How to tighten lid of MZ-RH1?

[M.A.L.]

Hi there,

I have a problem with my MZ-RH1. The symptom is that, while handling it, the unit will suddenly reset (ie. turn off then on again). This happens both during playback and recording, and also both while using just the battery or just the usb connection for power.

The lid seems to have quite a lot of play in it when closed - it moves up and down about 1mm both sides at the front, and I'm pretty sure this is causing the "lid closed switch" to think the lid is opening when it's actually not. (I have no idea what this switch is actually called, but it's located just forward of the white line-in jack.)

This is mainly a problem when using the 'jog leaver'. When pushing it up into the FF position, I tend to push the leaver up with my thumb while pushing down on the lid with my forefinger. It turns out this action cause the left side of the lid to raise enough to take pressure off this switch. Also, twisting the whole unit down at the front-left and rear-right corners, while pushing up on the front-right and rear-left corners, causes the front left corner of the lid to raise about 3mm - completely off the switch.

I actually have a second MZ-RH1 which does not have this problem (the lid closes very firmly and doesn't move at all), but I can't see any obvious difference, it simply doesn't twist as much!

My temporary fix has been to wedge a tiny bit of (green) masking tape on top of the switch, which works great. But ideally I'd like to reduce the play in the lid. The only other post I could find on the issue was from nearly 3 years ago.

Has anyone had any experience with this? I've tried tightening and loosening various screws, but I'm frightened to disassemble the unit further than I should!

Cheers,

Ben

[sfbp]

the two screws that matter are on the bottom of the unit. They can be too tight, or too loose, though since you haven't actually touched them yet, I would guess too loose in your case.

Getting them "correct" should fix both the problems you describe. There's no harm in tightening the other screws, eg. the ones you expose when the lid is lifted, the two on the back, and the one you can only see when you unclip the battery door (feeling brave?) but I think the two on the bottom are the only ones that really matter. There's also one underneath the other side panel but that involves snapping off the protecting cover for the input jacks, and I wouldn't bother, for the same reason. (oops, I see you already had that off, you are definitely hacker material!)

Let us know how you get on.

Stephen

[M.A.L.]

Thanks Stephen,

Yeah I've taken both the bottom and top casings right off, as described in the service manual, and played with varying tightness of screw but it doesn't seem to help. The bottom two screws you desribe mainly effect the position of the 'cabinet' (the bit that houses the controls and OLED display), which can effect the tightness of the eject button, but seems quite separate from the lid.

I think my problem is with the latch mechanism, or perhaps the frame of the lid is bent - I was hoping someone else had some advice before I delved any deeper!

Cheers,

Ben

[sfbp]

You've done "better" than I did. I couldn't persuade the bottom casing to come off (it stuck on the USB connector, and I was frightened to pull hard as it seemed so flimsy, and I'd already had a fight with the excess plastic moulding round the battery door) but when I put it back, everything worked!

What I noted was that the glitchyness of the jog lever AS WELL as the functioning of the eject button seemed better when I got the screws just right.

Keep us posted!

[PhilippeC]

I have bought my MZ-RH1 to a vietnamese shop in Hanoi and for some months now I have been forced to use a binder due to unexpected reset. So your post make me rethink about it and I just discoved that 3 screws are missing (the one near the battery, the two inside ones at the front of the upper panel. With also a jog lever wich work only when it want, I have been screwed by this shop even at 170$ the unit (with no accessories at all). I don't know where to find these kind of screws.

I have bought my MZ-RH1 to a vietnamese shop in Hanoi and for some months now I have been forced to use a binder due to unexpected reset. So your post make me rethink about it and I just discoved that 3 screws are missing (the one near the battery, the two inside ones at the front of the upper panel. With also a jog lever witch work only when it want, I have been (auto-censored) up by this shop even at 170$ the unit (with no accessories at all). I don't know where to find these kind of screws.

[sfbp]

If they are the std ones, just buy a cheap player second hand and take the screws. Should cost no more than $20 if you look in the right places.

[rainsire]

Did you ever secure that lid?

[jmsla]

Hey Rainsire,

I don't know about M.A.L or the others but, I was having the same probem and I just tightened the lid on my RH1 last week. The ends at the front edge of the of the lid were wobbling back and forth. If I happened to push down on the right side while handling the unit it would act like a mystery function button and interfere with whatever the unit was doing at the time.

If you are having the same problem, here is what I did to fix it.

First I carefully tightened all the screws I could easily get to that are associated with the lid. Then I held the unit up to my eye and looked across the front edge of the lid where I discovered that it was in fact slightly bowed. The middle where it latches was a bit lower than at the ends, thus it was swayback shaped. I fixed this bit of swayback by placing the unit on a firm surface like my desk top, and then with the lid open inserted my index finger, (fingerprint side up) just slightly under the middle of the lid. Then with my other hand placed my thumb and index finger at the two corner ends and applied very gentle pressure. I did not try to re-shaper it in one effort. After applying some gentle pressure, I closed the lid to see how much I had adjusted. I did this two or three times just until the ends held tight in place.

Problem solved, the lid is now nice and tight when I close it. Lastly, I suggest not shutting the lid by pushing down only on the center of the front edge. That practice may contribute to the bend. Use two or three fingers across the front edge to apply even pressure when shutting the lid.

Just go slow and gentle with the above procedure and don't adjust it more that it needs.

-ja

[coral]

Thanks for the tips. JMSLA hit the nail on the head puurfectly. I've had this problem slowly, and progressively becoming a really pain in the neck. I even considered taking to the Sony Repair shop!! This filled me with a sense of dread due to the huge bill I knew would follow:(

Thanks

[jmsla]

Thanks for the tips. JMSLA hit the nail on the head puurfectly. I've had this problem slowly, and progressively becoming a really pain in the neck. I even considered taking to the Sony Repair shop!! This filled me with a sense of dread due to the huge bill I knew would follow:(

Thanks

Hey Coral,

I'm glad that worked for you. I hope it helps out others as well. Those are expensive little machines. Some of those black lid covers may be a bit mishapen at the manufacture or assembly end. I think mine was a little like that right from the box and just got worse over time as I would close it by pushing only in the middle. Lesson learned.

BTW-how did your uploading to SS after recording Hi-MD through the DG2 from your computer work out? We never saw you follow up over there at MD, NetMD & MDLP / Xitel DG2.

Best,

Jim

[coral]

Hey Coral,

I'm glad that worked for you. I hope it helps out others as well. Those are expensive little machines. Some of those black lid covers may be a bit mishapen at the manufacture or assembly end. I think mine was a little like that right from the box and just got worse over time as I would close it by pushing only in the middle. Lesson learned.

BTW-how did your uploading to SS after recording Hi-MD through the DG2 from your computer work out? We never saw you follow up over there at MD, NetMD & MDLP / Xitel DG2.

Best,

Jim

Great thanks

I had to remove then reinstall SStage for it to work. Something wasn't right it wouldn't let me upload any Hi-MD or NetMD material. Once the reinstall went through it worked like a charm. And yeah you're right, the MZ-RH1 is a little expensive now. I just got another one off Ebay for $440 AUD. It's like an addiction:):)

[jmsla]

Great thanks

I had to remove then reinstall SStage for it to work. Something wasn't right it wouldn't let me upload any Hi-MD or NetMD material. Once the reinstall went through it worked like a charm. And yeah you're right, the MZ-RH1 is a little expensive now. I just got another one off Ebay for $440 AUD. It's like an addiction:)

Good that it all worked out. A hitch in SS...you'll probably never know what was preventing uploading with that original installation.

$440AUD for an RH1...that's almost $400 USD. It is like and addiction. I got my most recent RH1 (my third) from Craigslist for about $250 thought they often are asking $300 on CL in the States.

Is Craigslist a viable forum to purchase from in Australia? I for one never go near E-Bay except to browse out of curiosity. On CL I search the entire domestic forum by going through GOOGLE Advanced Search. There is a window at the bottom of the Advanced Search page that let's you put in a particular forum to search, so I jut put 'craigslist.org and get all the "Hi-MD minidisc" or just 'minidisc' posts across the entire country.

Cheers

[Karmageddon]

You know I have been having this EXACT same problem.

and now a new one surfaced, as I am now getting Access Errors. I went into service mode and did the self-diagnose test and it gave me an error of "0004" which means Abnormal Rotation Of Disc.

maybe my disc isn't sitting properly and once it gets halfway through it can't read it anymore?

hmmm...could this be a MAJOR flaw?