LG DVD recorder keep pausing

[Grant]

its a lg dr 175

It plays a movie / disc, but keeps pausing on it's own. this is an intermittent thing, it may play for 5 minutes, or 1 minutes, there is no regular interval between it pausing.
After a pause it starts playing again on its own.
Any ideas ??

 

[Captain Beer]

Does it freeze or pause? Does the player actually indicate pause on screen or on the front panel?

 

[Grant]

it keeps pausing

both the onscreen display shows "pause" as does the display on the unit itself - then it starts playing again on its own

 

[upup]

Is it a genuine dvd, or copied one.

 

[Grant]

tried genuine, & copied.
also tried recording onto a blank dvd - it then stops recording at a random point but writes the file that was recorded to disk & plays the bit of the recording ok (all 2 minutes of it)
i am wondering if it is a firmware issue - the unit has had very little use in fact

 

[howardb]

If the warranty is up, crack it open and give it a good clean out with compressed air - eject the tray and carefully clean the laser lens.
While open, check that the button panel hasn't got one of the buttons "stuck in" for some reason - it sometimes happens, or the button could just be faulty/sticky.
Take the batteries out of the remote and check if it still happens - use the front panel buttons to play the disc etc.

I know this sounds weird, but just to check - is the remote between 2 couch seat cushions when this happens? This used to happen to our DSTV (when we still had it) when the remote was in a specific position, the cushions would "squash" against it when someone moved or got up and random buttons were pressed, causing all sorts of weirdness with the decoder...

 

[ajax]

I had to replace my dvd drive on my LG twice, luckily under guarantee. But alas it is giving problems again. Doesn't play genuine commercial dvd's. I have to copy them first and write a new dvd at a very slow speed, then it will play. Go figure.

I will never buy LG optical drives again.

 

[Grant]

If the warranty is up, crack it open and give it a good clean out with compressed air - eject the tray and carefully clean the laser lens.
While open, check that the button panel hasn't got one of the buttons "stuck in" for some reason - it sometimes happens, or the button could just be faulty/sticky.
Take the batteries out of the remote and check if it still happens - use the front panel buttons to play the disc etc.

I know this sounds weird, but just to check - is the remote between 2 couch seat cushions when this happens? This used to happen to our DSTV (when we still had it) when the remote was in a specific position, the cushions would "squash" against it when someone moved or got up and random buttons were pressed, causing all sorts of weirdness with the decoder...

will check warranty status today, but if it's out i'll open it, fortunately I have a lg hdd/dvd recorder as well which i have opened up - so i kinda know my way around it's guts.
if it's turns out to be an issue with the optical drive i will be dissapointed - in fact, i'll make quite a bit of noise as i will then have 3 lg dvd recorders in my home that have defective optical drives

 

[Grant]

@ howardb

interestingly, i pulled it apart to have a look but closed it up again, doing nothing - had to go out.

problem may well be button related on the remote - not sitting on it or stuck between cushions tho.
took the batteries out & now it plays a movie without interruption.
i guess next move is to open the remote & give it a good cleaning inside

 

[howardb]

I see there are numerous complaints out there with not only the DR165 remote but other LG remotes too - seems to be a common issue with some of the buttons - a good clean should sort it out

Another common problem is the IR sensor itself (on the unit). This can usually be replaced yourself; you just need to establish the part number from LG, then you can grab a replacement from any reputable electronics shop.

See how it goes and let us know the verdict.