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Vault Cleaning FYI

BigHat

Well-known member
Before I get into the meat of my post I think I should warn those with units still under warranty that you'll likely have warranty issues if you crack the case of your vault (M700 / CV700) without getting prior approval from K. That said, if you have any malfunction while the unit is under warranty that necessitates you returning it for service, you'll need to remove the discs prior to shipping anyway. So one way or another you or your service rep will be opening the case.

Background:
Was walking past my equipment closet and noticed an error message (100) on my vault that indicates a blockage of the optical disc drive. I had not added a movie in awhile so the rotation of the carousel and loading of discs into the player was likely part of the verification protocol of B_R movies in the system. This wasn't the first time this had happened, but it was at least a year ago since the first issue and it cleared the blockage on its own. Fortunately, the rebooting of the vault contains a step where these blockages are attempted to be cleared. You may have had an issue like this yourself.

Procedure:
After a number of attempts this time around I knew I had to reach out to K. In my case that's done through Jim (Cinelife). K responded with a detailed explanation of the disc that was causing the problem. What I was surprised to learn was that the vault also had a number of "roller timeouts" leading up to this. So in other words, I was trending toward this malfunction. For those unfamiliar with the operation of the unit, there are two sets of vertical rollers that are tacky in nature. One set controls the feeding of the discs into the vault and the other set loads the optical drive. These are prone to getting dirty and thus lose a portion of their grip on the disc. Jim got me the disassembly and cleaning instructions quickly and after ordering some lint-free cleaning pads K recommended to use with isopropyl alcohol I got started. Cover comes off very simply and is an easy DIY project all around. I adhere to K's advice on vacuuming inlets to the server and vault and live in a smoke free environment so I was somewhat surprised by two things. (1) how dirty the rollers were and (2) how pristine the interior of the unit was otherwise. Not a spec of dust inside, but rollers that are supposed to be bright white being dark gray wasn't a combo I expected. I have no idea how I could have been more careful cleaning it.

Cleaning the rollers required you to make some space, so I removed about 50 discs if memory serves. As you can rotate the carousel, you just create one workspace and then rotate it in front of the two sets of rollers. Again, a very easy cleaning and reassembly process. Once you reinstall the vault you need to give it time to inventory the movies that remained in the carousel. When that's complete you can reinsert the discs removed for cleaning. The offending disc wasn't some multi-layer or warped disc. At first I thought the rebooting process to clear it had led to a large linear scratch, but it was only a line of dust. I could see no reason not to reinstall it after I cleaned it up and saw no defects. The malfunction in my unit can only be attributed to rollers so dirty that they lacked the "grip" to install / remove a disc.

Suggestion:
The process got me thinking that for a vault out of warranty, this might be a wise preventative maintenance step to perform annually. I've added a reminder in my calendar to do so and offer it up as a suggestion to others. Again, it's a simple process and it might prevent a vault malfunction for you.
 
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Dirty rollers are responsible for most of the problems that occur in the vaults. It's surprising the amount of oil and dirt they collect from discs over time. I also agree that after warranty has expired, not a bad idea to clean them at some regular interval, especially if you regularly add and remove discs from the vault.




Jim
 
I suppose now that the disk vaults are actually used to play copy-protected DVDs (machines mfg. post settlement) they will require a lot more maintenance since they will get a lot more action. Is that a valid assumption?
 
I suppose now that the disk vaults are actually used to play copy-protected DVDs (machines mfg. post settlement) they will require a lot more maintenance since they will get a lot more action. Is that a valid assumption?

First you need to remember you don't "play" a movie from the vault portion of the M700, you play it's content from the server. You transfer content via the optical drive and you validate the presence of the movie however K opts to do that. So 320 spots is 320 spots no matter what's in them. For example, after being able to pull B_R discs after buying the movies in the K store I have 170 discs in my vault and 150 empty spaces. I assume the vault would be more active if those empty spots were filled but only because the K-system would check for more movies present. If you have a full vault, the new DVD issue wouldn't matter much.
 
How can you play the dvd movie from the server if you can't import dvd movies on new systems?

pointman is right by saying the dvd disk is played by the vault, using the optical drive.
 
Thank you to BigHat for the information. Very good post!

I believe the DVDs are now handled the same way as Blu Rays- no? That would be the disc is copied to the HD but in order to play the content, the player checks with the vault that the actual disc is present in the "player" in this case thats the vault. If yes, then content can be streamed off the HD. Thus it's not really played off the disc and the vault really doesn't have to spin or move. I think you probably run a greater risk of dirty/ oily vault if you are frequently inserting and removing discs.
 
No, protected DVDs can not be imported to the hard drives.

Check out the FAQs

What Will Change After November 30th
In short, DVDs cannot be imported. DVDs can still be played from the tray or vault, or converted to a digital copy using the Kaleidescape Store.

? Systems sold by Kaleidescape on or after November 30, 2014 will not be able to import CSS-protected DVDs.
? The injunction does not apply to Blu-ray discs or CDs.
? All Kaleidescape Systems will be able to play a DVD directly from the physical disc, without importing it. Even when played from the physical disc, you can start a DVD at the beginning of the feature, or jump to a favorite scene or song.
? A new kOS release will permit you to play a DVD directly from the optical disc drive in a Kaleidescape M700 or DV700 disc vault.
? Systems in the United States will be able to take advantage of Kaleidescape's Disc-to-Digital offers to download electronic versions of the same movies and achieve the same disc-free Kaleidescape experience.
 
Nearly every day we read on another interpretation of what can or cannot be done post this K agreement and what constitutes a legacy piece of gear. I confess to not caring much about the limitations of post-Nov sales of K gear as it didn't apply to me. I must have totally missed the boat on the new rules in this regard, but it's nonsensical that a DVD couldn't be imported to the server from the optical drive when a much more valuable high-res B_R copy of a movie can be imported. So the K-system is now a multi-disc DVD changer? If so, I really feel sorry for the new owners.
 
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Vault inventorying sessions. *shudder* I really hope they find some way to speed those up. At nearly a minute per disc it comes to about 5 1/2 hours before you can do anything with a full vault (or, I suspect, any vault that thinks it's been opened) in such a state.
 
I suppose now that the disk vaults are actually used to play copy-protected DVDs (machines mfg. post settlement) they will require a lot more maintenance since they will get a lot more action. Is that a valid assumption?

I never did get an answer if there will be more frequent maintenance now that new vaults are DVD players.
 
I don't think anyone can answer with certainty given the vaults have not been released yet, but I also think it's logical to assume additional maintenance may be required, most notably with the rollers. Perhaps a redesign of the case to facilitate this type of cleaning by owners would be helpful (to both the owner and K). Just a thought.




Jim
 
I would just chime in that over the past three years I have been doing almost daily imports of CD's with flawless execution. I can't imagine playing the periodic DVD as being more strenuous.

John
 
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