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Adjusting values in Service Mode MZ-E10 Error

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Has anyone attempted making adjustments in either the manual or adjustment modes?

The player i have no longer outputs sound from the disc, it still 'beeps' through the headphones (& thru the remote+ headphones) when searching, and the disc spins up but when the track is qued to play, the time counter stays at 00:00, the disc spins but no sound is output.

The 'manual' mode appears to allow adjustments to the units functions via range values, from the remote commander,however thereseems to be no reference data table to comply with..

The 'overall adjustments' mode or Electrical adjustments mode requires a digital voltmeter,thermometer, MO& CD disc so im not going into that at this stage.

Im no Sony technician, but if anyone has any experience it would be greatly appreciated.

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DVMs are cheap. Regulated power supplies and laser power meters are expensive. However you may be able to do without either. The md service manual generally permits an automated adjustment of laser parameters to be made with no special equipment.

Jim Hoggarth has figured most of this out and may be able to fix your unit for you without costing too much.

You can guess the room temperature. Just make sure it's in Celsius :)

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Yes i kinda got that jist from the very unhelpfull service manual (not that its supposed to be read by consumers) however i would be keen to learn the adjustment mode myself, before i give it up to the bay.

Update: Looks like im slowly getting somewhere with this- i looked up the service manual of my trusty old mz-r50 (still going strong!) [ wow what a great unit she is :imsohappy:] and can see there is more detail and slighlty better engrish translation.

Im surprised no one has ever posted up a sticky on navigating the service manual , as they all seem to adhere to a basic flowchart structure through the whole sony range.*

*Obviously with some disclaimer -only as a last resort (dont try this at home kiddies) unless your unit is actually broken,and you would rather not pay the hundred+ $ entrance fee sony charges just to look at the unit ...!

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Sorry, bad news. I actually no longer take MZ-E10s in for repair. In the last few years I have bought many, and attempted to repair a number too. Apart from two good workers I have since sold on, every one has had the same basic fault. Here's the problem:

The E10 has just five major parts, excluding the battery. Upper case, disc slot, motor/optical chassis, circuit board, and the lower casing. The motors and laser very rarely fail, at least in relation to the number of these units they sold originally. Unfortunately Sony decided it was sufficient to just screw the circuit board directly onto the lower casing, with no form of cushioning at all. If the unit is flexed, as it obviously will through 'normal' use (ie not superglued to a massive steel block), all that movement is transmitted to the circuit board. It has no option but to flex too, as it is securely fastened to the alloy casing. That's all fine for the actual circuit board which has a degree of flexibility, indeed even small components with just two or three leads will stand some movement. But there are a number of highly miniaturised integrated circuits on the board which are basically a (relatively) large slab of immobile plastic with *lots* of delicate connections.

So inevitably the soldered joints start to crack (in two instances I have seen a major chip actually totally disconnected from the board and rattling around). This not a too major problem as some can be very delicately resoldered. But not those beneath the largest chip, which does all the processing, decoding, etc etc. This has so many connections to the outside world they will not physically fit on the outer edges of the IC, and must be underneath. In this case standard soldering is impossible. I am guessing an infra-red oven of the type used to manufacture the boards would be needed, after removing any components made of plastic which would melt of course.

Consequently the E10 is as good as unrepairable. I admit, sometimes the problem may just be the remote control socket which has suffered broken joints, but usually also with the associated copper tracking being ripped. In this case I have tried using mod wire to patch up the circuitry, but found that the wires will not physically fit in the meagre space available, never mind trying to solder wires on to minute component solder lands.

I know I am sounding negative, but you may be better getting rid now while there is still a market for non-working E10s. Take this one for example - do a search on ebay (any country) for item number 400452265048. As I write this has less than 24 hours to go, and may well get more than its current 54.00 GBP. And the seller openly admits that the unit gives read errors. I have seen a similar unit sell recently, again said to be faulty, which I seem to recall reached 80 GBP?? Absolutely ridiculous, to my thinking, as I know they are probably unrepairable. I have been caught this way myself!

Hope I have not ruined your day.

Jim

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I have just had a thought. If by chance it is just the OP or motors at fault, it's an easy job to swap the plastic sub-chassis over. I have lots in stock, some labelled as good workers. I have no immediate use for them, so it may be worth just sending one over to you. In my experience most players don't need much in the way of aligning anyway. And if it does the job, all well and good. Otherwise you are no worse off other than the postage cost from UK to AUS. If you want to discuss email me at jim.hoggarth@blueyonder.co.uk

Jim

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I am absolutely astonished that the unit I mentioned yesterday has just sold for 82.00 GBP, considering that it is faulty. I just hope the buyer does not contact me to have it repaired!

To repeat, I am absolutely gob-smacked. Perhaps I ought to dig out all my non-working E10s and sell them off now while folk still have money to waste? :mega_shok:

Jim

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  • 5 years later...

Really glad to have found this topic.

I'm sad to read mz-e10 is unrepairable, i've just digged up mine after 10 years and it is in mint condition (motor & lens seem fine, i just LOVE the sound of the mecanics).

Can't read any MDs though, all my discs say "blankdisk" on the remote.

Wondering though if going through the "test mode" & running the "overall adjustment" would help...

Please advise if any e10 lover is still around!

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  • sfbp changed the title to Adjusting values in Service Mode MZ-E10 Error

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