JVC XM-R70 MiniDisc Loose Lid Fix
Every owner of the JVC XM-R70 MiniDisc recorder knows it is a very nice player/recorder but there are terrible problems caused by the disc tray lid/door. It doesn't close tightly and if you press or shake the player it can trigger the open/closed microswitch. This resets playback and/or you lose unsaved TOC changes.
Originally when I bought the player in 2005 I fixed this by adding a ball of glue on the lid (see below in green). Looks ugly and worked but after 8 years the glue has gone yellow and brittle. So I decided to open the player to find a better solution.
This first picture shows the problem and my first solution. When the lid closes it pushes a steel arm (red) which rotates and presses a microswitch (blue). Unfortunately there were very poor tolerances such that the lid does not close tightly and the steel arm remains loose, often not even touching the microswitch. My new solution is to bend the steel arm so it's always in contact with the switch and fully presses the switch when the lid is closed.
The bottom cover of the player is easy to remove with 4 screws on the bottom and 2 on the rear, but these are very small/tight so you need a good PH000 screwdriver. To accurately bend the steel arm you need to hold the lid-end of the arm in place with one set of pliers:
Then with a second set of small pliers you can bend the other end towards the switch (I couldn't hold both pliers and camera at the same time!). Be careful you don't damage the switch or bend the arm down towards metal components below, or bend it up so the switch plunger can slide underneath:
After a few attempts your arm should look as below when the lid is closed. Tight against the switch so if the lid moves/rotates the switch won't trigger and indicate the lid is open:
The new invisible solution works perfectly and means the machine can be used reliably. Well, at home at least because the one remaining issue with this model is the dead Li-Ion battery that is no longer available new. There are a couple of solutions I've found online for this:
http://www.butoba.net/amf65/amf65bat.html
http://www.minidiscforum.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=20972&start=20
I wonder how many of these players were returned or thrown away because of this small fault? Such a shame, if you have one with this fault now is the time to save it.
Originally when I bought the player in 2005 I fixed this by adding a ball of glue on the lid (see below in green). Looks ugly and worked but after 8 years the glue has gone yellow and brittle. So I decided to open the player to find a better solution.
This first picture shows the problem and my first solution. When the lid closes it pushes a steel arm (red) which rotates and presses a microswitch (blue). Unfortunately there were very poor tolerances such that the lid does not close tightly and the steel arm remains loose, often not even touching the microswitch. My new solution is to bend the steel arm so it's always in contact with the switch and fully presses the switch when the lid is closed.
The bottom cover of the player is easy to remove with 4 screws on the bottom and 2 on the rear, but these are very small/tight so you need a good PH000 screwdriver. To accurately bend the steel arm you need to hold the lid-end of the arm in place with one set of pliers:
Then with a second set of small pliers you can bend the other end towards the switch (I couldn't hold both pliers and camera at the same time!). Be careful you don't damage the switch or bend the arm down towards metal components below, or bend it up so the switch plunger can slide underneath:
After a few attempts your arm should look as below when the lid is closed. Tight against the switch so if the lid moves/rotates the switch won't trigger and indicate the lid is open:
The new invisible solution works perfectly and means the machine can be used reliably. Well, at home at least because the one remaining issue with this model is the dead Li-Ion battery that is no longer available new. There are a couple of solutions I've found online for this:
http://www.butoba.net/amf65/amf65bat.html
http://www.minidiscforum.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=20972&start=20
I wonder how many of these players were returned or thrown away because of this small fault? Such a shame, if you have one with this fault now is the time to save it.
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