Tonight’s post is somewhat unexpected so let me explain.

We had planned to view a DVD with friends this afternoon in preparation for a screening to a wider audience next week.  About 15 minutes before they were due to arrive, GMan tried to load the DVD but could not open the tray.

Nothing seemed to work so in desperation he decided to unplug the player and remove the cover.  Meanwhile, I googled ‘how to fix DVD that will not open’.  Once the cover was removed and he tried to open the tray manually we located a broken ‘O’ ring.

I was unsure where this had come from or whether it had anything to do with the current problem.  A bit more google searching revealed a You-Tube video showing how to replace a broken ‘O’ ring in a DVD player with a regular rubber band of a similar size.

Armed with the jar of rubber bands, a pair of forceps that belong to my overlocker, a scalpel and a pair of scissors, I managed to refashion a rubber band to fit.

It was the right diameter but too thick so I cut it in half lengthwise.  I started the cut with the scalpel and completed it with the scissors then used the forceps to position it around the 2 sprockets.

We were just replacing the cover when our friends arrived so it was time to plug the DVD player in and, “Hey presto!” the tray opened and we successfully played the DVD.

I am not advocating undertaking complex electrical repairs but we had nothing to lose by at least having a look.  With the aid of Google and You-Tube we were able to identify and solve a simple problem which would otherwise have resulted in this item going to landfill and necessitated the purchase of a new DVD player.