a charm and it couldn't have been easier. I was ready to chuck the player in the dumpster and go spend $$$ for a new one. Now it's reading the discs again!

Unknown said...

Any one help with pointing me to a walkthrough on formatting disc issue? i have just bought some new DVD RW for recording an my Sony wont format or record to disc. thanks

Unknown said...

Hi I am working on mine. Its a Sony gx-315 I pulled down flap on DVD drive and used a screw driver to unwinded the gears:) it pushed open the DVD drive. Hope it helps:)) I also work on other video game repairs so that knowledge CME in handy:)) good luck

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keithy said...

My Sony recorder is a RDR-HX900 which had exactly the same fault. I had to remove the old white plastic grubscrew then made a new metal one. The DVD player works fine now. Thanks for your tips.

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Unknown said...

Excellent! Many thanks, exactly according to your instructions, to put my RDR-GX3 DVD recorder into operation. In my opinion, Sony's intention did not want such a large will on the rail to earn more expensive service, moreover, the DVD drive is so camouflaged and inaccessible that it is suspicious, I overcame all obstacles every fall and thanks to you I have a DVD in perfect condition ! Mirek from the Czech Republic

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Anonymous said...

Thank you for your recomedation, i worked on my Sony recorder RDR-GX7 . This one just played only CD's but not DVD's, and i adjusted the litle exagonal screw on the left side of the rail like your recomendation and works sucefully, now can play DVD's too, thank you for your recomendation i apreciate it soo much.Thank you again