Sony DAV-C450 - Unable to open Disc Changer

[Jimbo91]

I have a 5 disc changer that will not open. The SONY DAV-C450 is a home theatre system with 5 disc changer. Everything works fine except for the 5 disc changer, nothing will play on the DVD and I have 3 discs loaded in the changer and they will not eject. I need help with manually opening the dvd changer to remove the discs. Sony wants $180, and Circuit City wants $40 just to investigate. Any help on how to manually open a multi-disc DVD system would be appreciated.

[torbjorn]

Check out the owner's manual, often there are instructions for emergency opening the disc changer there.

It is very common that there is a small hole (about 1,5 - 2 mm diameter) near the disc door, the mechanism can be emergency opened and at least one disc removed by pushing in a stiff piece of wire (straightened paper clip or a piece of piano wire, for instance) there.

In most cases where a changer mechanism doesn't work, it is due to a slipping drive belt. In those cases, it is usually a simple matter to turn the mechanism by hand after removing the case from the unit.

[kenray]

you can try disconnecting power to the changer for a while and reconnecting it after a couple hours. sometimes the micro processors lock up.