LG RC689D DVD Video Combo Repair
A customer asked me to visit their house for a series of faults with their electronic units. They own 2 TV’s – one in the kitchen and another in the lounge connected to a LG RC689D DVD/Video Combo unit. All of these appeared to have failed. They had the DVD player the night before, watching a friends’ DVD, but the next day it refused to start and the DVD was now stuck in the drive & they were panicking as the disc was not theirs.
I arrived at their home to follow up other complaints. They stated that not only had the DVD/VCR stopped working, but both their TV’s would not work. It always pays to get accurate information from a customer before beginning work.
Both their TV’s worked, but one had lost its channel settings. The customer now told me that she had pressed the wrong button on the remote and then all hell broke loose! She decided that the best way to solve the problem was to madly press all the other buttons! OK – a simple solution. Rescan for all the channels and set up the correct input. Problem number 1 solved.
Next problem – the second TV. This was wired with the aerial through the DVD/VCR player and onto the TV via a HDMI connection. I bypassed the player and inserted the aerial directly to the TV. All is not lost – Everything functioned on the TV correctly. Problem number 2 solved.
Don’t you wish all repairs were that simple? No such luck….
Problem number 3…….
It was obvious that at the heart of this TV’s problem was the DVD/VCR combo player. It had its normal standby light when turned on at the power point, however, when the unit power button was pressed, the word ‘HELLO’ would scroll across the display and go no further.
I decided the only unit I needed to take home was the player for further inspection.
On the test bench, I decided that the first priority was to remove the disc as the customer was very nervous about it being damaged. After removal of the top cover of the DVD drive, the disc was safely set aside and the work continued.
A thorough visual inspection was carried out and the usual suspects were identified. 2 capacitors were seen to have bulges, so it was obvious that they were faulty.
The second bulging capacitor is hidden from view…..
The next step was to identify the voltages at the secondary outputs. Removal of the HDMI circuit board was required to access the secondary output terminals.
Several were found to be low, together with some grounds that were not being totally pulled down to zero.
This particular voltage was low at 1.7 volts – it should read 2.5 volts
After draining the main filter capacitor, the power supply was now safe to test.
The Blue ESR meter was used to determine the health of all the capacitors.
After testing, 6 capacitors were found to be faulty and needed replacement. Where possible, capacitors with a higher voltage rating were used as replacement components.
After replacement of the faulty capacitors and reassembly of the unit, voltage testing of the secondary outputs was carried out.
A previous reading of 1.7 volts was now at 2.5 volts. Other voltages were all now within specifications.
Even ground readings were more consistent.
Several loose terminal connections were found and after tightening these connections, correct terminal retention was achieved.
When turned on, the unit had the word ‘HELLO’ stable and no longer scrolling across the display.
Although I did not have a video cassette to try in the player, a thorough testing of the DVD side of the unit showed the repair was completed successfully. The player was tested for the full length of a movie and all other features, including the remote control worked correctly.
If you are interested in this repair, you can see a video on my channel following the link below:
This article was prepared for you by Mark Rabone from Australia.
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Note: You can check out his previous repair article below:
https://jestineyong.com/how-to-repair-asus-nexus-7-2013-not-charging/
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24 Comments
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Parasuraman
November 3, 2017 at 10:36 am
Excellent and exciting service info! Thanks for sharing!
Mark
November 3, 2017 at 3:38 pm
Thanks and you are welcome!
Robert Calk
November 3, 2017 at 2:32 pm
Good job, Mark.
Albert van Bemmelen
November 3, 2017 at 3:45 pm
Nice repair Mark! Good thing that the voltages were given on the LG RC689D DVD/Video Combo board. The Blue ESR meter is very useful for its ability to also test capacitors while they are still in-circuit. As long the 6 mentioned bad e-caps were not connected in parallel of course, which would make all of them suspicious if only one was bad. If we only ever could invent or design such a similar great indispensable device ourselfs like Bob Parker did! But according to Jestine's review we still need another ESR-meter for capacitor values at 0.1uF and below.
Mark
November 3, 2017 at 8:45 pm
Hey Albert,
I think the Blue ESR meter is one of my best investments when I first started in electronics. It has saved me heaps of time and generally gives a very accurate reading on board & if unsure, off board.
Thanks for your comments
Robert Calk
November 6, 2017 at 2:40 am
And we can also check the ESR of batteries with the Blue ESR Meter.
Claudemir.siqueira
November 3, 2017 at 5:58 pm
Excelente muito bom
=================
Excellent Very Good
Mark
November 4, 2017 at 2:59 pm
Thanks for your commment
John
November 3, 2017 at 7:55 pm
Good job Mark
John from the Netherlands
Mark
November 4, 2017 at 3:00 pm
Thanks John
R Murali
November 3, 2017 at 9:26 pm
Great job. Good service information . Thanks for sharing.
Mark
November 4, 2017 at 3:00 pm
I hope it was helpful.
Mihai
November 4, 2017 at 2:27 am
Hello Mark !
Thank's for article and for video too !
Mark
November 4, 2017 at 3:00 pm
I try to do a video of most of my repairs. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Henry
November 4, 2017 at 8:23 pm
Very good article Mark. A comprehensive, precise and detailed explanation in logical steps. Showing ESR measurements with cross-references to the value chart. A proper educational material in simple language with good pictures and additionally supported by a video clip. Great help to many who want to learn from these write-ups. I really like it.
Mark
November 5, 2017 at 11:19 am
Thanks Henry, I'm glad you enjoyed the article and video.
Henrique Jorge Guimarães Ulbrich
November 5, 2017 at 6:22 am
Good, Mark. Usually, there is one maintenance in each article. In this article, you solved not two, but just three maintenances. That's really new!
Mark
November 5, 2017 at 11:21 am
Hey Henrique,
It's not unusual to find more than one fault when carrying out a repair. I'm glad you were able to benefit from the article. Did you get a chance to check out the video as well?
Ulises Aguilar Pazzani
November 6, 2017 at 10:22 am
MR Rabone, good fix , And good to know to use Blue ESR meter to check caps after draining
Mark
February 1, 2021 at 12:19 pm
Thanks for your comment Ulises Aguilar Pazzani 🙂
Berrnard
January 18, 2018 at 9:51 am
Thanks for this excellent precis of the fault and repair process.
Mark
February 1, 2021 at 12:19 pm
Thanks Berrnard
Bob Haris
August 31, 2018 at 6:42 pm
Hello there
Saw your u tube video on the lg DVD combo player rc689d... and think I need mine repaired. It play cd music but cannot get it to play DVD movies .. tried 3 or 4 but play one... put a cd cleaner through and played music discs but not movies. Bought this 2nd hand and thought I'd convert some of my VHS videos to cd but just testing to see... looks like I might have a dud. Bought VHS head cleaner too... yet to put that through. Was impressed with your knowledge and was wondering whether u might like look at this unit or recommend where I could get this fixed on the Gold Coast. I was trying to connect the L G unit to a computer monitor not a tv. Via hdmi cable.... I hooked up the audio through my old amp and speakers ok. If u can give me some advice it would appreciated... those bought movies should work ok.
Regards
Bob
Mark
February 1, 2021 at 12:26 pm
Hey Bob,
I have been contacted by several people here in Australia with similar issues. I am more than happy to look at it for you, but freight and repair costs might be an issue. You can find these types of units on Gumtree, Buy, Swap & Sell & Ebay. I am sorry, but I am in NSW & don't know any repairers in your local area.
Are you able to do some testing yourself? These really do suffer from faulty caps & aren't a big job to replace. By the sound of your problem, the optic pickup could be an issue as well. But of course, correct diagnosis would be essential.
Sorry I didn't get back to your earlier, but I only just saw this comment today. 🙂