Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Sony HandyCam c31.23 , 31.23 error easy fix

Ok this might be old knowledge but I just found out about it and wanted to share this bit of knowledge with someone that may have had the same problem as me. Here is the scenrio, I was at my son's first Motocross race. I decided it would be cool to video tape his first race, since the way my nerves were that day it might have been his last race. Anyway I proceded to video tape his holeshot with my Sony DCR-TRV250 I have had this camera a while but really only used it a couple of times. All of a sudden I got a small arrow type icon similar to the eject icon, and the error code c31.23. What a crappy thing to have happen while it was a milestone of my sons racing career.

Well I manage to find a quick fix, the technical tap or rather smack. In my frustrations I smacked the camera pretty hard and low and behold it worked. Well it was a big pain to wack my camera all the time, so it pretty much retired to its bag. Where I did not pull it out very often except to see if it by some miracle was working normal again.

Today I decided to throw it on the charger and try to see if I could find a fix, and I found this Thread after alot of reading about how everyone wacks their handycam, I found a post from a user named Meredith. The suggestion was to open the tape deck of the camera and look to the right. Below are the steps to follow.

Open tape deck, make sure there is not a tape in it....

About midway back there is a black rubber roller in the middle of 2 metal guides.

In the center of this black roller you should see a white plastic tube, this is a bushing to allow the roller to move with out wobbling.

If you do not see this white tube yours has fallen out, so the search for a new one begins. Don't freak out a straw for a can of compressed air will work, or from a can of WD-40 will aswell. Simply push the new straw firmly into the center of the black roller.

If you see the straw take a small flat head screwdriver and press down on the top of the bushing firmly, I heard a click but you may not it just depends. Anyway this should fix the problem it did mine, and I am happy one my camera works and two I am smarter than Sony :)

Note if this does not fix the problem your bushing may be cracked find a pair of needle nose pliers and pull out the old bushing and replace it using the straw from a can of compressed air.

I hope this fixed your Sony Handycam 31.23 error code, now you are free to archive your lifes great adventures.

36 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you!!! Your suggestion worked like a charm.

Brian Olson said...

Fantastic! This fixed mine too!

The white tube still projects slightly, is that normal?

Michelle-Jensen said...

erm... LOL! it didn't fix mine...the white tube was actually there when i look 1st open it.. but I accidentally dropped it inside and it's not to be found but when i slot in the tape again. the error code was gone... so Sony's kinda weird i guess...

Unknown said...

You just saved me a fortune and made my day!!!!

My sony is a DCR PC120, so different model but the same 31:23 error code. I tried slapping it around but that didn't work.

After I opened up the tape deck, removed the tape (so I could see behind it), then removed the battery (so the deck could not slide closed), and then closed the tape tray, I could see that the little black roller had come off it's spindle. I slid it back on and hey presto, it worked.

I did not see a white straw thing, and I think it also came off because the black roller is quite loose on the metal spindle now, but with the tape in it can't come off, and when I change tapes I will be careful to keep the roller on.

captainyama said...

yes you are smarter than sony.
I took your solution from japanese blog.thank you.
he has many pictures and explaned.
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/tomo_snowbug/20090207/1233989258

thank you!

captainyama said...

yes you are smarter than sony.
thank you. I did.
I recieved your solution by japanese blog.check it.
he has many pictures and explaned.
I will appreciate your blog.

captainyama said...

yes you are smarter than sony.
I recived your solution by japanese blog.
he has many pictures and explaned.
check it.
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/tomo_snowbug/20090207/1233989258

I will appreciate your blog.

captainyama said...

yes you are smarter than sony.
I recived your solution by japanese blog.
he has many pictures and explaned.
check it.
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/tomo_snowbug/20090207/1233989258

I will appreciate your blog.

captainyama said...

yes you are smarter than sony.
I recived your solution by japanese blog.
he has many pictures and explaned.
check it.
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/tomo_snowbug/20090207/1233989258

I will appreciate your blog.

captainyama said...

yes you are smarter than sony.
I recived your solution by japanese blog.
he has many pictures and explaned.
check it.
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/tomo_snowbug/20090207/1233989258

I will appreciate your blog.

Shadow Walker said...

I Signed up just to Thank you for this... This happened to my sony about 2 1/2 yesrs ago and when i checked to see what that error code was all i found was it had to do with the power supply.. SONY even would not help.. they said send it in.. I plused that little white tube back in and there you go it works like new again... Thank you Thank you Thank you..

And Thanks goes to the person that orginal find out how to fix this..

I love my sony night vision... no other can compare..

heidi said...

Hi from Germany!

IT WORKS !!!! You are the best!

Thank you so much for your instruction! I simply removed this tiny little white tube from the black rubber and now my camera works fine.

Thank you again!!!
Heidi

P. C. Poppycock said...

August 09; the dreaded problem described after years of non-use on a DCRTRV-330.

Tried hitting and all the other resetting stuff. Then looked inside to assess the "white bushing" issue, and saw nothing that looked like that around the roller. Also determined that the "center shaft" of the roller was not "empty."

So I took the advice to press down on the roller shaft with a small screw-driver, and you know what?

That fixed it. Thanks!

Sony fixed rate for any problem these days is $271! I don't care about the camera, but want to upload the tapes to a DVD and hard drive.

I'm real happy right now.

Scottypancakes said...

Thanks for the fix.

Pushing the tube in didn't quite work for me--I had to pull the tube+roller out, then put them back in. Nonetheless, your post let me know what to fiddle with.

Thanks a ton.

משה בן יאיר said...

Thank You Greg from the holyland !!! In Israel it works too!!! It has been a year I am frustrated with this problem. Payed more then 100$ to someone who did not fix it and now you made me fix the problem in less then two minutes of reading. You are amazing !!! Thank you Tank you Thank you.

Sariah Fuller said...

You can not believe how much digging on the internet it took me to get to your blog. But miraculously I arrived here and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy. for the past two months I have looked at new Camcorders just to decide I simply can't afford it right now. And presto! Along comes your blog. You are sent from heaven!!!!!!!!!!

chamfer said...

great deal. thanks a lot, i had figured out that it was some problem with that black rubber thing but i didn't know i had to compensate with somethin else (the white plastic). Ah well, my little movie career will continue... for the good and for the bad of it :)
cheers

Inspector said...

Thanks a million. I cut out a piece of a pen plastic refill for a replacement.

Monica1979 said...

Thank you thank you, we even bought a cheaper cam cause we needed one but i wasnt willing to pay hundreds for something that didnt cost me anything it was a hand me down...the tube was still in tact just in the wrong place apparently well thats what hubby says..so yay we finally have it working..thank you for posting the blog!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much for posting this fix. Pushed down on the protruding bushing and it worked like a charm!

Georgios said...

You are great! It worked immediately for my Sony PC8E camcorder, which I though was broken for over a year.
One suggestion: please make the font bold for the people to easily find the fix in your post.

Mrs. Brown said...

coffee stirrer works as well. The Japanese blog reference is crucial for photos!!!! Thank you!

Ryan said...

Awesome! Tried it and it worked. Thank you!

Unknown said...

This fix did not work for me but take heart! My camcorder is now working! Your article inspired me to keep trying! I plugged it in overnight but one error was leaving a tape in it. DO NOT STORE THE CAMCORDER WITH A TAPE IN IT, I think that was the problem. When I took the camera out after years of not using it, it mangled the tape already in it and gave the C31 error. Then it kept doing that, even after plugged into the wall, etc. When I tried it again after charging overnight, it ate another tape.

What finally worked was opening it for a long time, without a tape inside, to look around, per your instructions. Then I put a tape in and, voila! It worked.

Could the problem have been a jammed tape error which cleared after the door was open for a long time?

Happy camcorder user. Saved hundreds.$$

2ndChoice said...

Oh my G-d, Oh my G-d!!! You have saved my life!!! I would be dead if you hadn't posted this. D E A D!

My ex-wife is in China on business. Our autistic son is in a school play in 4 hours. FOUR! I'm charging my camcorder batteries, I turn it on to see if I have a blank tape... BOOM! C:31:23 and I'm dead if I can't tape this play for her.

Thank you. The screwdrive ploy worked. I'm off the theater!

(one of the other comments mentions not storing the machine with a tape in it. Although my tape wasn't "mangled" as the comment describes, I am guilty of this sin. No more!)

Shell said...

This worked! I used 1/4" tubing from sprinkler drip system and put the cut straw in the center (doubled). Thanks so much! Now I can transfer these tapes to the computer.

Paula Beemer said...

It worked!!!! I am glad I didn't hit it. Thank you!

Unknown said...

I don't see a white tip so all of Thom have white tips?? So just take it out and put white tip in it??

Unknown said...

I don't see a white tip so all of Thom have white tips?? So just take it out and put white tip in it??

liza said...

nice post

TheNemesis586 said...

Mine had come off and been lost!

Alex said...

Thank you so much for your post, you saved the life of my DCR-HC42E. For me it worked with the plastic part of a electrical wire (I took a nice violet colored one), about 1.5mm2, cut with a knife about 2mm long. Now I can start to put all my 28 DV-tapes on my computer ;-)

jcg said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jcg said...

Worked! But It seems to slide off...the white part just sits in the top portion of the black bushing, doesn't hold the black bushing down. Just have to careful when removing the tape I guess...or should I be doing something more?

Buffalo John said...

What did you do to replace it? Mine is gone too

jcg said...

I fixed it