Had a similar prob with a Panasonic DMR E85H. My problem was only with dubbing, both disc to hard drive & hard drive to disc. Dubbing would start for a few seconds then the machine would switch itself off and go into self check several times.
Got a simple cleaning & maintainance tip from a friend you may also want to try before laying out on expensive repairs.
Remove the top cover... 1 Screw each side and 3 at the back.
Remove the top from the Cd tray. 4 little silver screws, 1 in each corner. The cover is also clipped down by little tongue & groove clips on both back corners but not on the front. Unclip these corners & the top cover is free to take off.
Give the lens a good clean ( I used Methalated spirit on cotton swabs ) Then, you will see that the lens is situated on two little round rails allowing the lens to travel backwards & forwards. These little rails are greased when the machine is new but apparently the grease gets worn off the rails with use and the lens sometimes doesnt travel smoothly along the rails maybe sticking or juddering a little.
I dont know the name of the type of grease but its a creamy colored grease you should use. Re - grease these rails and its Ok to push the lens backwardsand forwards along the rails to work the grease into the rails. Reassemble
This worked for me but I thought I'd screwed up because when I switched the machine on, the time came on for a moment then the display went black, it stayed black for about three or four minutes the suddenly lit up and its been Ok since.
Jay, November 2007
