in car entertainment
 

Daughter bought her daughters an in car dvd player with 2 screens and it
has decided to break down.

On looking at the cigar plug end of the power cable, I found a blown
fuse, so I changed the 3 Amp for a 2.5 which is all I have in stock at
the moment and it has blow 2 of them so far.

I measured the resistance of the DVD play power input and it measuered
400 Ohms one way and 800 Ohms when I reversed the multimeter leads. I'm
thinking of buying some 5 amp fuses a.m. and see what it does to them.

I could conect it up to a variable power supply and see what it is
drawing through, but I thought that this was an unusual thing to happen.

Any ideas anyone? Or does it have to go for repair?

Dave (a bit out of touch with this DVD technology.)

in car entertainment
 

On Mon, 25 May 2009 22:50:14 +0100, Dave
wrote:

I'm
thinking of buying some 5 amp fuses a.m. and see what it does to them.

You could always use the traditional approach to save time and use a
nail!

in car entertainment
 

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Daughter bought her daughters an in car dvd player with 2 screens and it
has decided to break down.

On looking at the cigar plug end of the power cable, I found a blown fuse,
so I changed the 3 Amp for a 2.5 which is all I have in stock at the
moment and it has blow 2 of them so far.

I measured the resistance of the DVD play power input and it measuered 400
Ohms one way and 800 Ohms when I reversed the multimeter leads. I'm
thinking of buying some 5 amp fuses a.m. and see what it does to them.

I could conect it up to a variable power supply and see what it is drawing
through, but I thought that this was an unusual thing to happen.

Any ideas anyone? Or does it have to go for repair?


It's the current draw you'll need to measure. What (If anything) does any
sticker on the unit say for fuse rating?
3a sound a little low for a DVD player.
If there's a motor dragging in the DVD and something is stalling it there
may be a higher current draw causing the fuse blow.
Google the make and see what's recommended

in car entertainment
 

HI Dave

Dave wrote:
Daughter bought her daughters an in car dvd player with 2 screens and it
has decided to break down.

On looking at the cigar plug end of the power cable, I found a blown
fuse, so I changed the 3 Amp for a 2.5 which is all I have in stock at
the moment and it has blow 2 of them so far.

I measured the resistance of the DVD play power input and it measuered
400 Ohms one way and 800 Ohms when I reversed the multimeter leads. I'm
thinking of buying some 5 amp fuses a.m. and see what it does to them.

I could conect it up to a variable power supply and see what it is
drawing through, but I thought that this was an unusual thing to happen.

Any ideas anyone? Or does it have to go for repair?

Dave (a bit out of touch with this DVD technology.)

I'm not clued-up on DVD technology either - but replacing a blow fuse
with one of a higher rating is a strategy that's a bit on the
'dangerous' side. There's a good chance that the original fuse blew for
a reason - and by just giving it more 'welly', you may end up blowing
more than the fuse...

Was the player bought 'new'? If so, replace the 3A (blown) fuse - take
it back and play dumb 'It stopped working'....

You could put an amp-meter in line and see how much current it's taking
- given that there's probably a fault condition, it's probably pulling
more than 3A (to blow the fuse - a lot more than 3A!) - so watch out
that you don't blow the amp-meter as well..

Return for refund, or get it repaired....

Adrian

in car entertainment
 

Dave wrote:
Daughter bought her daughters an in car dvd player with 2 screens and it
has decided to break down.

On looking at the cigar plug end of the power cable, I found a blown
fuse, so I changed the 3 Amp for a 2.5 which is all I have in stock at
the moment and it has blow 2 of them so far.

I measured the resistance of the DVD play power input and it measuered
400 Ohms one way and 800 Ohms when I reversed the multimeter leads. I'm
thinking of buying some 5 amp fuses a.m. and see what it does to them.

I could conect it up to a variable power supply and see what it is
drawing through, but I thought that this was an unusual thing to happen.

Any ideas anyone? Or does it have to go for repair?

Dave (a bit out of touch with this DVD technology.)


Does it actually work for a bit before blowing the 2.5? (i.e. it's not
just buggered?) If so, check the 3A - is it / should it be an
anti-surge?, have you replaced with fast-blows? (it'd explain it eating
fuses).

When you're buying the fuses, get the proper one (3A A/S, or whatever) -
the 5A isn't helping much, except to protect the fuse :)

Try a 5A to experiment, if it appears to resolve the issue, look to see
why the unit is still working, but drawing more than the designed power,
it could be as simple as an electrolytic cap failing on the incoming PSU
(I'm guessing the main body will regulate the car supply for the player,
and the two display heads). Look for pressure bulges on the larger caps,
or signs of electrolyte leaking. Have a good sniff - a badly failing cap
(that's taken a bit of current through it to blow a fuse) can, on a good
day, be pretty obvious. And cheap to replace.

....

Or send it back for repair, under warranty


Mike

in car entertainment
 

In article ,
Dave writes:
Daughter bought her daughters an in car dvd player with 2 screens and it
has decided to break down.

On looking at the cigar plug end of the power cable, I found a blown
fuse, so I changed the 3 Amp for a 2.5 which is all I have in stock at
the moment and it has blow 2 of them so far.

I measured the resistance of the DVD play power input and it measuered
400 Ohms one way and 800 Ohms when I reversed the multimeter leads. I'm
thinking of buying some 5 amp fuses a.m. and see what it does to them.

I could conect it up to a variable power supply and see what it is
drawing through, but I thought that this was an unusual thing to happen.

Any ideas anyone? Or does it have to go for repair?

Dave (a bit out of touch with this DVD technology.)

Check carefully for any obvious damage such as crushed cables.

Otherwise, I would guess the car supply is probably fed into a
switched mode PSU to derive the stablised supplies the circuitry
needs, and this has gone pop.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

in car entertainment
 

R wrote:
"Dave" wrote in message
...
Daughter bought her daughters an in car dvd player with 2 screens and it
has decided to break down.

On looking at the cigar plug end of the power cable, I found a blown fuse,
so I changed the 3 Amp for a 2.5 which is all I have in stock at the
moment and it has blow 2 of them so far.

I measured the resistance of the DVD play power input and it measuered 400
Ohms one way and 800 Ohms when I reversed the multimeter leads. I'm
thinking of buying some 5 amp fuses a.m. and see what it does to them.

I could conect it up to a variable power supply and see what it is drawing
through, but I thought that this was an unusual thing to happen.

Any ideas anyone? Or does it have to go for repair?


It's the current draw you'll need to measure. What (If anything) does any
sticker on the unit say for fuse rating?
3a sound a little low for a DVD player.
If there's a motor dragging in the DVD and something is stalling it there
may be a higher current draw causing the fuse blow.
Google the make and see what's recommended

When I couldn't get any new 3 Amp fuses I tried a 5 Amp. The drive unit
sounded like it fizzled for a very short time and when I opened the door
for the dvd drive, it was spinning away, but the display was not lit up.
It looks like the repair man to me.

Thanks

Dave

in car entertainment
 

adrian wrote:
HI Dave

Dave wrote:
Daughter bought her daughters an in car dvd player with 2 screens and
it has decided to break down.

On looking at the cigar plug end of the power cable, I found a blown
fuse, so I changed the 3 Amp for a 2.5 which is all I have in stock at
the moment and it has blow 2 of them so far.

I measured the resistance of the DVD play power input and it measuered
400 Ohms one way and 800 Ohms when I reversed the multimeter leads.
I'm thinking of buying some 5 amp fuses a.m. and see what it does to
them.

I could conect it up to a variable power supply and see what it is
drawing through, but I thought that this was an unusual thing to happen.

Any ideas anyone? Or does it have to go for repair?

Dave (a bit out of touch with this DVD technology.)

I'm not clued-up on DVD technology either - but replacing a blow fuse
with one of a higher rating is a strategy that's a bit on the
'dangerous' side. There's a good chance that the original fuse blew for
a reason - and by just giving it more 'welly', you may end up blowing
more than the fuse...

A fuse is there to protect the wires. Upping one from 3 to 5 amps should
not cause a fault in the system. If it did, then the system already has
a fault in the first place.

Was the player bought 'new'? If so, replace the 3A (blown) fuse - take
it back and play dumb 'It stopped working'....

It's out of warranty :-(

You could put an amp-meter in line and see how much current it's taking
- given that there's probably a fault condition, it's probably pulling
more than 3A (to blow the fuse - a lot more than 3A!) - so watch out
that you don't blow the amp-meter as well..

Whenever I measure curent, I always fall back onto my trusty Avo. No
internal resistance on Amps. So no problem with blowing it, unlike the
modern units.

Return for refund, or get it repaired....

It's looking like a repair at the moment.

Dave

in car entertainment
 

Mike Dodd wrote:
Dave wrote:
Daughter bought her daughters an in car dvd player with 2 screens and
it has decided to break down.

On looking at the cigar plug end of the power cable, I found a blown
fuse, so I changed the 3 Amp for a 2.5 which is all I have in stock at
the moment and it has blow 2 of them so far.

I measured the resistance of the DVD play power input and it measuered
400 Ohms one way and 800 Ohms when I reversed the multimeter leads.
I'm thinking of buying some 5 amp fuses a.m. and see what it does to
them.

I could conect it up to a variable power supply and see what it is
drawing through, but I thought that this was an unusual thing to happen.

Any ideas anyone? Or does it have to go for repair?

Dave (a bit out of touch with this DVD technology.)


Does it actually work for a bit before blowing the 2.5? (i.e. it's not
just buggered?) If so, check the 3A - is it / should it be an
anti-surge?, have you replaced with fast-blows? (it'd explain it eating
fuses).

Not sure if the DVD spun up up at power on, I didn't hear any sound of a
motor.

As to the fuse I replaced, it was a fast blow and daughter knew nothing
about a fuse in the cigar plug, so I doubt she had changed it.

When you're buying the fuses, get the proper one (3A A/S, or whatever) -
the 5A isn't helping much, except to protect the fuse :)

Try a 5A to experiment, if it appears to resolve the issue, look to see
why the unit is still working, but drawing more than the designed power,
it could be as simple as an electrolytic cap failing on the incoming PSU
(I'm guessing the main body will regulate the car supply for the player,
and the two display heads). Look for pressure bulges on the larger caps,
or signs of electrolyte leaking. Have a good sniff - a badly failing cap
(that's taken a bit of current through it to blow a fuse) can, on a good
day, be pretty obvious. And cheap to replace.

Though I have been an electronics hobbyist for a long time, I took out
and replaced with same style of fuse, like for like. When I had blown 2
fuses I decided that I would put a 5 Amp fuse in. The DVD deck spun up
but the displays didn't do a thing. And there is an electrical burned
smell about it.
I am reluctant to open up the case and take a look. Apart from which, I
don't have the time with having the g daughters with us for the week.

Or send it back for repair, under warranty

Out of warranty :-(

Dave

in car entertainment
 

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Dave writes:
Daughter bought her daughters an in car dvd player with 2 screens and it
has decided to break down.

On looking at the cigar plug end of the power cable, I found a blown
fuse, so I changed the 3 Amp for a 2.5 which is all I have in stock at
the moment and it has blow 2 of them so far.

I measured the resistance of the DVD play power input and it measuered
400 Ohms one way and 800 Ohms when I reversed the multimeter leads. I'm
thinking of buying some 5 amp fuses a.m. and see what it does to them.

I could conect it up to a variable power supply and see what it is
drawing through, but I thought that this was an unusual thing to happen.

Any ideas anyone? Or does it have to go for repair?

Dave (a bit out of touch with this DVD technology.)

Check carefully for any obvious damage such as crushed cables.

First thing I did, when I replaced the fuse. Check the continuity of the
cable from car to other end, everything was fine. I tested it on my 30
amp PSU that runs my amateur radios. I have in line a cigar lighter
socket to test car driven devices. It is regulated to 13.8 Volts, the
same as you get from a car battery with the engine running.

Otherwise, I would guess the car supply is probably fed into a
switched mode PSU to derive the stablised supplies the circuitry
needs, and this has gone pop.

As I said to another poster, the only thing running is the DVD deck.

Dave

in car entertainment
 

In article ,
Dave writes:
It looks like the repair man to me.

These things are not designed to be repaired.
I would price up a replacement system first, and consider carefully
what proportion of that you're happy to spend on repairing the old
system before committing to doing so.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

in car entertainment
 

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Dave writes:
It looks like the repair man to me.

These things are not designed to be repaired.
I would price up a replacement system first, and consider carefully
what proportion of that you're happy to spend on repairing the old
system before committing to doing so.

Thanks, I'll pass that information on to the daughter when I se her
Sunday night.

Dave