Panasonic DMR-E85HS

The capacitors on the power supply board are burst. Attaching a picture of how they looked on my E85 when it was behaving exactly as you describe. Replace these caps with 25volt versions and your E85 will come back to life:

C1260 - 10V 680uF
C1261 - 10V 680uF
C1270 - 16v 680uF
C1271 - 16v 680uF

To answer your questions, yes and yes. See this and the posts that follow it:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post14452857

Here is the similar problem and its solution described in a 2007 post:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f106/dmr-e8...6/#post1895119

These power supply circuit boards are few and far between and expensive to replace. It is much less expensive to replace capacitors than to replace the entire circuit board.

If you're leery of doing the capacitor replacement yourself, ask around before sending the unit off for expensive factory service. You'd be surprised how many friendly geeks, young and old, would consider this job a piece of cake and do it for you gratis or for a small fee. Or, look for a trustworthy local electronics repair shop and explain what needs to be done. Ask them if they can offer you a reasonable rate since you are providing precise details of what needs to be replaced and how, saving them precious diagnostic time.

I'm very geeky myself, but if there's one thing I avoid if at all possible its a soldering iron: I know my limits, and I'm a klutz with solder. With a lot of time and stress, I managed to replace the power supply caps and drive motor in my vintage Thorens TD-145 turntable, but decided after that episode to quit while I was ahead . Good luck!

It's true that the 4hr LP speed retains the full D1 resolution of the SP speed but it's not true that the PQ will be equal for moving images. As soon as fast action such as moving water, flashing strobe lights, confetti etc. start the LP speed will look like a blocky mess.
SP is best but using FR set to 3hrs/disc gives a good compromise between macroblocking and longer storage. For more than 3hrs I'd strongly suggest DL discs. Or if you wanted to trade less macroblocking for reduced resolution then use EP set to 6hrs/standard disc.
BTW I wouldn't toss your E85, either sell it used AS IS or for $130 you can get it working like new by sending it to Panasonic as mentioned.

Panasonic picture quality (claims) did change between the 2004 and 2005 models:

DMR-E75V (2004) Operating Instructions, Specifications, page 73:

Video data:

Horizontal resolution: More than
XP: 500 lines SP: 400 lines
LP: 200 lines EP: 200 lines

**********

DMR-ES30V (2005) Operating Instructions, Specifications, page 75:

Video data:

Horizontal resolution: More than
XP: 500 lines SP: 500 lines
LP: 500 lines EP: 250 lines

I didn't catch the year your E85 was made but if it was pre '05 then your right, the EZ-27 would have more resolution in LP. Also the EZ-27 would have a much better picture recording off of a digital HD channel than the E85 would recording off a analog channel. You just can't beat recording off a HD channel even if it's to a SD DVDR.

The DMR-E85H Operating Instructions are (c) 2004. The copyright year usually indicates the model year. New model Panasonics usually arrive in the marketplace in April/May. Sometimes the Operating Insturctions will have a date "as of (date)" on the page that shows what's included in the box (remote, cables, IR blaster, batteries, manual, etc.) indicating the date that the manual was approved for printing.

I bought my 'E85 in June of 2004.

If the capacitor replace doesn't do the trick, you can probably still sell the thing for something on eBay to some gee-- er, "enthusiast" who can use it as a parts donor....or transplanet receipient.

Great everything worked out for you. BTW Panasonic must have changed something after '05 model DVDRs. One of my '05 ES-30s was upplugged for several months and kept perfect time. With my '06 ES-15's and newer they will lose the time after being unplugged for only a minute or so. My guess is the '05s and older used a battery backup while the newer ones just use a capacitor for backup.
Mfgs. did the same thing on VCRs. The original ones that cost a lot had battery backups while the newer cheaper ones only had the cap. On VCRs anyway the original rechargeable battery was good for about 5 years and wasn't too hard to replace. I did it several times on my original '82 VCR before retiring it.

I think the geek in all of us following this thread is cheering the heroic outcome.

I'm cheering for you!

I think I got hit with a major surge in Summer, it stayed on PLEASE WAIT.

Replaced the capacitors, and assembled it all together, to my initial delight, Please WAIT gave way to BARS progessing, and then Unit just froze at TVGUIDE screen, no functional buttons. This is what it does now at every start up.

I will check the hard drive, by hooking to a PC and unless HD is bad, I will have to send it to Panasonic.

Any alternative suggestions?

Might want to check your work on the capacitor replacement, make sure you got the polarities correct. Other than that, keep trying plugging and unplugging the power. One time my E85 got really messed up. I put in the firmware upgrade CD, the machine took the upgrade, and then the TVGuide was trashed. I'd push the button on the remote and nothing would happen. Or if it did come up it would immediately crash. After several power ups, trying to reset the machine, it suddenly came back to life.

You can go into the TVGOS menu and set it so that the TVGOS screen doesn't come up everytime you power the unit on.

And then you replaced C1260 and 1261?

I'm confused. What am I missing here?

I need help with my Panasonic DMR E-85. I've had it for 4+ years and my extended warranty just ended a few months ago and it's now hanging on the 'Please Wait' when I turn it on.

I'm hoping it's just the capacitor issue, but when I turn it on I do not hear any noise whatsoever as other posters here have mentioned.

I took it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy with a printout of a similar thread about the capacitor problem that might be the culprit (making it look like a hard drive issue), but I don't think the repair place they shipped it too even looked at my note and told me it was a $765 repair!!! (RAM drive replacement needed they said - $548 parts, $189 labor - WTF!!)

Anyways, I of course said no way and the person I talked to at the repair place wasn't the one who looked at my dvd recorder and couldn't answer if they even looked at the capacitors.

So I just took it to another local repair shop and was told it was a 'microprocessor' problem. But they couldn't speak good english and the actual repair guy never called me back after repeated attempts to find out if they checked the capacitors.

I'm not one to tinker with electronics and wouldn't want to open it up myself and risk messing it up further.

Am I completely out of luck if I'm hearing no noise at all when I turn it on? Or is there actually a chance it's that simple capacitor problem and I just need to find a reliable repair shop somewhere near me (in Northern Virginia).

Please let me know what you think so I can try to get this fixed without spending a ton of $$.

I appreciate it!!

If it's dead, do you risk much by opening it up & trying to replace the capacitors? Or, if you love the unit, go with the flat-fee repair option from Panasonic. Actually, I'm amazed even that's available--that members of this board have reported that it works. The reality is that consumer electronics, even somewhat pricier gear like the E85 was (I paid $650 for mine in 2004, including tax), is just not meant to be repaired. Some consumers still remember the old days when valuable items were repaired rather than tossed on the trash heap and still want to be reassured such services are available when they purchase the item. So manufacturers pretend they'll repair what they sell.

Bottom line: if you still want to use the Panny and don't want to do some snipping and soldering yourself, pack it off to Elk Grove Village (follow the instructions in other posts on this board).

The "Please Wait" appears as the hard drive is unable to spin-up because the electrolytic capacitors in the power supply have failed.

See this post for information concerning the $130 flat-rate repair through the corporate Panasonic Digital Service Center in Elk Grove Village:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...8#post14451738

Here are two examples of a servicing horror story waiting to happen with a visit to an "authorized" repair shop!

Folks, let's get the word out that "authorized" shops are NOT the place to take a Panasonic!

There is only one place that has the Panasonic experts and all the parts to return a Panasonic to new or better than new functional condition. The $130 flat-rate at Elk Grove Village covers everything, parts, labor and return shipping.

Ok, so I opened up my E85 and here's what it looks like under the HDD. It's the capacitors right? (shouldn't be yellowish and pointing up if they were ok right).

I'm pissed at Geek Squad for trying to rip me off - $765 estimate!

I'm still not comfortable trying to repair this myself (afraid to take everything out to get to the bottom of the circuit board and getting it back the same way (not to mentioned trying to soder it). Hopefully I can find someone who can do this repair cheaply since I can tell them exactly what needs to be done to fix it.

Those capacitors are "kaput."

Yes they look bad, split on the top. It's up to you but for for $130 I'd be tempted to send it in to Panasonic, that way you know it's done right. Otherwise if you trust a small repair shop(if they're are any still left) they should also be able to handle the repair but I don't know how much cheaper it will be.
Another advantage to Panasonic repair is if they find something else wrong with it (like maybe the DVD drive) parts alone for that would be north of $500 but would be included in the $130 from Panasonic.