20 Most Recent RCA DRC8320 DVD Recorder/VCR Questions & Answers

Bad Disc.

Try a known good store bought Movie in player?

Still Bad Disc?

DVD unit in your player is bad.

Throw in garbage.

It has probably shorted out. I would purchase a new one on eBay, such as this. Another option is to send this in for warranty repair.
You can check to see if it has shorted out by opening up the case, and using a multimeter to test the voltage levels and current levels at different parts of the circuit.

Faulty power-supply symptoms:

The front panel display and buttons are completely nonfunctional and appear dead. The unit will do nothing more than display the following messages on the TV screen:

Interface error
(and or)
Interface error! Turn off the power

If a DVD or VHS tape was inserted prior to the error occurring, you won't be able to eject either from that point further. They'll remain stuck inside the unit until you've completed the repair detailed below.

Interface error! Turn off the power <--- explains how to completely restore your combo in less than 20minutes by replacing a $1.59 part on the power-supply board. [email protected]

need to find root directory for dvd recorder

This happened to me, heres what i did to fix it;
un plug the unit, remove the 7 screws holding on the cover, you can manually push the disc drawer out now, remove your disc, position the drawer so the center of the disc indentation is even with the front (bezel)
Now below the drawer you should see a black rectangular plastic piece with a small rectangular hole and on the right side a circular hole with a white nylon piece showing through, the rectangular piece snaps off (be careful its fragile) now you can see the two pullies the the old rubber belt went between(the old belt should be there also) find a rubber band approximately the same size or a hint smaller install it
, then plug the unit in and try it out (keeping your hands and tools out of the player) if the test works reasemble the unit and revel in your accomplishment. (I find the rubber bands last about 18 months)

Replace them, and don't use the same brand series. For the one I presently have in the shop, I plan to use low impedance high temperature capacitors such as the Nichicon UHV1E102MPD (replacement for the 1000

I feel you pain. My wife bought me this unit about two years ago and I wanted to transfer some VHS tapes to DVD but there was no rush to do this and besides I had another VCR and a VCR/DVD combo unit. I finally opened the box the other day and proceeded to hook everything up and I had exactly the same problem. The unit says "HELLO" on the screen but will not advance to "PLS WAIT" or "INITIAL." So essentially, the unit is dead since without doing the initial setup none of the buttons on the front of the unit or the remote function. I e-mailed RCA and received a response that stated, "Audiovox acquired RCA as of January 1, 2008. The transfer of parts and information is still in process. However we did not acquire this portion of RCA so we do not handle this product i'm sorry for the inconvenience." So in other words and according to what I've read on the internet about this unit it's a total pice of junk and you can't get any technical assistance about this problem or replacement parts. The only thing one person told me was to hold down the power button on the left side of the unit for 30 seconds and then unplug the unit and wait a few minutes and then plug it back in to see if it resets to the factory default. Guess what, it didn't so I've totally wasted $200.

Hi this is a very common with vcr's the problem you are having is with the head inside the vcr what you can try is to go out and buy a vcr head cleaning kit this comes in the form of a tape and this will then clean the head for you without having to take the vcr apart.

but have you tried playing a new video to make sure its not the tapes your watching that are at fault, the problem with tapes is that over continued use the quality drops due to the tapes passing around the inside of the video also re-recording damages tapes so bare this in mind, i would try a new tape first then go for the head cleaning kit, if the new tape play rubbish then try the head cleaner and this will improve the quality, if the tape plays ok then its the tapes your using at fault.

you should be able to get a vcr head cleaning kit off the well known auction site or from most electrical stores,

let me know if you need further assistance ok

plz rate this solution as i have a whole page of unrated posts, thanks

hello,
Since the fuse doesn't blow now (you did replace it with one of the same ratings, right?), you need to check for:

Other blown fuses - occasionally there are more than one in a DVD.

Replace with one of exactly the same ratings.

Open fusable resistors. These sometimes blow at the same time or in place of the fuses. They are usually low values like 2 ohms and are in big rectangular ceramic power resistor cases or smaller blue or gray colored cylindrical power resistors. They are supposed to protect expensive parts like the HOT but often blow at the same time.

If any of these are bad, they will need to be replaced with flameproof resistors of the same ratings (though you can substitute an ordinary resistor for testing purposes). Before applying power, check: Rectifier diodes, horizontal output transistor, regulator pass or chopper transistor (if present), and main filter capacitor for shorts.

An initial test with an ohmmeter can be done while in-circuit. The resistance across each diode and the collector to emitter of the transistors should be relatively high - a few hundred ohms at lest - in at least one direction (in-circuit). If there is a question, unsolder one side of each diode and check - should be in the Megaohms or higher in one direction. Removed from the circuit, the collector-emitter resistance should be very high in one direction at least. Depending on the type, the base-emitter resistance may be high in one direction or around 50 ohms. If any reading on a semiconductor device is under 10 ohms - then the device most likely bad. The filter capacitor should eventually measure high in one direction (it will take a while to charge from your ohmmeter). It could still be failing at full voltage, however.

If you find one bad part, still check everything else as more than one part may fail and just replacing one may cause it to fail again.

go to your local electronics store, they help you, the better way. normaly you need to program the remote to your set.

Even though the power light may be off the unit is still on. It will be warm on top. Unplug the unit for 30 minutes and plug it back in, that will usually reset it.

Yah, you're going to be taking that in for repair. I worked for couple of years at RCA / Sony / Panasonic / ... and 60 more names - service center. When a VHS Cassette loading mechanism doesn't work - it probably needs loading motor or loading gear, something repaired. At the cost of DVD and VHS combos these days I'd call it Not Worth Repair (NWR) out of the starting gate. At least $50 an hour, at least 2 hours ... that's beyond the cost of a new one.

http://support.rcaaudiovideo.com/

check the guide book

Sorry to say there is no easy way to fix the dvd/vcrs. Now a days you can buy a new one for less than it will cost to repair the one you have now. If it was me I would junk it and buy a new one.


Good Luck

there is no easy way to reset it. in most cases if you can't reset it by default code, then you're wasting your time to get it reset. your best bet is to get a new one, most combo dvd/vcr goes for 40 to 80 bucks.

UNPLUG the unit... put it in front of you,, unscrew the 2 screws on the side and 4-6 that hold the COVER only... take cover off.. the fuse is on the top left side.. check it if no good replace it. Thats it.. oh put the cover back on .

With cable input connected to "RF in"on rear of unit make sure vidoe input is set to "Tuner". This will show up on the TV screen. Change channels numerically or using up/down arrow keys on DVR remote. Note there is a slight pause between changing channels.You probably will have to "autoscan" for channel setup/etc. If you say your TV set is old; it probabaly is equiped with coax
connection only/set TV channel to "3" or "4". when yot opt to play vcr/dvd it will override your
cable channel selected. Hope this helps!