Skip to main content

Video MiniDisc repair - Sony MZ-EH50 Hi-MD Player - cleaning the internal battery terminal to get it working!

When you feel ready to shop for your first or next MiniDisc player/recorder, there are certain things to look out for... In this case, I saw a blue Sony MZ-EH50 - a nice, late-model (2005), affordable Hi-MD MiniDisc player that can play SP/MDLP/Hi-MD discs, but it only worked when connected to an external battery pack.




When you see units that work while plugged into a power adapter or an external battery pack, that's good news! That means it is working electronically, but perhaps the seller didn't have a gumstick battery to test with. It could also be that they tested with a gumstick and it didn't work.

It's relatively easy to fix devices like this and I've recorded a video showing you how to get to the more difficult, internal terminal. Normally, the terminal on the inside of the flip-open battery door is all you need to clean to get it working. 

If you've tried that and it's still not working, try to get a light angled properly so you can see deeper inside the battery cavity and look for signs of corrosion on the internal (negative) terminal.

If you see it, we'll just need to clean it. 

Don't be intimidated opening a player to clean the battery terminal. We're not going deep inside to replace a gear just yet... Typically just a few screws will get you inside.

Then, it's just a matter of cleaning the corrosion off with a weak acid like vinegar. Don't use too much! If you see that you're not making much headway, you can gently scrape off any big chunks and then get back to it with the vinegar. Some patience and finesse should yield a fairly clean battery terminal in just 5 minutes. After it's clean, use some alcohol (91% isopropyl is fine) to clean off the acid. As usual, don't use too much - we're not trying to soak it - but it will evaporate quickly so it's safe to use on electronics.

Typically, you can even test the machine before reassembling it! 

I think I've already started a post about what to look for when shopping on Buyee - if not, I will!  Seeing a model that I want that works on external power is always a good sign!

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Recertifying your CCIE for less than $600 (or less than $800)! Updated 2023

This is a 2023 update to my previous post about using Cisco Continuing Education (CE) credits to recertify your CCIE. Let's cut to the chase: You need/want to recertify your CCIE without taking an exam and you need to do it as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. Thanks to Cisco's Continuing Education program, you've had the option earn CE credits for years, but sorting through courses to find the best use of your time and money wasn't the easiest. Since it's time for me to recertify, I've had to dig into it a bit more and I hope this updated information helps you, too! Can I expense this? Probably! If you're working at a company that requires/benefits from your certifications and ongoing training, you should be able to expense your training courses! Step 1 - Determine your status Go to https://ce.cisco.com and login with your credentials to view your Dashboard of current certifications and training items you have taken in the past.  Mine looks like th...
Read more

Giveaway #9 - 800+ Subscribers on YouTube - Sony MZ-E810SP + MiniDiscs directly from Japan!

  Thank you all for subscribing (if you haven't already, please consider it!) to my YouTube  where I try my best to repair some of these great old devices. 800 subs ago I never thought this would get this far! Thank you again for your support and I hope I can continue to help the great MiniDisc global community in some form. To celebrate 800 subscribers, I'm doing something a little bit different this time! I'm going to give away this sweet Sony MZ-E810SP - a nice MD unit with a folding speaker dock, and I'm going to direct-ship some MiniDiscs that I won in Japan straight to you! So the winner will get two packages, one Sony MZ-E810SP, and one set of MiniDiscs from Japan! For this  NINTH  giveaway (completely free to enter!), use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter between October 26th and November 3, midnight US Pacific time. a Rafflecopter giveaway Please see official rules, here!      Privacy policy is included here also - I don't need/wa...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Year's Giveaway! YouTube - MiniDisc Giveaway #3 - Panasonic SJ-MR230 Complete Set with Speakers and Dock ENDS 1/1/2024 US Pacific

To celebrate the New Year 2024, I'm giving away a Panasonic SJ-MR230 complete set with recorder, speakers, dock and charger! These have exceptionally good speakers for their size and the dock is a nice way to charge and display your recorder ( NOTE - you must have the AC power connected AND a battery inside to play audio through the speakers ) YouTube video: I just repaired the Record button and everything's working fine! For the third giveway (completely free to enter!), use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter between December 26th and January 1st midnight US Pacific time. a Rafflecopter giveaway If you're not in a region that uses 100v, please get the proper adapter/transformer ( US users can use the one here ).  Please see official rules, here! Privacy policy is included here also - I don't need/want your info outside of getting this device to you! To enter, just use your email (I don't use Facebook so I don't know where those entries will go...) and I...
Post a Comment
Read more