Has anyone done...or found info on doing.. aftermarket replacements for the DVD burner drive in the Panasonic DMR-EH55.

Also..has anyone managed to successfully put a larger HD in the unit.

I know you can buy the burner from Pan...for an absolutely incredible price, but ...is there a satisfactory alternate out there? I have now had to replace the drive in my unit 3 times...with about 10-12 successful burns between failures (the replacements done by a Pan Warranty service point).

Thanks,

jp

Has anyone done...or found info on doing.. aftermarket replacements for the DVD burner drive in the Panasonic DMR-EH55 . . .

I know you can buy the burner from Pan...for an absolutely incredible price, but ...is there a satisfactory alternate out there? I have now had to replace the drive in my unit 3 times...with about 10-12 successful burns between failures (the replacements done by a Pan Warranty service point).

There are no "aftermarket" DVD Drives for Panasonic DVD recorders.

The only DVD Drives that may be used in a DMR-EH55 are found in other 2006 model year Panasonic recorders. (These recorders are the DMR-EH75, DMR-EH55, DMR-ES15, DMR-ES25, DMR-ES35V, DMR-ES45V, DMR-ES46V). Perhaps, per the clarification in my 10/2/2009 post in this thread, the only DVD Drive that may be swapped into a DMR-EH55 is DVD Drive model VXY1945 found in the DMR-EH55 and DMR-EH75 models.

This earlier thread provides more detailed information and photos:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1082922

For a concise description of DVD Drive problem indicators and the importance of using quality media see this post:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17163187#post17163187

A more detailed description with other service information is found in this post:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16832715#post16832715

Perhaps there are other problems with your DMR-EH55 that have not been diagnosed. These may include problems with ribbon cables or their contacts, or a problematic Digital PCB.

Routine cleaning of the DVD Drive lens and rubber hub and spindle area may correct read, write and finalizing problems--and prolong DVD Drive longevity. I clean the lens, hub and spindle at eight to ten month intervals. Cleaning is needed more often with heavy use, in warm, dusty, and smoking environments or where discs are handled with a finger through the center hole. For more information and photos see this post and those that follow it:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14479898#post14479898

As described in one of the linked posts, use of quality DVD media is important. For archival work I've settled upon Taiyo Yuden Premium Line 8x DVD-R media, found here:

http://www.supermediastore.com/taiyo-yuden-silver-thermal-8x-dvd-r-media-100-pack.html

For information concerning Panasonic's $130 flat-rate repair through the corporate service centers in Elgin and Elk Grove Village Illinois see this post:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14451738#post14451738

I agree with Digado, if you've had to replace the DVD drive more than once on your EH-55 their must be something else wrong.
My guess is if your spindle is getting dirty causing disc slippage and when you send it into Panasonic they don't clean the spindle but rather replace the whole drive.
Since your unit was under warranty you may have not tried cleaning the spindle. If it's out of warranty now you'll definitely want to try cleaning it instead of replacing it.

You cannot upsize the HDD, the original size is encoded into the firmware and even if you put a larger drive in, it will only format to the size of the original. Check the EH-55 main thread for tips on what brands/types of HDDs work.

This post clarifies some DVD Drive interchange information found in my earlier post in this thread.

Panasonic 2006 model year HDD/DVD recorders use DVD Drive VXY1945. Panasonic's "standard" 2006 model year recorders use DVD Drives VXY1916, VXY1972 or, in some instances, a DVD Drive that carries no model number.

Why do the 2006 HDD/DVD models use a different DVD Drive than the "standard" models? The "standard" models record to DVD in "real time" (1x) whereas the HDD/DVD models offer the "high-speed dubbing" feature that may require a DVD Drive optimized for high-speed dubbing in addition to "real time" recording. Perhaps therein lies one difference between DVD Drive models in 2006 model year Panasonic recorders.