Panasonic DMR-ES10 remote model?
 

I bought a dud ES10 on eBay a while back. Finally bought a replacement. Didn't come with a remote, but I figure I've already got a remote from the dud so I can use that.

Except it doesn't work. It turns my brand new Panasonic DMP-BDT380 on and off - would probably do more if I tried - but I can't get it to interact with the ES10 at all. I've tried changing the remote code and no display shows up for what to change it to on the ES10 (although "SET 1" appears on the Blu-Ray player).

I found a manual to try and troubleshoot...and the remote depicted there only vaguely resembles the remote I have (attached). Searching for 'Panasonic ES10' on eBay and sorting by lowest price first returns a lot of remotes with yet another design.

Is this remote supposed to work? Do I need to buy another? Will one of the cheaper ones do, or do I need to find the one pictured in that manual?

Not sure. It doesn't appear 100% correct.
This should work: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53...-/322421663353

Notice some buttons are different. Same look at a glance, but not the same functions.

$50 for a remote is...steep.

*sigh*

I loathe that first seller. A 'tested working' ES10 with a circuit board snapped in half and a non-functional remote with flat batteries.

It should be $15 shipped, not $50.
And a simple remote won't cost more than another $15 at most to ship. At least I'd hope so.

$15 shipped to you, yes. But with currency conversion and priority international shipping, it ended up at $AU49.22.

I love living here. At least I should get it pretty quickly for that extra money...

Without getting too political, these days, yeah, I'd probably love it there too. :laugh:

Welp, problem. I was just flicking through the manual and the ES10 itself doesn't look like my unit, either. Seems I have one of these, which does in fact use the remote I have. It's the same as the broken one, too.

So I've got a remote that's a dud for no reason and a new remote on the way that probably won't work...this is not going very well.

Panasonic is a lot like JVC is some ways. They have somewhat generic remotes for entire model lines.
I bet that new remote will work.

Well, the ES10 remote powers my new Blu-Ray player on and off, and I can pull up the "SET [REMOTECODE]" display on the front.

I can do the same with my previous Blu-Ray player's remote. And obviously the remote for the current Blu-Ray player.

The ES10 does not respond in any way to any of this.

It has to be another dud ES10, right? I thought it might just be that it was the wrong remote but given that it is in fact the right remote and it operates my new BD player...whatever is in the ES10 to receive the remote signal must not be working. The front panel buttons all work, but that's it.

If so, that $50 remote won't work. And I'm out another $200 for another ES10. EDIT: And the ink and paper used printing off the manual for the wrong model.

This is ridiculous.

Does it work without the remote?

Most likely those "duds" just need minor cap replacements. So don't trash them. If I had two broken unit, and was considering discarding them, I'd first try my hand at soldering a repair.

The worst you can do is catch it on fire -- which I've done, which is why I mostly avoid soldering. :laugh:

You've spent a lot of time fiddling with video. What's another learning project?

It powers up, unlike the last one. Not exactly a lot of buttons on the front, though. I powered it up and tried to run a tape through it but I just got a black screen. One presumes it's set to the wrong input. I might try throwing random cables at it, see if I can get a picture. Still useless if I can't get the S-Video in working (and did I read somewhere that it has to be a specific one of the two S-Video ports?), but it would narrow things down.

My dad's decent with electronics, so I ordered a cap replacement kit and took the first one over to his place. We figured we were wasting our time once we opened it up and saw a circuit board almost completely snapped in half, but gave it a whirl anyway and no dice.

Unfortunately this was months after I bought it, so it was too late to make a complaint. I got two VCRs and the ES10 on the same day and evidently neglected to test the ES10.

So...is it worth going over all that again or is it likely to be something else? It's more money, more time, etc, and with shipping times from the US the PayPal dispute window starts to get awful small. That said, I'm not sure if a complaint about the remote not working will fly on a unit that was specifically sold without a remote, even if we can narrow it down to an IR receiver issue (which I'm guessing is what it would be).

I'm waiting on a response from you in my Flickering Video thread, BTW. No rush, but you're obviously active.

EDIT: Okay, I can eject the tray and insert a disc, and it seems to be playing according to the front panel display. Can't seem to get a picture to come out of it though.

-- merged --

Well so much for priority shipping, the tracking info says the new remote is still two weeks away.

And I'm still not optimistic about it working, given that the remote specifically designed for this unit doesn't work, nor do two other Panasonic remotes, yet all three function just fine with my Blu-Ray player.

Is there any way to operate this without the remote? I tried putting a disc in but couldn't figure a way to get it to display on my TV. Given that, is it likely it's a complete dud? Or could there be a setting in there somehow affecting the video output?

eBay description says it was fully tested and working, but surely that can't be right if I can't even get a picture, never mind the remote issues?

I ordered something from UK, and it was sent "Priority" -- and it took 3 weeks to get here.

And I sent something "Priority" (International) that took longer than First Class International to the same country.

Honestly, USA/Australia tends to be one of the better shipping paths.

The default settings of the ES10 are crappy, and I'm not surprised you get no picture. And without a remote, it's a paperweight. If it powers on, it probably is fine. The biggest issue with the ES10 is failing caps, and it would fail to turn on. But it's nowhere near as common as JVC LSI DVD recorder or AG-1980P VCRs.

Or, apparently, somebody using it to practice karate (chopping boards in half). :P

The last thing I had sent priority took mere days. Things from the UK sent regular used to only take a couple of days but I've been waiting on a book for a couple of weeks now - tracking info says that was supposed to be here yesterday. Maybe my house is invisible to other people or something.

Why is it unsurprising to get no picture? Surely there should at least be something coming through the 'out' cables?

It powers on, but if it's not responding to any of my remotes, it's useless.

Last time I had a 'not as described' eBay item eBay made me ship it back at my own expense in order to get a refund, but I would have lost money that way. Same will be true here, if that happens again. And the previous one was a case of outright fraud (ordered a DVD box set, got some loose DVDs), this was never sold with a remote in the first place.

I think I'm screwed here, again. I've completely blown my budget and I'm going to have to wait another six months or so to look at purchasing another ES10, and there aren't that many PAL ones available.

When the LED displays "SET" plus a number, it indicates that the remote control and main unit are using different codes. Change the code on the remote control.

Press and hold [ENTER] and the indicated number button at the same time for more than 2 seconds.

This is in from the user manual. I can't answer for the other component you mentioned.

The SET [REMOTECODE] appears on my current Blu-Ray player when using the ES10 remote. It does not appear on the ES10.

I'm aware of the remote codes; it was my first thought when pressing the ES10 remote's power button turned my Blu-Ray player on but had no effect on the ES10. I thought perhaps the previous owner had set it to a different code, so I went to the manual to check the procedure and try it, but still couldn't get the ES10 to interact with the ES10 remote.

That's when I discovered my ES10 remote looked nothing like the one referred to in the manual, which turned out to be, presumably, due to US/EU design differences. I'm guessing I had a US manual up and an EU unit. Found the manual for my unit (ES10EB), and the remote looked correct.

So I can only assume there's an issue with the IR receiver in the ES10, plus whatever is causing no picture to come out of it when I play a disc or try to use it to pass VHS through (which may well merely be incorrect input/output settings but those can't be changed without a remote anyway).

Since the other remote is still two weeks away, I'm guessing my only recourse is to complain to the seller and hope it gets sorted without having to pay return shipping?

Your post #9 led me to believe the ES10 didn't even respond to the set code.

Line input 1 is on the back of the ES10. Line Input 2 is on the front. You should at least see the menus when you press Setup or Display. On the remote there is an "Input" or "Input Select" button that toggles between tuner and line inputs (it's on the ES15, anyway, which is very similar). I think you should see the input choice in the LED window.

It doesn't. But my current Blu-Ray player (also a Panasonic) does.

The remote doesn't work, but there does seem to be a 1 to the left of the timer. I think I tried both component outputs, no dice on either.

EDIT: Tried SCART out, component out, composite out, and S-Video out, while playing a disc. Nothing. When I remove the disc there's a 1 next to where it says 'No Disc' on the display.

I fear that no output of any kind = a dud. Phooey. I had an ES15 that would scramble the image unless I thumped the case a few times. Finally got rid of it. Wasn't dirt cheap, either. I have another ES15 and ES10 from dealers with 100% seller ratings who specialize in a/v electronics and appeared to know what they were doing. If the seller also sells pots and pans and trailer hitches, don't go near 'em.

Delightful.

0/2. Cannot afford for this to keep happening.

Don't feel alone. I've been through it several times.

Seller is insistent everything was in perfect working order before it was shipped.

Sellers usually do that. Here are a couple of my own "perfect condition" interludes:

In 1991 I bought a pricey SONY SLV-585HF, a classic from SONYs hay day (SONY started downhill ever since). I had two of those. I used them every day with regular maintenance for 9 years and built a massive collection of recorded tapes. Later when I started capturing I wanted one for the tapes I'd recorded on it. After much patient searching I found a '595' at eBay "fully tested". It arrived with no capstan roller and missing takeup posts. All it would do is wind and rewind tapes. eBay arranged a refund, but lordsmurf recommended a shop in Florida that rebuilt it for nearly its original retail cost of over $300. It still works today.

A Panasonic "perfect" PV-S4670 arrived in an undamaged, intact box but had a broken loading door and a tape still lodged inside with tape wound around the takeup rollers. eBay arranged a refund, and the seller promptly disappeared so I couldn't return it. But the rare remote that came with it still worked, so I used it when I found another S4670 in beautifully restored condition from a better seller. I captured more than 150 hours with the newer unit, which still works.

A $500 AG-1980 showed up with a bright display, smooth operation, and a lovely picture -- except for buzzing edges which I found out were caused by two worn heads. I had it replaced at a decent cost by TGrantPhoto. It still works, but it's been through two expensive rounds of update and is a maintenance nightmare. Fortunately by now I've captured all but one or two of my old tapes. Meanwhile the rebuilt S4670 tracked several tapes that the AG-1980 balked with.

A $175 JVC 7600 showed up in good working order. I made two captures before it started eating tapes. No parts available. I took it to a local recycling dump.

And so it goes, for many members here and elsewhere.

Well, they've offered to test it again if I ship it back. The shipping cost is higher than the sale price, so I'll lose money either way.

I once ordered the WrestleMania Anthology box set from someone on eBay. I already had the four individual volumes, but I wanted the outer box that contained them. The outer box is a limited edition collector's item, the volumes themselves were widely available.

When I received it, the package contained only the four volumes I already had, no outer box. Seller claimed customs had removed the outer box. There was no note from customs to say the package had been opened at all, and the package wasn't even big enough to have ever contained the outer box.

Filed a dispute with PayPal, which offered me a refund if I shipped the item back. Again, that would just be a money-loser.

Seller threatened blackmail charges as a result of me threatening to file a dispute with PayPal when trying to resolve it just between the two of us.

I find eBay blackmail amusing. They have far more to lose than you. In fact, I'd just forward their BS over to eBay, and the seller will probably find themselves suspended or punished in some way. eBay may be a mess, and they often seem to make up the rules as they go along, but sellers are one area where they've always been strict. So if you feel a dispute is appropriate, then do it. eBay seller be damned.

I don't plugin in my ES10 enough to remember what's what. But I do know that it's never setup correctly by default, and I need to remote. You may need to test every s-video and composite input/output on the unit. You can put in a DVD, and press play on the unit itself. See if you get any output anywhere.

I did dispute that one, eBay offered to refund the item price if I shipped it back at my expense. But I paid less for it than the shipping cost.

That's what I tried. Tried SCART out, composite out, component out, and S-Video out. Nothing.

The other remote you linked me to arrived, and also powered my Blu-Ray player but not the ES10.

After further negotiations, though, looks like I'm going to be able to return it at their expense for a full refund.

Resurrecting this old thread to share some info which may be useful for others.

I ran into a similar issue with a Panasonic DMR-ES10 that I bought off eBay. It would power up using the front-panel power button and display passthrough video just fine, but it would not respond to the remote whatsoever. I tried with another remote, and cycled through the different remote codes as discussed further up in this thread, but to no avail.

I decided to roll the dice on replacing the IR receiver inside the ES10. I was initially worried the failure might be further upstream in the timer IC, but looking around the internet, I was surprised to find some other discussions suggesting that the IR receiver modules do sometimes degrade and fail over time.

I am pleased to report that after replacing the IR receiver, my ES10 is now working perfectly!

The part to replace is on the right side of the front panel, near the record button, IR7501. Panasonic labels this part a "B3RAD0000092", but a Vishay TSOP34438 ($1 from DigiKey) worked just fine as a pin-compatible replacement. This does require basic (de)soldering skills to accomplish.

Hope this helps others who may run into this issue!

Can you share the link where to find this? I have the exact same issue with my ES10 right now and I strongly suspect this might be the solution.

Thank you! You're the man!

On a related note, did you also have a dim front display on your unit too? Do you think I need to buy a replacement part from that website too? Or it's just likely a recap?

Yes, mine has a dim front display too. Once you have the remote working, there is a menu setting to adjust the display brightness. However, even the brightest display setting is quite dim on my unit. I think this is probably just due to the display technology used (vacuum fluorescent display) and is to be expected with aging. I do not think there are any off-the-shelf parts that can fix this. It does not bother me personally.

^ I see, that makes sense. I think mine is just dimmer than what I've been seeing on some YT videos so maybe it could still be adjusted on the remote. But thanks again for the lead on the IR part!

Recap will not help with dim display. But in real life you do not need display anyway. Power supply recap is highly recommended.