Introduction: How to Take Apart a DVD Player

By g3holliday.com
About: I love robotics and all things electronic. print("Hello World")

This is the second in a series of tutorials on salvaging old electronics.

If you want to see the last tutorial, click here.

Supplies

Tools

A rotary tool

A soldering iron and sucker

Step 1: Treasure

DVD players vary but can contain:


A stepper motor

DC motors (including the one that spins the DVD in the player)

Laser assembly - not very useful but is very neat to look at

The DVD tray

Gears

Lenses

Assorted electronic components

Switches

A drive belt

Step 2: Unscrewing

Take the cover off, which usually entails some unscrewing on the bottom and sides on the base. It is player-dependent what is next, but this is the usual order of things:

Take out the tray and laser assembly, then take out the circuit boards if there are any at this point.

Then, take out the second laser if accessible. (Skip this if your player is not a read/write player)

Remove all other parts down from here. Keep in mind these are recommended for my player, not all-encompassing.

Step 3: Applications

These are just suggestions:

  • You can use the motors for a robot, like this one
  • You can use the switches for a off switch
  • You can use the DVD tray for a small robot chassis
  • You can use the gears for a tank drive train

As you can see, there are many possibilities to use these treasures, so start building!

Thanks for reading!

Merry Making until next time,

g3holliday