Hi I have 3 of these recorders the model number is HDR B2735D They were good when they were working I have searched all over for parts. The part(s) needed are either the complete DVD Deck or simply the laser diode that is on the DVD Deck Assembly.
What happens is they work for a short time then stop recording to disk is this a known fault with this brand of recorder I have cleaned the laser lense and this gets them working again but only for a few months. What causes the lasers to go so quickly in these recorders? Contacted Funia Uk with no luck TIA

Lasers wear out over time. Even on top flight brands like Panasonic. And Funia are not in anyway top flight, probably more in the same league as Vestel. The more you use it to record DVDs the quicker the laser wears out. It is basically all down to the amount of power required to burn disks which is far higher than needed to read them.

From what I've seen these devices are a good ten years old and comments I've seen on various internet sites seem to suggest laser failure is a common fault, even when fairly new!

To be honest I would not bother. The cost of spares and getting someone to fit them if you don't have the skill or knowledge to do it yourself is probably more than the thing is worth.

The thing is chrisjr I could replace the DVD deck fairly easily so do you know of any sites that actually has spares available and I also know someone who would
replace the laser diode but need a equivelant laser that may have a better life span if its possible to get a equivelant laser. The high speed copying was good a 1 hr programme copied HS in 6 mins!! Thanks for your reply

With a machine of that age the availability of spare parts could be anywhere between severely limited and non existent. The thing to do is to open up the machine and see if there is any manufacturers mark on the mechanism and try googling that.

I've tried looking up what DVD mechanism it might have but apart from a few vague mentions that it may use a Toshiba unit there isn't much information that I can find.

Rather more worrying from your viewpoint is I found this

http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/3...er-be-replaced

Not had a single reply in 6 years

The one Funai DVD recorder I've ever seen used a Sanyo pickup (which, after Sony is pretty much the most common type out there).

The problem is, it used a Chinese clone, so finding the actual part was tricky.

I have a feeling that Funai, despite being a Japanese company were buying whatever cheap Taiwanese mech they could buy cheaply at the time.

I think you may be right on this I bought one of them recorders at pound stretcher for £99 And what made me laugh in the manual it said once a programme has been recorded on to the HDD copy off quickly to the DVD as the HDD's are not very reliable LOL I have had no problems with the HDD on any of my 4 Funai recorders it's the darn DVD section of the recorder that lets it down! I also have a black Funai looks exactly the same as the silver model but has a different laser assembly that i have been told is based on a Toshiba recorder so prehaps getting a replacement laser from there would help but would know what model of Toshiba recorder it was and this one was being sold in Currys/Pc world about 18 months ago!
So any ideas on the model number would be helpful. I also tried Trojan Electronics in wales who did have some spare DVD decks but they have all gone now!! TIA

It can depend on what sort of mechanism is inside the recorder. You sometimes see what looks very much like a PC drive lurking behind the front panel and very often with the original manufacturers label on it. If so it then becomes fairly easy to find a replacement.

If it is a bare bones mechanism it can be a bit harder. There may be a label or some sort of identifying mark on the laser carriage. If it is underneath it could be a pain trying to locate it. Then just a matter of googling the details and hope for a hit.

I did find a service manual for the machine

http://elektrotanya.com/funai_hdr-a2.../download.html

not sure if that helps. Or even if the guts of your machine look anything like any of the illustrations in that manual. By the way the link to download is well hidden. Look for the words Get Manual underlined under the preview image of the front page.

Ironic, as Funai holds the Sanyo brand licence for the US. http://sanyo-av.com/index.php