Re: JVC GR - D70

I bought this camera 2/03. Used it about 20 minutes the first six months I owned it. Took it on vacation and the 2nd day (taped maybe 8 minutes the first day) I got the "E04" couldn't use it at all after that. Took it to Best Buy and they sent it to JVC. It cost me about $100 to fix. Now I get "condensation, operation paused" all the time. It works for a while and then I get that stupid error. Has anyone had success in getting JVC to fix the problems they are having with these cameras?

Reply

• Re: Re: JVC GR - D70
  Diego
  - 4th Dec 2004 0:43
  I have the same problem. It used to work fine, but for the last two weeks I was unable to use it at all.
  If someone has a recomendation about this, it will help me a lot. Thnks.
  
  
• Re[2]: JVC GR - D70 indiana jones - 12th Apr 2005 16:12
  i'm a tech and i'll tell you the secret. the moisture sensor is a little black square on the side of the drive motor. if you look directly where the tape goes in, the drive motor is in the far back left. it's partially hidden behind a silver pin hanging down from the black plastic cover that goes over the video head. take a long q-tip and dip it in glass cleaner(windex etc) and gently wipe it off. you should see a small amount of black guck on the q-tip.
  then remove power for about one minute and allow to dry. it's better to use air to dry it out.
  
  
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70
    Liz
    - 14th Apr 2005 1:41
    Do you know what to do for the condensation message with the JVC GR-D30U, besides airing it out for 6 months? Thanks
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70
    Another Fool who bought JVC
    - 14th Apr 2005 16:40
    Hmm.. That sounds it will actually work. I have this model and it decided to give me the "condensation, operation paused" message on the morning of my wedding day after I decided not to hire a videographer. What a piece of garbage. I would never recommend JVC camcorders to anyone. I wish I would have read up on them a little bit more before purchasing it. I bought it two years ago, and it worked for about a year or year and a half. It was still on warranty so I just sent it in to be fixed... we'll see if it actually is fixed and whether or not it costs me an arm and a leg. Thanks for the tip, I'm going to try that if it happens again.
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70 jamesey - 8th Jun 2005 20:32
    i see a couple of black squares. Which one?
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70
    Christian
    - 16th Jun 2005 21:38
    Thank You very much Indiana Jones, this worked for me and my JVC-Camcorder. It is accepting tapes again. i already thought it is broken and i can buy an new one. thanks again!!!! (I cleaned the sqare if you look inside the tape-box on the bottom right) THANKS! christian from germany!!!
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70 Relentless - 25th Jun 2005 21:42
    I cleaned off the black square and got rid of the condensation error...FINALLY!!! However, the audio playback quality has deteriorated somewhat. Is the silver component with the black square for the audio playback? Could I have damaged that component while cleaning off the black square?
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70 ron Beaver - 28th Aug 2005 23:14
    How about the GR-D30U? Thanks
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70
    titi
    - 29th Sep 2005 2:59
    jesus, where is the little black square anyway, i saw the silver pin(who knows whether it's silver or not), but didn't see any little black square behind... could anyone post some pics, show me the actual position? thanks
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70
    logan
    - 4th Oct 2005 5:11
    does this work with the gr-d90. because I have the same problem.
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70 john - 6th Oct 2005 17:38
    I have a JVC GR70u with the condensation error. Cleaning the sensor didn't work. Repair shop quoted me $405 for a new main mechanism to fix it so I am cashing in on my warranty.
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70 Watts - 28th Oct 2005 20:47
    I tried cleaning my JVC camera and it works just long enough for me to get a tape in, record about 30 seconds or so and then it gives me that same condensation error. I'm going to try and beat the snot out of it but I'm probably going to end up getting another camcorder.
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70 Martin Kooyman - 24th Dec 2005 0:46
    Your trick did not help me, so is there maybe a way to disconnect this sensor, or jump it with a piece of wire or something, cause it's driving me nuts this condensation alarm. Thanks in advance Martin Kooyman The Netherlands
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70 forman - 25th Dec 2005 18:11
    hy, thanks for your tips, I doesn't see the moisture sensor, could you give me more information to help me to find it .. Do you have a near picture of the moisture place ?
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70
    mushimushi
    - 10th May 2006 22:19
    This is incredible, the perfect answer to my question. I have had the camcorder on for about 48 hours trying to dry it –CONDENSATION, PLEASE WAIT— the error would go away after a couple of hours then when I put the tape in the error would come back instantly. Then I read this. I cleaned the sensor with some alcohol (98%) on a long q-tip taking care not to touch the head. This is when all of the sudden the tape door would not close, no error message, just would not close even with the power off. I gave it a couple of good taps by the speaker as described in other posts and that problem resolved itself. Good. I dried it a little with a hair drier set on low but had the same error come back i.e. condensation. OK what the heck, I left it on with the condensation error blinking, the door open and a fan blowing in, but to my surprise in just a little while the blinking error message disappeared and I was able to insert an old tape and download it to the computer via DV. Thank you. It is a miracle. I just hope it lasts.
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70
    Emily
    - 5th Jun 2006 19:02
    WHERE IS THE BALCK LITTLE Square????????can some one post tha pic of it plz???
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70 Roger - 17th Sep 2006 21:06
    had the same problem on my JVC GR-22US and even though I wasn't sure which one was the sensor (had an idea but cleaned anything that looked like a sensor anyway) and even though got no black gunk it did the trick. Thanks to people like you at least I still have a functioning product. This camera also had the 'lens cap' problem, as well not great video or audio quality. Only reason I don't use my old Sony is I needed something I could use with my computer and I thought this would be the trick but when as soon as I get a chance I will buy a Sony and use this one for batting practice. Roger
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70
    tonis
    - 26th Dec 2006 21:49
    thanks indiana jones, your instructions worked perfectly. i was surprised to see how much soot ended up on the q-tip. to anyone still having difficulty finding the moisture sensor, perhaps you are looking at the camera at the wrong angle. hold the camera at eye level in a fashion such that that the LCD screen is underneath the camera, the tape door is on the top side, and the lens is on the right side. then, looking straight into where the tape goes in, look all the way back and to the left. you might need a flashlight. you will see a cylinder with about the diameter of a pencil; that is the drive motor that he was talking about. on the right hand side of that cylinder, there is a little square window. it is not a separate black box, just a tiny window on the surface of the cylinder. you may have trouble seeing it at first because your line of vision is obstructed by the silver pin he was talking about. it's way in there and tough to reach--i found that a regular q-tip wasn't long enough to reach all the way--but it can be done. make sure to give it a couple wipes too; soot kept coming loose after i cleaned it several times. hope this helps
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70
    Gurch
    - 2nd Jul 2007 1:05
    You r a genius. I couldn't use the camera from last two months as of this message. Works perfectly OK...
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70
    Russell
    - 12th Dec 2007 1:21
    Indiana Jones - if you are still around, I've just fixed my condensation error using your method. Was just about to chuck out the camera and decided to look up the Internet first for any tips. Your method worked a treat (had to clean it quite thoroughly - took a couple of gos), and the camera is working fine now! Thanks again.
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70 Robert Gerard Mainville - 17th Sep 2008 18:24
    Thanks INDY I am going to Flordia to get married in 29 days and with limited funds to buy a new camera I was going to be forced to use this one and try to get a few minutes of video from it, now that is no longer a issue.
    
    
• Re[2]: JVC GR - D70
  arnold zoiffel
  - 6th Jan 2006 5:10
  To anybody still following this thread, slide the Video/DSC switch to DSC. Put the camcorder in Manual. Hit the menu button and find the System Menu. Now do a Cam Reset. This got rid of the Condesation error for me (so far) on the GR-D70.
  
  
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70 Sam Wilson - 4th May 2006 23:25
    I will try this tonight. I have tried all the other "solutions" to no avail. Can you tell me what you mean by "put the camera on maunal"? Wish me luck, Bro!
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70 ts - 15th Jun 2006 13:29
    thanks so much this worked for me so far
    
    
  • Re[3]: JVC GR - D70
    Barry
    - 29th Jan 2008 12:06
    How simple was that, of cause the old reset button works 99% of the time. Thanks.
    
    
• Re[2]: JVC GR - D70
  Noreen
  - 27th Jun 2007 4:40
  I tried both solutions, and happy to report that the camera works!!!!!!!!!!!