Panasonic Q strange power problem

Discussion in 'Repair, Restoration, Conservation and Preservation' started by abveost, Feb 8, 2016.

  1. abveost

    abveost Robust Member

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    Apologies in advance if this isn't obscure enough but it's obscure enough I couldn't find anything on Google.
    I moved my Q from one room to the other and when I plugged it in the power light lit up red but when I pushed the button nothing happened. I picked it up and turned it sideways to look at the back and heard a small click. Like a relay or microswitch, or maybe a small loose piece hitting the metal side. Pushing the power button then turned it on. Rotating up upright I heard the click again and the power button stopped working again. After rotating it back and forth a few times listening to the click it now works in the upright position. I removed the side panels to have a look inside but didn't see anything helpful in working out the cause.
    Has anyone run into something like this before? Or know if there's a switch in there somewhere that might cause this to happen if something came loose?
     
  2. supersega

    supersega I have 7 and a half PS1s in my room alone.

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    Sounds like the laser's just going up and falling back down, creating the click. Look for any blown fuses or VRMs.
     
  3. LeHaM

    LeHaM Site Soldier

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    should be in repair me thinks
     
  4. abveost

    abveost Robust Member

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    9There are no blown fuses or VRMs because it works perfectly unless I move it around until the click happens.
    Opening this thing to have a look around isn't trivial.

    Probably. I didn't see that when I was looking at the forum list. If someone can move it great.
     
  5. abveost

    abveost Robust Member

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    In case anyone else ever runs into the same thing here's the solution.
    The drive is held in place by some plastic posts. These are made of something with a durability somewhere between bakelite and school house chalk and have all cracked. If the drive mechanism isn't seated properly and slides to far to the right there seems to be some sort of sensor that disables the power switch. I glued the two posts on the accessible left side of the console back together and the drive now sits firmly in place and everything works fine. No doubt a good shake would knock things loose again but I don't plan on doing that so I'm good for now.

    Apparently these posts breaking is a common problem and mentioned in a few other posts here. Does anyone know if they are just posts or part of a larger plastic part of the drive?
     
sonicdude10
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