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Sony HDR-HC3 Tape Door Won't Close with C:32:11 Error Code

I have a one and a half year old Sony HDR-HC3 and I am having similar trouble. I recently ejected a mini DV tape and I now get the infamous error code c:32:11 and am unable to close the tape door (with or without a tape inside). I have tried all combinations of pulling ac power and battery to no avail. I have tried powering it back on while holding the door closed and still nothing. I get the error code C:32:11 some beeping and every once in a while it will tell me to reconnect to power supply (even while it is connected to the power supply). I have read previous posts about the secondary slim battery, but not sure if this camera has one. All other funcitions appear to work (zooming, night vision etc) Please Help! Sony wants over 500 bucks to fix it. (this camera costs over 1000.00 less than two years ago) thanks in advance to everyone on this list for hearing me out.

Josh

Josh
Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:21:34 +0000

Wow...I have the same issue...I have a HDR-HC7...If I get an answer sooner than you I'll let you know. Could you please do the same????

Yonel
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:42:05 +0000

I have the same problem too. I have the Sony DCR-PC100. I had a 31:23 error and my tape was stuck in and I couldn't play or record. I tried all of the opening door and disconecting tricks and even slapped it a few times and wow it all opened up to reveal a slightly twisted tape which I was able to remove. I thought my troubles were over but now the tape compartment is stuck open just inside the door (ie not fully ejected). Can't get a tape in and can't close it!!! Grrr.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Belinda
Thu, 01 May 2008 06:07:35 +0000

I have the same problem with the HDR-HC3 I just bought on eBay. Before this happened, I believe the i.Link port stopped working.

Gordon
Mon, 05 May 2008 17:01:00 +0000

I have precisely this problem with a DCR-IP7E. Couldn't get a tape out so followed the instructions elsewhere on this site and successfully ejected the tape:

DCR-TRV350 tape wont eject C:32:11

Unfortunately, now the thing won't close. I keep getting either a 32:11 or 31:11 error and like Josh, I'm unsure as to whether this unit has a so-called slimline battery.

Sony's website's about as helpful as a chocolate teapot so if anyone has managed to resolve this themselves (as supposedly we're meant to be able to do - according to the manual) then any advice would be appreciated!

Mike
Mon, 26 May 2008 16:28:10 +0000

I fixed my HDR-HC3 with the same C32:11 open door problem by (no kidding) holding it firmly with one hand and hitting the bottom of the cam as hard as I could 3 or 4 times-plugged it back in and it works now-Good luck!

Chuck
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:03:48 +0000

Wow Thank you Chuck!! That really worked for my sony!!!!!!

boo boo
Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:42:44 +0000

I tried your recommendation... Hitting the bottom side.. But, HC3 blinks C32:11.

Is there anybody who has solution ???

Youngsoon Choi
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:54:07 +0000

Hitting the camera actually worked! Who said violence is bad?

wegge
Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:41:16 +0000

it worked on my dcr-hc28 thanks!!!!!!

Jack
Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:16:14 +0000

I contacted their chatline with the same problem and they fixed it!

Take out the battery and the AC cord.
Turn the camera on (tape, memory, edit settings) for 15 seconds.
Turn camera to off setting.
Plug battery or AC cord back in.

After doing this, my camera accepted the tape - door stayed shut and tape descended into the camera.

Paul Workentine
Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:24:02 +0000

That seemed to work for me.
I hit the bottom several times and the mechanism kicked in.

Wooo Hooo!!

Thanks

Peter
Thu, 25 Dec 2008 23:11:02 +0000

I have the HDR-HC3 and it has the same problem. The cassette door will not stay closed. The "hitting" solution unfortunately did not work for me and neither did contacting Sony's on-line support technician. Sony says it will cost over $300 (parts and labour) to fix it because the door must be broken. They can't actually confirm that it IS broken or see any broken parts but their suggestion is to simply replace the entire door unit.

I have been a loyal Sony customer my entire life because Sony used to mean quality. But when I see this many people (and I have visited many other blog sites) with the same exact problem and no solution or recall from Sony then I have to pull my support from this company. Panasonic is coming out with some very interesting camcorders in 2009. Unfortunately, in this economy a new toy is not an option but I will keep them in mind for when I can afford toys again. If I keep my $300 and save $500 more by the end of this year then I will be able to buy a brand new camcorder (not from Sony)!!!

For those of you in Canada who are interested in sending a strongly worded email to Sony here is their email address for consumer product complaints.
[email protected]

International (Calling from outside the US or Canada): 1-239-768-7669

Or within the US 1-800-222-7669 (SONY)
Hours: Mon-Fri 9:00AM-10:00PM / Sat-Sun 10:30AM-7:15PM EST

Niki Mits
Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:03:19 +0000

haha the caveman hit trick worked

mallard
Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:51:21 +0000

nothing works for me :( am using a DCR-HC28. the door just wont close. should I leave the tape inside? or do I leave the cam on? when smacking it? I have tried smacking it in every possible way I could think of... leaving the tape inside, with out the battery, with the battery in, with the cable connected, with out the cable. I smacked it with my hand, held it hard & hit the base to my knee, hit it to the edge of the table but of course with some cushioning. nothing works, the door remains open. the authorized service guy is asking for $100 to fix it & am in no mood for it. here - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080923011538AA . . . - I read about re-seating the "date battery" no clue where to find it. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

Nc
Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:09:10 +0000

ROFL - I can't believe it, but worked for me too after the door wouldn't stay closed on my Panasonic NV-DS60, so even if you don't have a Sony, you might want to try this (er, but don't blame me if smoke comes out) :-D

Ravis
Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:47:22 +0000

Same problem. I bought this damn thing from Japan, leaving behing JVC (people who invented High Def), Panasonic, Sharp, Canon and many other brands offering much more than this piece of shit. I am so disappointed by the freaking quality of this camcoder. This damn thing is made in Japan.

Kapil
Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:06:20 +0000

I just can't believe this. I have not been able to close the tape door of my Sony DCR-HC48 for 2 months. I have been getting the error C32:11 error message and "Reattach battery" message. So I'm reading this forum with disbelief that the solution is to "wack" the bottom of the unit. How crazy!.... so I tried it.....held the tape door closed and wacked the bottom of the unit quite hard about 5 times...... Low and behold IT WORKED. Tape door stayed closed and tape descended. So far I have re-inserted and removed the tape 3 times sucessfully......woo-hoo.

John
Tue, 05 May 2009 02:25:41 +0000

My previous problem was stuck tape. After repeatedly unplugging the power and turning back on keeping it on vcr or camera mode, and adding the bang theory, for about 1 to 2 hours, the tape finally made its way out to a full eject. The whirring sound and the beep were due to the loose tape detected by the camera. My new problem is I cannot close the tape compartment with tape in it. The whirring and the sounding continues, but it's totally opposite now. Yikes

Autum
Sat, 23 May 2009 02:58:50 +0000

Icant belive it I have a DHR-HC38 I could not get the darn door shut. I was about to chuck it and this works! WTF Sony?

Derek
Sun, 24 May 2009 18:57:21 +0000

The same thing happened to my camera, and I used the whacking technique and it worked!! But now it's happened again, and I'm quickly losing hope. What even causes this problem? An old tape? Any expert's advice will be greatly appreciated... :(

Luke
Sun, 24 May 2009 19:39:59 +0000

MY HDR HC3 HAS THE SAME PROBLEM; JUST SUDDENLY CASSETTE WON'T CLOSE AND getting the error C32:11. HAD BEEN RECORDED LESS THAN 10 TAPES IN LESS THAN 2 YEARS . DAMMED SONY! $500 TO FIX WHILE THE NEW HC9 CAN GET FOR AROUND $800.

NICK
Sat, 30 May 2009 20:48:55 +0000

I can not belive this all of this... I have a Sony DCR-HC48 and I have not been able to close it for 3 months. I have tried all plug and unplug combinations, pressing the reset button, battery on and off... I tried to wack it a few times too and nothing. I get the message "Re-attach the power source", even if the power is attached directly. I don't know what to do. Please guys, if you know anything else help is greatly needed!!!

Walter
Mon, 08 Jun 2009 04:13:38 +0000

I am using a DCR-HC38. the door just wont close. have been through this before and removing the battery worked after several tries. Now months later it is doing it again and not working this time. I wanted to attempt to remove the "date battery" but also have no clue where to find it. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks

Julie
Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:37:08 +0000

Okay I have been researching this a bit (tape door won't close) on my HC3 which seems to have the problem and I think I have tracked down the problem to the part. On the tape transport mechanism there is a motor that pushes downward on a latch to release the tape after the tape slide has been extended has been opened. The problem is that after mechanism releases the tape it is not moving out of the way to allow the door to be closed again. I have found that if I remove the battery with the camera off and then install it again... and then wait for the motor to move the little back up everything works fine. The weird thing is it doesn't 'feel' like a mechanical problem, when I pull the battery and place it back in the mechanism eventually resets itself with no problem. However, after ejecting a tape, I cannot even hear it try to lift the mechanism again so I am inclined to believe a senor or something is blocking it from opening.

I have attached an image showing the parts and it might be a help to anyone.
Anyone have any ideas?

Attached Image:

sonytaperelease.jpg

Nick
Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:07:57 +0000

I just fixed C:32:11 on my HDR-HC3. The solution as following

1. Remove power supply and battery.
2. Use small screw driver to rise door latch release until the tape cartridge door can be closed. The latch release I fixed was shown on Nick's picture, marked as "Rise ~2mm". It's a little piece of thin metal.
3. Pull out tape cartridge and let the door open again.
4. Hit the bottom several times. (Chuck's hit method)
5. Plug power cable or battery, wait several seconds, make sure C:32:11 disappear. If still get C:32:11, remove power and do the "hit method" again.
6. Close tape cartridge. The cartridge motor should move down. If not, do Step 1-5 again.

At this time, my cartridge stuck at the half way, and C:32:10 pops up. After simply unplugging and replugging the power cable, I got the cartridge all the way back.

Hope it helps and good luck.

Snailium
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:09:58 +0000

The combo of hitting the bottom and the (cutting all the power sources) for several seconds and leaving the camcorder in ON mode worked for my HDV-HC3. I ejected the tape and could not close the door again, but thx to you guyz it's FIXED...

CheerZ.

Steve
Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:35:18 +0000

The hit method didn't work for us but check out what Paul Workentine said on 21st Dec 2008.
That worked for us.
Thanks Paul

Paul & Anne
Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:26:58 +0000

Thank you Chuck! What a hand's formula! It works for my SONY DCR-HC28.

trantthu
Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:31:33 +0000

A mi me funciono el metodo de los golpes, de hecho primero le di con la mano y no funciono pero despues perdi los estribos y le di conta el piso alfombrado y funciono jejeje. saludos y gracias

Michel
Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:10:06 +0000

Does any body knows where the internal battery (Date Battery) is located in the Sony Handycam DCR HC28
Please I need some help before I trash the damn thing, Hurray SONY!, I guess I must love trowing my money away

Joao Bee
Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:13:20 +0000

Thanks to Julie and Nick - fiddling with the screw driver and Nicks instructions with hefty amount of bottom wacking finally worked!

sarah
Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:50:35 +0000

Thanks soooo much Paul Workentine - your method of taking out battery and then putting battery back in worked very well... I also depressed the "reset" button (found underneath the LCD display) for good measure... GREAT You saved us a lot of time and money!

Raghad
Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:05:39 +0000

Thanks!!! I tried different variations of hitting and removing the battery... eventually it worked. Don't give up, it took me a good 15 minutes of messing around.

Edward
Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:26:07 +0000

The banging the crap out of the bottom of it and plugging the power back in worked for me too. Great post! Thanks!

JVonD
Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:14:18 +0000

okay people...i think i found the exact way to fix the tape problem...my problem just started this morning...I have a DCR-HC28...completely forgot about the tape door open and was stuck with that damn code for about an hour...for the record, i tried banging on it and other dumb things like that with no luck...for the people that think they might have this same problem here you go...

power off the cam...make sure you have a tape inside already and you're holding it closed...hit the reset button a few times(2 or 3 times and the final time just hold for 10 seconds)...Now power on the cam and wait for the cassette noises...On the screen, it should say "re insert cassette"(or something like that)...let go of the door and take the tape out and re insert...once you hold the door closed again, it should automatically move the compartment back inside and you'll be able to close the door completely.

if this works for you, feel free to drop me a thank you note....i wont read the e mail...for the subject just put "THANK YOU FOR THE CAMCORDER FIX" lol

and if it doesnt work...well i guess it was just my luck!

JFlyswatter
Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:32:34 +0000

I had exactly the same problem, I took the battery off, powered on, then pushed the reset button for 15 seconds. I then put the battery back on powered on, shut the tape door and it worked. I am so thankful for everyones advise!! Thank you!

Kari
Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:52:05 +0000

I have a HC-38, thee tape door dont close. I have tried all above...
Hate Sony.

WILSON
Sat, 05 Sep 2009 04:09:59 +0000

I've had this problem on and off for a while now.
How I get around it is by leaving the power lead attached to the camera and also the camera battery still in place.
Camera switched to ON.
Have the camera plugged in and just leave it.
Then just remove the power lead and you should hear a little click as if something has just moved into place.
You should now be able to close the tape door.

Just to be safe from now on I will only be attempting to sup load any tapes I have on to my computer before all fails!

Sony Rocks! Yeah, Right!

Colin
Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:40:55 +0000

I've tried all above, but the tape door don't close. I have HC37. Please help me.

Luca
Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:17:55 +0000

Same problem here, dcr-hc38.. problem came out of no where and none of the above has fixed it.. I hit the bottom of this thing hard and enough times to where my palm and knee hurt. Any harder and I will surely break this thing, well, break it worse than it already is. And while it would be thoroughly satisfying to stomp this devil camera into a pile of parts, I'm going to keep searching for a solution. Please if anyone can offer advice to the specific mechanism that is failing here, I would greatly appreciate it.

Dan
Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:21:04 +0000

First off thanks to whoever suggested smacking the hell out of it. My DCR-HC38 sat for probably about a year without being powered up and the other day I decided to make a video. It turned out fine. Today I thought I'd make another and wanted to take the tape out simply because I forgot what they were called and wanted to buy more. The tape came out fine but then when I wanted to put it back in it wouldn't go and I got the C:32:11 message! Dropping it on the hardwood floor (this was actually an accident although I probably would have done that after a few minutes) didn't seem to do anything so I read the message about hitting the bottom. After hitting it hard at least 20 times and pushing down on and pulling up on the metal tab that says "DO NOT PUSH," I pulled the battery out and put the tape in with my hand holding the door closed when I put the battery back in and turned it on it actually closed! Unfortunately I pulled the tape out to see if it would again and I'm getting the fucking message again. Anyone want a free "as-is" DCR-HC38?

RB
Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:23:53 +0000

Alright it seems (in my case) you have to pull the battery out with the power off. Then turn the switch into the on position and while keeping the door closed with your hand put the battery back in. This is the only way it'll close for me. Inconvenient but at least it works.

RB
Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:36:17 +0000

Hi guys, I'm pretty sure the following solution that has been said before does work as it just did for me....

It all happened when I took a tape out to take the lock setting off and then when shutting the door again, it just didn't do anything and ruined any filming possibilities. After reading on here I tried whacking it (which I didn't want to after a while as I thought it was making it worse after still not working), moving the door release button around, taking the battery out and back in and various other combinations but nothing worked and I was pretty pissed off.

I then tried resetting the camera with the battery still in and the camera turned off and when I turned it back on all I got was the bloody C:32:11 message again and now it was bleeping because the reset had turned the sound back on which I have turned off.

I then read the post by JFlyswatter
Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:32:34 +0000

So I took the battery out and pushed the reset button for 15 seconds with a pen. Now I'm not sure if this worked or not as I then realised I hadn't pushed it to the ON position. So I pushed it to the ON position (not again for tape mode or anything etc) and did the reset button again and just put the power lead in and pushed the door in and it worked and the camera acted as if it was brand new because of the proper reset! Although one problem is that I have to hold the door in place for it to start shutting as it used to lock the door into place, but now it doesn't but better than not working at all!

This Paul Workentine guy that people go on about only said

That seemed to work for me.
I hit the bottom several times and the mechanism kicked in.

Wooo Hooo!!

Thanks

It was the guy who posted before that post called Jack
Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:16:14 +0000 that actually came up with that fix everything thinks that works but it didn't for me.

He said you just put it into the edit/memory/tape setting etc and take the battery out and back in. I tried that and it didn't work!

It was thanks to JFlyswatter post that I fixed the problem!

So here is how to solve it in instructions...

1. Turn off the camera
2. Unplug the battery and power cable
3. Turn the knob to the ON position, not tape mode etc
4. Push the reset button with a pen or something for 15 seconds
5. Connect the power cable to the camera with the camera still in the ON position (Putting battery in should work as well)
6. Close the door and if it doesn't stick hold the door in and let the camera pull the cartridge compartment down

The camera should now work fine (apart from the door not sticking by itself which you now may have to hold manually for it to go down), however if this hasn't worked, read what I said above if you've skipped all of that and see what I did prior to that as it may have made a difference.

Hope this has helped and good luck!

Simon (from England) :D

Simon
Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:58:20 +0000

Just to add I see from the format of this forumit was Paul Workentine who gave the previous advice that I said wasn't him and was Jack but due to the odd view I'm viewing this forum in or unless it's like this I got it wrong.

And therefore it was this post that halped me: I had exactly the same problem, I took the battery off, powered on, then pushed the reset button for 15 seconds. I then put the battery back on powered on, shut the tape door and it worked. I am so thankful for everyones advise!! Thank you!

Kari
Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:52:05 +0000

and not the one by JFlyswatter...

Just to clear that up as I found this site from a Google search and think it's given me a basic view of this forum unless this how it is?
It just confused me that the bit where it shows the User that made a post is at the bottom of their post and not at the top.

Simon
Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:02 +0000

I tried all the methods mentioned above did not work with me. I bought my HC3 in Japan and Brazil Sony do not provide a replacement part.

Attached Image:

hc3.jpg

Yoshi
Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:58:57 +0000

Wow, thanks to EVERYONE who posted all this info. My problem started back in June, when we charged the camera in the car--first and probably the only time we'll ever do that. I seriously think that started my problem. Aside from the tape sticking the tape not going back in, etc, I was also getting "reconnect the power source" with the C:32:11 error messaage. Accepting a tape seemed to be intermittant and at the camera's whim. Today it became so bad I actually packed it away with the door open. But I couldn't let go and that's when I found this forum. I have now, blown it out, whacked it, of course removed the battery in the order in which it ws suggested (I'd already done that, but the way). After whacking it, I've found it's working IF I use the proper combination of remove the power souce, turn it off, plug it in, try to close it, turn it on (something along those lines). I did it several times and was at least able to check out my tapes. I just saw the "reset" idea, so I'll try that after the current tape finishes recording to a DVD.

I wonder if my battery is fried. I wonder if it's worth buying another one. Ideas?

Thanks everyone! Excellent advice.

jobie
Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:58:25 +0000

Hey, don't whack the bottom TOO much...i think i may have damaged the door that shuts over the tape holder...and it didn't work for me at all. You know what worked? SHAKING it...until you hear the door mechanism devise start working...

Mark
Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:18:55 +0000

Well I'm back here on this thread.. tried every suggestion again and again. Can't get this stupid hunk of junk to do anything. Tape ejected fine but now the door has been stuck open for weeks. I think maybe I'll try hitting it a bit harder, maybe with the 8 lb wood splitting axe I have in the garage..

I'll never buy Sony again.

Dan
Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:40:03 +0000

I've got this same problem. The Sony UK support website are quoting some �176 fixed price to resolve. Given the number of messages above this appears to be an inherent design fault, and I'd expect my Sony to work for well beyond three years.

Chris Bridge
Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:55:56 +0000

Hit it with a banana. That worked for me

anonymous
Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:18:42 +0000

Sony DCR-TRV6 tape door not latching and closing. Fixed by pressing the reset button which is found by folding out the LCD door and looking beside the Self Timer button. Now the tape door latches, closes and slides into the body. Thanks for the tip here.

Sandy McLennan
Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:47:21 +0000

I have a sony handycam model number dcr-hc21. My tape door mechanism started to fail, it kept giving me reinsert tape messages. I couldn't get it to accept tape. Tried new tape, and same problem. My husband tried the wacking motion and it didn't work, now my tape door is stuck in the camera and I can't get it to pop up. Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lori
Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:13:45 +0000

Design FLAW... No Fix available!

Ok.....c31.11 lovers forget banging, shaking, banana's, etc...

The simple solution is

buy a new Cannon Camera, and sell all your other sony gear to pay for it.

Sony will not admit to the processor error, but have removed it from all models since mid 2009!

no more sony
Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:16:12 +0000

After smacking, remove the power source i.e battery or power cord, then power up the camera. If necessary repeat the process. The real solution is to locate which gear in the camera is sticking and resolve that issue. The bold may want to take apart the camera and change the rubber bands,lubricate etc.

Harry
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:19:00 +0000

I have an HC3 and tried all the solutions above related to taking out the battery and smacking the bottom... nothing worked. Then I realized that the eject button (the one you pull back to open the door) actually happened to be stuck in the wrong position... it has to be all the way back towards where the arrow is pointing, but was, in fact switched towards the front. I tinkered with it a bit and voila!!! it works. I am guess that all of you that were fixing it but hitting it on the bottom actually had the same problem and the hitting happened to unstick the eject button.

Attached Image:

eject.jpg

GridDynamics
Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:45:18 +0000

I have Same Problem ... It won't close the door .. I took to sony .. But they ask me almost half of the price to change whole mechanical system ...

Sherjil masoom
Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:19:52 +0000

I bought Sony HDR-HC3 on 23 March 2007 ... Now I got error C:32:11 which is caused due to cassette door don't close .. they ask me almost half of price of camera to change whole part ...

So I need it repair free of change ... as its not under warranty ... But what is your warranty ? One year of usage or one year for the date of purchase (mean i buy it & put in drawer even then its warranty expires) lol if this is the case then its warranty should be started from manufacturing date ...Logical .. if you understand what is logic ...

Otherwise it should be one year of usage ... which can easily be calculated by chips inside camera .. or i can estimate it by no. of HDV cassettes .. which I have also 30 .. means your camera have only two days warranty ... ????

[ My email inquiry to Sony ]

Sherjil masoom
Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:26:00 +0000

Bought as a broken one. Saying re-attach power supply with doors opened.
Slapped at the bottom few times so doors could shut down after that but they didn't want to open :)
Then I made thet 2,3 times reset, then reset for 10s. Then I have connected battery.
Works for now.

kinkazu
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:14:57 +0000

I was having the problem of the tape not closing. The recorder has been out of use for about a year because of this problem. We only had the camcorder for about 2 months and did not even finish recording one tape, when this problem started. I brought it out for one more try to fix it before I went out and got another camcorder. I did what everyone suggested, and about 3 hours later, I finaly got it to work. On my last try, I had the battery and the power source out of the device and I banged the bottom of the camcorder very hard on a wooden stool that had a small thin cusion on it. Next, I put the DC power back in, but it still did not work....so I took out the DC power and put the battery on it....that is when I heard the little motor whirl and i pushed in the tape and it closed. Afterwords I tried to open it, and it wouldn't..... so I did it all over again, and it opened. This time it worked and I have been able to take the tape out/in and the door has closed. I have this funny feeling though, that the fix may only be temporary.

runamuffin
Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:53:59 +0000

Okay people!

I think I have a solution that may fix most of your problems. I had this same problem with the cassette carriage not wanting to retract. We have been using some DCR-HC28's without tape, using just the DV out connector. Well, someone wanted to use a camera WITH a tape to record. We opened up the camera, inserted the tape, AND IT WOULD NOT CLOSE. We tried all methods mentioned in this thread with no success (was actually hoping that the "hit it on the bottom" method would work, but it didn't.

So, in desperation, I placed a cassette in the cassette carriage, held it closed with a piece of tape, took an adjustable lab power supply (since I didn't know what voltage I would need), turned it to 1.5V and touched the two little solder joints on the retracting motor with the positive and negative cables. Viola!!! The carriage retracted and everything is good with the world again.

I attached two pics. The red arrow is the positive cable and the white arrow is the negative cable. Since I used 1.5V to do this, you may be able to actuate the motor with a AA or C battery. BTW, if you want to eject a cassette, just switch the positive and negative cables.

Hope this helps some of you!!!

Attached Image:

Camera 003_leads.jpg

Dave
Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:54:07 +0000

If you want a little closer view of the tiny motor, i have attached another picture. I'm hoping that this helps. It did for us as we were about to throw two fairly new cameras away.

Attached Image:

Camera 001_leads.jpg

Dave
Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:00:05 +0000

Wow, Dave, nice! I've had some preliminary success with this on my HDR-HC7 and a C-battery with wires taped on (though this doesn't seem to give it full power -- it moves slowly). It is tough to hold the wires to contact the tiny leads on the motor.

Does this bring us any closer to a diagnosis of the root cause?

Lori states "processor error," so is the processor failing to start the motor or recognize that the unit is open/unloaded? Would replacing the whole tape assembly likely solve the issue, or is Lori correct about the "processor," in which case the main board is the culprit? Why then would this develop and worsen over time?

Jay
Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:08:37 +0000

Jay,

It definitely moves slowly. Didn't want to move it too fast and damage other stuff. Maybe a 9V would work better? I may try this.

As for the root cause, couldn't tell you at this point. I was just so happy to get the stupid door closed again so that we could still use the camera. My guess is that it is a sensor/latch combination. Something seemed to be preventing the carriage from latching and from my experience with other cameras, it seems like when the latch does close, the motor starts up. But why didn't the latch close? Maybe the motor didn't extend all the way to begin with. But now that I have a way to retract the carriage, I may mess around with this a bit more. I'll keep you updated.

Dave
Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:30:15 +0000

After doing this a few times and cycling power, my camera has started working properly in terms of accepting tapes, without any outside help, which is near-miraculous at this point -- as though the battery "jump started" the mechanism. I know this isn't how it works, but something got put back where it belongs.

As far as the latch goes, Nick posted some pictures above that show the latch mechanism up near the viewfinder. That little piece moves up and down as the tape is being lowered or raised, and it should move after the tape harness pops out. When the tape mechanism is not working, that piece does not move into its proper position when the tape harness pops out. I think that activating the motor as you described causes this piece first to move into a position where the tape harness can be latched and the camera is able to detect that it is latched and can be lowered.

I am now getting a C:31:23, the infamous "slap it hard" error, which I am usually able to get around by loading the tape with the camera upside down, but I have now successfully loaded and unloaded tape around 20 times without the aid of the battery or any powerdown-unplug-wait shenanigans.

Who knows how often such fixes will be necessary, but for now the camera is working and I'm sending back the Canon HV40 that I ordered on Saturday and can't really afford.

Thanks again.

Jay
Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:18:19 +0000

as jay said holding camera upside down worked for me ... and kept working for a while .. then i ejected tape when camera was OFF .. then again same error ..

So if your camera starts working after "DAVE" method .. try not to load or unload tape when cam is switched OFF

Amazing
Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:48:23 +0000

You tried all bu nothing works ?

Allow me to introduce my self. My name is Constantine an i am an electronics technician from greece.

We have to understand that the DCR-HC37E like the other models use a mechanism to pull in and out the type tray, so it needs to know whether the tray is fully open and fully closed and for that there are tiny mechanical switches. in our case for some reason the tray looses alingment and it goes beyond the maximum upper point thus not allowing us to close it and thats why the motor will never move down. what i did is this: Do not hit your camera... you have to undo the bottom screws and remove the plastic that covers the mechanism's motor. apply 2,5 volts on the motor polarised in a way that will make the motor move the tray down. now try to find the exact point that will allow the type tray to close and stay closed. (move a few mm down and use your hand to close the rtay) when you do so then there is nothing else to do. re assemble your camera, plug it in and your type tray will work perfect.

Attached Image:

DSC02097.JPG

Constantine
Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:39:26 +0000

I just saw runamuffin's post... yes he is right that works.... sotty for the "duplicate" post !!!!

Constantine
Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:45:43 +0000

PS.
Do Not apply more than 2,5 volts (you risk burning the circuit that drives the motor) !!! and polarity is not a problem because theese motors go forward and reverse

Constantine
Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:50:59 +0000

Constantine firstly thanks for the great post. I have an piece of shit named DCR HC-38 i think is the same mech/elec than HC27. I wil try this fix and will post the results here.

NMSIML
(No More Sony In My Life)!

Thx
Wilson
Brasil

Wilson
Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:37:00 +0000

I found a solution worked on my DCR-HC38 camera.
Turn camera off (leave battery in).
Insert tape and hold it in with your right hand.
With you left hand, push the reset button with your right hand still holding the tape in place.
You'll here that the camera is resetting itself, hold the tape in.
The tape will move down to its place.

Zoltan
Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:26:53 +0000

I hope that will work for you because i understand that my method demands a variable DC power supply and not all of us have one at home or at work...

Any way it is good to know that we can fix it at No cost ! isnt it ?

Constantine
Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:06:57 +0000

I also had this problem C:32:11 on my HC96E. Tapping the base firmly on my desk once worked for me (Door Open, No tape) so thanks guys. As a direct result of this problem I don't think my next one will be a Sony.

andysore
Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:51:28 +0000

This worked for me--
Alright it seems (in my case) you have to pull the battery out with the power off. Then turn the switch into the on position and while keeping the door closed with your hand put the battery back in. This is the only way it'll close for me. Inconvenient but at least it works.

Cris
Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:06:38 +0000

I used the method described by Dave to activate the motor with a battery on a Sony HDR-HC3 that would not lower tapes with the C:32:11 error.
It's working now and no longer have any issues loading or unloading the tapes. Thanks..

rowbro
Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:54:13 +0000

I also have a hunk of junk sold under the name DCR-HC37. Question: how does one without access to one of those volt thingies give if the requisite volts? Have tried violence and the turning on and off and plugging and un-plugging and battery in-and-out and and and... still tape wont go down, still door wont shut, still get the 32:11 message, and still get the '...power source' message. Gonna go nuts. Considering putting the thing in the microwave! I will not be had by this bloody thing!

Kimberley
Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:32:42 +0000

The trick with a motor worked. Many thanks. You're the start. You have really made my day. Thanks a LOT!!!!!!!!!!

Tomek
Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:48:30 +0000

Kimberly, I used a C-battery and was able eventually to get it to work.

I took two lengths of wire about 6" long each and stripped the ends of each. I used electrical tape to attach one end of each wire to one end of the battery. Try to keep the loose ends of the wires from touching.

I then applied the wires to the contacts on the motor. You've got to have a good light source (having a headlamp-style flashlight helped me), and patience. It took me a while to get them on there -- even when I thought the wires were right in place, nothing happened. I kept at it and eventually got the hang of it and the mechanism started moving.

If I have to do it again, I'd find something stiffer to use as the probes to stick down into the camera, and attach the wires to those. I don't think a C battery is going to shock you, but if you do this you should put some insulating electrical tape around the probes where you will be holding them (just leave the tips exposed).

Jay
Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:55:57 +0000

Thanks Chuck! Hitting it on the bottom worked! I'm flabbergasted. Thanks so much! It has the C3211 error and the door wouldn't shut. Now it's fine!

Lori
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:39:55 +0000

I've tried every one of these ideas, to no avail. My Sony HDR-HC3 has been used, maybe, 10 times. I've already spent $250 and 2 months on repairing it, and now the tape drive is stuck open. Just read thru these posts and you see a sad, sad story of a formerly great company that now turns out crap products. Anyone at Sony listening? Didn;t think so.

beachbum2020
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:51:26 +0000

I have an hdr-hc3 and found the reset button. Resetting it did the trick for me. For the hdr-hc3 the reset is on the outer tape door in the middle. I had to use a paper clip and pushed it in and held it down for 15 seconds. Before that, I had tried - to no avial - just about everything else (ruining a tape in the process), except where they started talking about probes and voltage and electric tape. holy moly.

daveandlulu
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:35:38 +0000

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone on this forum. It took every suggestion made to get my DRC-HC38 to accept a tape and run again. After banging the %#@* out of it and attaching and reattaching the power/reset etc., I finally tried the C batttery to the motor gig. I was elated when I saw it start to retract (had to tape the holder closed). However when I turned it on, It still said "reattach power supply". I was livid. I turned it off, beat it on the bottom, side and top and ----
VIOLA it worked. SONY----NERVR AGAIN. Thanks for the help. Larry

Larry
Fri, 25 Dec 2009 10:02:52 +0000

So i whacked my camcorder 3-4 times on the bottom as was suggested and it worked. i'm still dumbfounded that this worked. it's like when you are a kid and you bang things around because you think its going to make it work. This time it DID!!!!

Aid
Sat, 26 Dec 2009 05:05:00 +0000

I have a sony camcorder same problem tape wont close , all you need to do is power up camcorder and press reset (Next to view finder ) for 15 Sec , camcorder will power off and on by its self and all worked as new again .
This worked for me. This sony unit is about two years old with low volume use .

Mark Shaw
Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:18:47 +0000

I DON'T BELIEVE IT, but I had the same problem with the door not staying closed with my 10 year old CCD-TRV43. I hit it with the broad side of my hammer 5 times medium hard while holding it face down in my hand and with the battery in and the door open, and after the third set of hits IT WORKS!!!! AMAZING! Thanks for everyone who provided their help above :>).

Monoson
Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:12:56 +0000

I have the HC38 and just sent it to Sony and they said they'd fix it for $110 that I cannot afford!! I should have read this first! Same door won't shut, same error message. I was such a Sony believer until now!!

Anne
Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:46:03 +0000

I have the sony DCR HC22 E, with the same problem en fix it by bending the limitation on the picture. Now the switch is working when I'm closing the door.

Attached Image:

DSCF3647.2.JPG

Klaas
Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:37:54 +0000

Maybe this is a better picture.

Attached Image:

DSCF3647.3.JPG

Klaas
Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:43:20 +0000

dave technique work well for me,this technique is great as it resets the components but remember u must keep fiddling with it and resting the whole camera with the re-set button cheers dave great one, great picture too, the door is now opening and closing fine but i am still getting reinsert cassette error message on my screen or viewer

paul
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:44:28 +0000

To all of you who have made posts especially Constantine and Dave, you were spot on. I used a c cell batery with two probes form my voltage meter and was able to move the door back into position. Also thanks to the people who posted to hit the camera on the bottom (didn't work but made me feel beter).

Gordon
Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:07:52 +0000

Thanks,

I used the probes with battery technique. It didn't work after lowering the tray several times and resetting.
Then I tried one more time and it worked!

Cheers,

Dennis
Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:24:21 +0000

I have the perfect song for my cam... I used to love her, but I had to kill her...

Here's the link in case somebody wants to enjoy it too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXIuAz7aryo

I've tried everything and nothing works... I swear I can hear it laughing at meeee....!!!!!!

Tomorrow i'll try the C battery. Maybe i'll use my car's battery... that will end the problem for sure...hehehhe

Greetings from Chile, It seems that Sony F...ed people all over the world...

Joaquin
Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:38:40 +0000

Worked great, take out battery, hold power on for 15 sec., replace battery...all is fine now

Mike
Fri, 22 Jan 2010 02:02:10 +0000

my hc38 suddenly got c:32:11 error. hitting bottom does not work. reset does not work. however, applying a voltage of 5v to the load motor works perfectly. email me if you still can't fix that stupid handycam. [email protected]

Larry Bardo
Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:10:03 +0000

Nothing worked but two AAA batteries to the motor finally did it.. even then it took around ten times (in and out) to work right... thank you!!!!

I have 100 dolars extra now...!!!!

Joaquin
Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:38:49 +0000

Now it can't play any tape... i'm starting to miss those 100 bucks right now... damn you sony...anybody had the same problem???

Joaquin
Sun, 24 Jan 2010 01:22:13 +0000

DCR-HC38 door wont close. I was recording some races and had to switch my tape. I put a new tape in and the door won't close. I get the C:32:11 error and "Re-attatch the power source" message. This is my ex-fiance's camera that I borrowed from her today. I have tried everything except for applying power to the motor. It seems that the motor is not moving at all, I can't even get the gear to move with slight pressure. I don't remember if I purchased an extened waranty from WorstBuy. I might take the bottom plate out tomorrow, ever so carefully. Maybe we should open a class action lawsuit against sony. This is horrible that they can make something that fails like this.

Jesse
Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:05:56 +0000

SONY HDR-HC7 Tape Door Will Not Close, C:32:11, Re-ATTACH POWER SOURCE ERROR:

I fixed my camera in FIFTEEN MINUTES by doing the following. You can do the same. DO NOT BEAT ON YOUR HC7! You don't even have to take the HC7 apart.

Refer to Constantine's article from December 8th, 2009 and Dave's from November 30th, 2009. Read them both completely. Constantine means to say "tape tray" not "type tray." That's OK, I still give our friend from Greece ALL OF THE CREDIT for finding the CORRECT solution. (His English is far better than my Greek). A combination of both techniques will fix the problem.

Constantine is totally correct. Somehow the camera tape tray is out "out of synch" with the processor - possibly by removing the tape with the camera "Off" - who knows. The tape tray has moved too far out of the camera and it must be moved into the camera 1-2 mm so that the pop-up part of the tray will close and latch This then triggers the tape tray to move into the camera.

Disconnect the battery and any electric power to the camera.

Get a 1.5 volt "D" cell (easiest battery to attach wires to) and attach two, non-braided, solid, 12-inch long pieces of wire. You can't get shocked from anything. Strip off 1 inch of insulation for the "battery ends" of the wires, strip off 1/4 inch on the ends to stick into the camera. Get a 7-inch long piece of duct tape, cut it in half length-wise and attach the 1 inch bare ends of the wires to the battery by wrapping the duct tape end-to-end around the battery. A flash light bulb should be used to test the battery supply. Two different colors of wire make it easier to distinguish the "positive" and "negative" - or, put a piece of left-over duct tape on one of the wires.

Look closely at Dave's excellent photos to find the soldered connections on the motor. He is not showing an HC7, but the motor and its location are the same. (The camera is positioned so that the LCD viewfinder is at the top of his picture.) The idea is to touch both connections on the motor at the same time with the wires.

Briefly apply power to the solder joints on the motor and allow the tape tray to move just enough (1-2 mm) so that the pop-up part of the tray will close and stay closed. It will move very slowly. If it does not move at all, reverse the wires on the solder joints of the motor and the tray should move. Push down the "top" of the tape tray and it should close, if not, re-apply the power to the motor to move the tray in a bit more until the top closes and stays shut. Don't do anything else, you are almost done! I know... this sounds too easy. I couldn't believe I had fixed it, but I did.

Now push the reset botton (small hole to the left of the "Display/Batt Info" button) and hold 15 seconds. Attach the camera battery and the tray should close. If it does not, disconnect all power, move the tape tray "in" 1 mm more, then push reset and again insert the camera battery.

If you have moved the tray in too far, when the tape is ejected the tape might not pop up as it should. In this case, disconnect all power to the camera, reverse the application of wires on the tape-tray motor and the tape tray move it outwards 1 mm. The top of the tape tray should now pop open when it extends fully from the camera. I have to coax mine open with my thumbnail - big deal, better than paying $300 to have the dumb thing fixed.

Thank you Dave, thank you Constantine from Greece, you are heros and deserve all of the praise!

Curt
Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:53:19 +0000

This is absolutely ridiculous! But finally its fixed (FOR NOW).
Handycam DCR-HC48, tape door wouldnt close, C32-11 error, reattach power supply blah blah blah!
Read through this thread trying solutions as I went. I was desperate so I tried the banging thing (not to keen on that, don't know if that could damage/dislodge the lens). Didn't work. Tried the various reset solutions. Nothing!! Jump starting the motor??? You must be kidding!! But I was getting ready to bin it anyway so what the hell.
Got a bit of twin & earth lighting cable, stripped 1/2 inch at both ends. attached a AA battery between the wires at one end. Bent the wires at the other end till they were approx 5mm apart,turned the camera off, touched the ends to the soldered points on the motor. Voila! the tape door shut.I switched the camera on and all seemed fine. When I opened it again I was back to square one, PROBLEM RETURNED!!. I put a tape into the tray, held it closed and attached the wires again. This time when the tray went down, I held the wires on till I heard the tray fully settled in place and the tape start to wind on. Started the camera up and NOW IT WORKS!!!.
Thankyou to all who posted solutions, in particular the posts re battery to the motor. I now have a working camera again (FOR NOW!!)

Gary
Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:14:46 +0000

I JUST SPENT 2 HOURS!!!! TRYING TO FIX THIS FUCKING CAMERA... SMACKING IT (SATIFYING) BATTERY OUT..IN... POWER CORD... RESET....MORE SMACKING... CURSING.... THEN... AND I SWEAR THIS WORKS.... ONE 9V BATTERY... TWO WIRES..... TURN UR CAMERA ON... SLIDE CASETTE IN CLOSE WITH UR FINGER N HOLD CLOSED... THEN TOUCH POSITIVE WIRE TO THE BOTTOM PRONG OF THE MOTOR TO GET THE CASETTE TO SLIDE DOWN UNTILL U HEAR JUST A FEW CLICKS AND IT DOESNT DECEND ANY MORE.... CLOSE THE COMPARTMENT.... TURN OFF CAMERA... TURN IT BACK ON..... I HAVE SUCH A GREAT FEELING OF TRIUMPH OVER THIS EFFIN PEICE OF EFF CAMERA.... THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE HELP.... ILL TAKE THIS OVER PAYING 500$

josh
Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:33:08 +0000

Hitting works !!! Really ! Thanks a lot.

Foufi
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:09:02 +0000

hitimg worked for a month but it's failed again. DONT BUY ANYTHING SONY EVER AGAIN ANYONE !!!!

andysore
Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:00:17 +0000

So Dave's method of putting power to the motor itself worked for me...well it got the tape to go down a little, so when i put the battery back in, the camera finished pulling the tape in. now i just have to rewind and see if my camera still reads the tape. all seems well so thanks a bunch!

Eric
Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:15:31 +0000

Thanks a lot for everyone here in this forum!
Worked just fine on my Sony HC42.
I used 2 AA rechargeable bateries of 1.2V each (total 2.4V) and touched the contacts of the tape motor.
Now I can close the door tape again!!!

Marcelo
Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:05:40 +0000

I can't believe I was about to pay $66 inspection fee + willing to pay whatever it costs to fix this camera. Am still in shock that this has actually worked for me.

Be patient people as it took me over half an hour of doing all these steps - i thought i was going to be one of the unlucky ones who couldn't fix it with the smacking and re pluging in the cord.

Wife with 2 kids
Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:01:42 +0000

SONY HDR-HC5E

In my case the cassette was ejected normally from the camera but the mechanism failed when I attempted to replace it. The camera had been left unused for well over a year and as a result the batteries had lost all of their charge. This may have been a cause (or contributory cause) to the problem.

It is most encouraging to see so many people sharing their ideas on a forum such as this. Nevertheless, I never liked repairing malfunctioning mechanisms by hitting them. This can often pulverise, distort, shatter, disfigure or otherwise ruin them totally. I would not recommend it as a method of repair. I do not deny, however, that a good wallop may on occasion be effective.

I am glad to say that as a result of reading the post by Curt (Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:53:19 +0000) I managed to fix the problem in literally three minutes. Prior to that, about ten minutes were required to set up the required equipment. Whether this is a permanent repair, time will tell but knowing the solution will ease the anguish of wondering if I need to buy a new (possibly not a Sony) camcorder.

Thank you Curt, thank you Dave and thank you Constantine from Greece. Here I can only repeat Curt's words, you are all three heros and deserve all of the praise!

Maciej P-S

Maciej Pomian-Srzednicki
Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:08:47 +0000

Hi!
My HC7 has the same problem that others...
After a time without tape-working (only "transferring" old Super 8 films, using FireWire connexion), when I opened the tape cover to put a tape in the cam, its tray went up and opened, but refused to close and go down. "C:32:11" error code etc...

1.5 to 2.4V to the motor as well described (than you a lot, Dave, Constantine and Curt !) and the tray goes down, OK. Reset, reconnect battery, OK again.. But unfortunately, the issue comes back if I open the cover to insert a tape.
I tried to proceed with a tape in the tray, but that stupid cam asks later to reinsert the tape, and the problem is the same as soon as I do.

Maybe I have only a good webcam now!

Andre
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:56:04 +0000

the battery 1.5 volt's did kick the motor so i could load a new tape but when i eject the tape i need to put power on that motor again, i will research the reason the eject door still will stay open. i will be back when i know what i find.

candyman
Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:15:26 +0000

Special thanks to Dave and Constantine for the awesome directions to get the door to close on my camcorder. Saved nearly $200 for Sony to say "it's broken and will cost you tons to fix." Couldn't imagine what I'd have done if I hadn't read this post! Thanks to all for you great ideas!

hobbytech
Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:05:06 +0000

I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THIS PIECE OF CRAP, WONT BE BUYING A SONY PRODUCT AGAIN, EVER!!!!!

SONYSUCKS
Sun, 28 Feb 2010 06:18:05 +0000

Ive got the sony dcr hc27e, stupid thing was working fine until now, ive tried every technique suggested by others on this site so far but to no avail, although the 2 probes technique works partially for me, as the casette tray closes and goes down, but if i open it again it wont close....so i have to keep on hot wiring the stupid thing! anyone got any advice as to why does it keep on doing it?

Ibbzy
Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:10:57 +0000

Thank you Dave, Constantine and Curt!! Worked for my 51E.

(I suspect this problem occurs when opening the door while the camera is off)

Pete
Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:26:01 +0000

I have the same problem on a Sony DCR-HC46E. A lot of diferent solutions are testet now.This bullshit camera still dont works, 7 Hour`s work for nothing.The live is to short to waste my Time with bullshit. I hate Sony and before i buy again something from Sony, i will bite me in my balls.Now ihave a expensiv webcam, and i go to a store for buying a Panasonic camera.

Best wishes from Germany

Werner

Werner Rieber
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:13:57 +0000

I'm reposting this comment because it worked. Just have patience and do exactly as stated below.

SONY HDR-HC7 Tape Door Will Not Close, C:32:11, Re-ATTACH POWER SOURCE ERROR:

I fixed my camera in FIFTEEN MINUTES by doing the following. You can do the same. DO NOT BEAT ON YOUR HC7! You don't even have to take the HC7 apart.

Refer to Constantine's article from December 8th, 2009 and Dave's from November 30th, 2009. Read them both completely. Constantine means to say "tape tray" not "type tray." That's OK, I still give our friend from Greece ALL OF THE CREDIT for finding the CORRECT solution. (His English is far better than my Greek). A combination of both techniques will fix the problem.

Constantine is totally correct. Somehow the camera tape tray is out "out of synch" with the processor - possibly by removing the tape with the camera "Off" - who knows. The tape tray has moved too far out of the camera and it must be moved into the camera 1-2 mm so that the pop-up part of the tray will close and latch This then triggers the tape tray to move into the camera.

Disconnect the battery and any electric power to the camera.

Get a 1.5 volt "D" cell (easiest battery to attach wires to) and attach two, non-braided, solid, 12-inch long pieces of wire. You can't get shocked from anything. Strip off 1 inch of insulation for the "battery ends" of the wires, strip off 1/4 inch on the ends to stick into the camera. Get a 7-inch long piece of duct tape, cut it in half length-wise and attach the 1 inch bare ends of the wires to the battery by wrapping the duct tape end-to-end around the battery. A flash light bulb should be used to test the battery supply. Two different colors of wire make it easier to distinguish the "positive" and "negative" - or, put a piece of left-over duct tape on one of the wires.

Look closely at Dave's excellent photos to find the soldered connections on the motor. He is not showing an HC7, but the motor and its location are the same. (The camera is positioned so that the LCD viewfinder is at the top of his picture.) The idea is to touch both connections on the motor at the same time with the wires.

Briefly apply power to the solder joints on the motor and allow the tape tray to move just enough (1-2 mm) so that the pop-up part of the tray will close and stay closed. It will move very slowly. If it does not move at all, reverse the wires on the solder joints of the motor and the tray should move. Push down the "top" of the tape tray and it should close, if not, re-apply the power to the motor to move the tray in a bit more until the top closes and stays shut. Don't do anything else, you are almost done! I know... this sounds too easy. I couldn't believe I had fixed it, but I did.

Now push the reset botton (small hole to the left of the "Display/Batt Info" button) and hold 15 seconds. Attach the camera battery and the tray should close. If it does not, disconnect all power, move the tape tray "in" 1 mm more, then push reset and again insert the camera battery.

If you have moved the tray in too far, when the tape is ejected the tape might not pop up as it should. In this case, disconnect all power to the camera, reverse the application of wires on the tape-tray motor and the tape tray move it outwards 1 mm. The top of the tape tray should now pop open when it extends fully from the camera. I have to coax mine open with my thumbnail - big deal, better than paying $300 to have the dumb thing fixed.

Thank you Dave, thank you Constantine from Greece, you are heros and deserve all of the praise!

Changing Holes
Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:20:03 +0000

Tried banging, connecting, re-connecting battery nothing works. The tape door is stuck opne and won't close.

I have the DCR-HC37.

Help

It's time Sony get the boot....forever

steve
Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:16:37 +0000

Thanks to all you repair trail blazers.
I successfully employed the 2.4v (two rechagables)fix.
-camera off
-battery out
-2.4v probes to motor contacts enough to lower tray assembly
-closed exterior plastic camera cover
-replaced battery
-with cameral still off, successfully opened and closed cassette tray now about ten times.
Now to read the op manual, operate camera, and see if there are other issues.
Thanks again. -mark

anonymous
Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:29:19 +0000

DCR-HC27 code C:32:11..... 1.5V tip + the reset worked for me to get door to closed and everything seems fine for the moment. Fingers crossed I dont have to do this too often. Thanks for the advise Dave.xx

Martin
Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:45:03 +0000

I tried Dave's suggestion Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:54:07 +0000 using a 1.5volt battery and it works. the motor turns and lowers the carrage. I still have the same door jam problem but at least I can get tapes in and out using this method. Thanks

trevor
Sun, 28 Mar 2010 21:41:04 +0000

I have an HDR-HC3 that started to refuse to retract tapes in August 2009. (famous c:32:11 error). I found this webboard and used the smacking trick which worked although I would have to pound on it for 30-60 minutes at a time. 3 weeks ago (March 2010) however I was replacing a tape and after 4 or 5 hours of pounding on the camera I still couldn't get the tape to retract. I decided to find a more permanent fix and I had no intention of giving Sony 500 bucks to do it. I discovered a website based out of California Called camcorderrepair.com, and after E-mailing them a detailed description of the problem they replied that it would cost 188.00 to repair (estimates are free). I mailed the camcorder which they received 2 days later (I live in Indiana). The following day it was fixed and mailed back to me. I received it exactly 7 days from the day I mailed it. They replaced the tape retraction assembly or whatever you call it. They said that that part fails commonly on Sony's and the part they replaced it with is modified from the original OEM to be more durable. They charged exactly what they said they would in the estimate (188.00 which included the return shipping and also gave me a 6 month warrenty which is probably longer than the one Sony provided when it was brand new. This is about a third of what Sony would charge with no guarentees. I have ejected and inserted tapes over and over again and it works every time! I could not be happier! These guys are awesome and I hope this post is helpful to a lot of you guys out there. I will update my post in six months or sooner if it breaks before than. that website was www.camcorderrepair.com

Tyler Simerl
Tue, 30 Mar 2010 08:20:12 +0000

I had to beat the sh^t out of the camera. I wrapped it with a towel as to not shock any of the parts when I hit it... I first hit the bottom with the palm of my hand... that didn't work... I followed a lot of the instructions such as powering off the camera, removing the battery, hitting the reset button... nothing really worked as I feel the problem was mechanical. Next, with the towel still around the camera I used the handle end of a screw driver to "joust" the camera a bit more... EUREKA! The tape loader retracted into the camera and no more C:32:11 error... All I have to say is WTF? Come on Sony! Get your head out of your arses!

Chris Cole
Sat, 03 Apr 2010 14:50:31 +0000

Thank you Constantine, Curt and Dave! We were on the verge of sending our DCR-HC28 in to Sony for a flat repair fee of $171.00 (after pounding on it to no avail); had the same problem as everyone else, had a tape in, took the tape out and then tapes would not go in, door wouldn't close, got the ever hateful C32-11 error message and replace power source! My husband was able to "jump" the motor so now the camera works again (at least at the moment) so we can convert the tapes we have to something else! We are also in the middle of getting the panel (basically the whole insides) of our Sony TV replaced for the second time in probably 6 months (thank God we got the extended warranty). Anyway, a class action lawsuits sounds good to us. Any recommendations on a Good camcorder? Thanks again everyone who helped with this known defect that Sony just pretends doesn't exist!

Benita
Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:29:14 +0000

I've been getting the C:32:11 error too, and the tape drive wont go down anymore either. I tried everything you guys mentioned without luck. Banging it, used a new C battery to try to get the motor to move, took it apart and removed the little battery, hit the reset button, taped it shut and powered down/reset/power up. Nothing worked yet.

I just put it back together and might try taking it apart again later to see about playing with the motor itself. I figure I can't hurt it since it's already dead.

The little battery, by the way, is inside by the lense. You have to take off the bottom panel, top panel (says 800x), then the side. Under the 800x top panel there are 2 more little silver screws that need to come out before you can remove the side. Then you will see the small battery... not that this helped me, but a lot of people didn't know where to look for it so maybe I've contributed something in my own failure to repair this thing.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to post suggestions, if I find a solution I'll be back with the results.

Tim
Sun, 02 May 2010 02:03:12 +0000

Chuck - you're a genius. Holding the door closed with cassette in and giving it a good hard WHACK on the bottom worked. Never buying a sony again but at least I dont have to bin this camera just yet.

Andy
Sun, 02 May 2010 09:30:05 +0000

I can't believe! I did the Chuck method and worked. Then my camcorder didn't work again and I did the method when you turn off and hold the door firmly, then put the battery in and the tape down. It's amazing than something so strange works. I will never buy something from SONY. I think my camera down and up the door while is turn on. I'm scared take out tapes with no turn on the camcorder, I guess it's part of the problem.

Thanks Chuck and everyone of you.

Jorge de Girardota
Mon, 03 May 2010 14:19:49 +0000

A BIG thank you to Constantine from Greece, thank you Dave, and thank you, Curt. This does really work, it will take you about 15-30 mins to carefully remove the covers and maybe a few goes with the battery, (I used AA type with some telephone wire) after I heard the motor move I pressed the reset button, reattached the power and again pressed the reset button. Now everything works fine. Total time taken is quicker than the reply from Sony (SHAME ON YOU).

Now you clever people can you do anything about that volcano in Iceland so I can use the camera on holiday?????.

Many thanks again.

mrb

mrb
Tue, 11 May 2010 17:36:05 +0000

great place here, thank you all for your input, especially the guys with the pics...

I have a DCR-HC47 model, with C:32:11 error present... (notanymore, barf :D)
Dave's method to jumpstart the motor was the only thing that worked for me (xtra thx :) ), tho it didnt provide a permanent solution, meaning that the tray keeps needing realignment (as Constantine puts it)...
The error message is now gone, I keep avoiding to open the cassete department with the camera off, still it often "disaligns" I guess so... I have to hold the cassete in and the door pressed,,, and turn off and on the camera a few times to get it to start the motor and draw the tray down...
Dont know if anyone has an extra tip for a more permanent solution, I ll keep checkin in here and hoping...
In the community we trust :D, since none from Sony cares to give us a light >( ...

cheers ppl o/

Leon
Thu, 20 May 2010 17:26:27 +0000

My DCR-HC37 works well. Yesterday it didn't shut anymore. I red these messages, and the battery trick worked perfect! Thank you all!

I sticked a simple speaker wire on a 1,5V D battery. One wire on - and one +. With the other end I tried to get the motor moving. It went down straightaway. When it was completly down, I shut the unit. It works great now. The ony thing I need now is a bigger case, for the wire, battery, duck-tape and a screw driver.

It's very easy and safe to do.

Martin
Thu, 20 May 2010 20:26:05 +0000

Got my HC3 tape transport to close and retract by holding it closed and pushing down (gently) on the transport mechanism, then hitting the reset button on the door. Didn't have to hook up an extra battery or anything. Apparently the transport was just slightly too far up, which caused some sensor to trigger the error code. I just pushed down gently while hitting the reset -- didn't force it or anything.

Relegating this camcorder to non-tape use I guess.

Marion
Thu, 20 May 2010 20:43:44 +0000

And you do not need to take apart the case, just tape the tpe tray shut, then feed the wire down in there and after a while you should get it to connect and the tray will go down. Make sure the battery and power cable are disconnected.

bertrenolds
Mon, 24 May 2010 21:39:53 +0000

Use a 1.5volt AA battery and feed a wire from the positive and negative of the AA battery to the motor and lower the tray, have the tray taped shut before hand and all power disconnected battery and power cable disconnected. I used a sata power cable modified like the pic I have and feed the prongs onto the motor until i lowers and the tape door shuts. Power on the camcorder and see what it does, might have to reset it maybe not. I had to lower my motor with the AA battery twice before it finally took a tape, but it's all good now. Don't bang or make your camcorder worst, just lower the motor and the error code goes away, might have to do it a few times. Thanks everyone from info above, thought I would make it a little simpler.

Attached Image:

sata power cord.jpg

bertrenolds
Tue, 25 May 2010 03:24:42 +0000

Here is a picture of the motor on the HDR-HC# camcorder I have, it works! DO NOT THROW IT IN THE GARBAGE!

Attached Image:

camcorder conection points.jpg

bertrenolds
Tue, 25 May 2010 03:26:23 +0000

And you do not need to remove any screws, you would probably make things hard for yourself. Whoever started thanks, Constantine you are the SH*T for figuring it out, thanks also dave. Glad everyone put their head together to figure this one out...

#######DON'T TAKE A TAPE OUT OF THE CAMCORDER UNLESS IT IS IN THE ON POSITION...#####################

bertrenolds
Tue, 25 May 2010 03:39:44 +0000

I saw this thread, after Google'ing the error code C:32:11 on my HDR-HC7.

Out of interest, I emailed Sony and mentioned that their website offered no real solution, but that there were MANY complaints over many websites about this problem, covering lots of different Sony models. This led me to believe that it is a common problem which may be an inherent design fault. Sony's response is interesting ..

"Thank you for contacting Sony Support.
I'm sorry that the C:32 error appears on the screen of the Camcorder. I have provided a link with the information to troubleshoot, if the C:32 error appears on the screen of the Camcorder:
http://www.kb.sony.com/selfservice/documentLink.do?externalI . . .
If the issue persists, service will be required. You can find the repair information and initiate a service at:
http://eservice.sony.com
Also, Sony does not address any comments published on, or quoted from a non-Sony website. However, please note that this model is not known by Sony to be defective in any way and we are not aware of such issue. "

So basically, they offer NO workable solution, take no notice of any observations made by their customer base, and simply suggest getting the item "repaired" at an exhorbitant cost.

Nice one Sony

Paul
Thu, 27 May 2010 14:28:22 +0000

I can confirm the battery/wire/motor instructions above also work for HDR-HC3. Big thank you to Constantine, bertrenolds and others! Sadly for my unit, I have to do a almost every time I take out/put in a tape. I got probes so I wouldn't have to unscrew anything. I put some scotch tape to hold the tray in. Once it slides down a bit, fire it up and bam... it works!

PCW
Fri, 28 May 2010 20:06:38 +0000

The battery/wire/motor instructions IS the fix! Thanks to Constantine, Dave... EVERYONE!! I used a D battery and phone wires stripped at the ends a bit.

:)

Paula
Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:06:33 +0000

Smacking DCR-HC36 worked for me too!! Thanks all!

Mika
Thu, 03 Jun 2010 05:19:47 +0000

OK .. I'd love to try the battery/wire/motor fix on my HDR-HC7, but how on earth do you manage to get the wires onto those 2 little nipples on the motor? I've tried so many times .. maybe my hands are too big or clumsy, but I can't get anything in at the right angle, with enough light to see anything.

I've taped the door closed, but just cannot get the wires to make contact with the motor.

Help.

Paul
Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:48:17 +0000

I have a HDR HC3 and I was using the hit method quite oftern. It did work, however this last time I used it, The red light cam on, the camera siad it was recording but when I got home there was nothing on the tape. So Beware- the hit method works but not forever.

Kyle
Sat, 05 Jun 2010 17:54:27 +0000

I have an HDR-HC7 with the same problem as, well, everyone. Thank you to Dave and Constantine, I feel some hope in that I can get the cassette to close and run it up and down, but the camera won't seem to "reset". It won't move anything by itself. I suspect that I keep missing whatever sensor tells the camera where the tape tray is, but I've put it everywhere and it just won't catch. I will keep on trying and using various reset methods. In the meantime, I just want to note to anyone with an HC7 that its not really worth it to try to take any of the casing off; you can reach the solder terminals with some difficulty without removing anything. The casing on the HC7 is a nightmare and removing it seems not to gain you anything. I noticed that the error message has changed from C 32:11 to C: 20:11 (I think). I wonder if that means I'm getting closer.

Primarily, I wanted to say thanks to Constantine and Dave, and warn HC7 owners not to try to remove the covers. And has anyone ever noticed how good Canon images look? Is it the lenses or just the grass on the other side of the fence?

Jawnypants
Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:27:58 +0000

Did it !!
Got my HDR-HC7 to kick back into gear, using the Constantine/Dave method. I had trouble getting the wires to make contact with the motor, but I eventually taped the wires to 2 unbent paperclips, which effectively gave me 'handles' to guide the wires and hold them in place.

The first time I made contact, the door closed using the external battery. I reconnected the camera power, opened the door and the tape popped out, but again refused to close and threw the same fault code.

I reapplied the wires/battery 3 more times, but eventually the camera figured it out.

Thanks guys .. I was about to throw this p.o.s. in the bin !!

cheers ... Paul

Paul
Thu, 10 Jun 2010 22:13:31 +0000

UNBELIEVABLE!! I have a Sony DCR-TRV33 I was all set to film my husband's surprise party and the darn tape wouldn't go back down into the camera. I tried everything! Now that the party is over I went online and found this blog. I decided what the heck--try pounding it. I hit the top of the camera 4-5 times on the counter and low and behold the tape descended back in to the camera. I have opened and shut it twice since then. Thank you-thank you!!

Nancy

Nancy
Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:35:46 +0000

thanks for dave! i used your methode for my Sony HC38E. i was frustrated, but finally i tried your methode, and the door was getting closed and retracted! thanks a lot dave!

i needed at the beginnig 30 minutes time to attach the cable from the external baterry to the motor. it was really not easy, but it was worth!

but unfortunately after that, he can not close automatically, that's why, i think, i muss adjust the external battery everytime i want to get the tape closed. i hope after several times, the door will close automatically! damn sony!

ucu
Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:14:41 +0000

oooo...after 3 times reapplying the battery-wires methode, unfortunately my camcorder can not be turned on again !!! I tried with battery and adaptor, but it (and green led-lamps) completely didn't work!
The camcorder can react now only to the external battery.
do u have any suggestion,please???! thx.. thx a lot.

anonymous
Sun, 13 Jun 2010 08:39:57 +0000

guys try that( push the reset button for 15 seconds )or more and it will work

it works with my DCR-HC36 ......

thank you

Mohammed
Sun, 13 Jun 2010 18:29:49 +0000

From a french reader of this help
Greatefull
J'avais peur de taper fort dessus, je l'ai fait en désepoir de cause
et �a marche
I was afraid to drop firmly this expensive camera, i done it "in fine" and it's work.
Cassette in and out ok
Thanks a lot
Merci les amis
Alain

alain
Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:20:46 +0000

This is my third Sony to have this problem, starting with a TRV900 and ending today with the HC-3

My solution was to hold the carriage closed while powering the camera down and then up. This will allow it to accept a tape, but do I want a tape in there? Probably not.

It is ALMOST like Sony designs these cameras to cease accepting tapes after a few years in hopes one will upgrade.

Tape is pretty much done as a format so at least whatever issues crop up in the next cameras will require a new tactic from the planned obsolescence committee over at Sony.

Greg
Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:54:59 +0000

Hello everyone !

I have an HC-7 with the error code c:31:23, reinsert the cassette. Every time you try to insert a tape, it is rejected by the hc7. The solution I found for this problem, ( no kidding, please) after closing the cam even with the error appearing,is to remove the battery off the cam keeped in on position. After you put again the battery in the camera,the camera will light on and the error disappear. My english is poor but this can help someone. For example, this operation I created is like you reset the computer(PC) when windows stop working well.

Patrick
Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:53:23 +0000

The hitting method worked for me when I was frustrated to the point that I didn't care if I broke then camcorder. Moral of the story is that you may need to give it a really good whack.

Mike
Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:31:06 +0000

Not lucky this time!!! I had this error a couple of months ago, and with Dave method I worked it out. Now have the same problem but it is not working. Just one doubt, while working to lower it, should be the cam set ON, with battery power or chord AC plugged in?

Thanks and good luck everybody

Jesus
Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:49:32 +0000

I experienced the same C:32:11 error on my hand held (DCR-HC38)and just as you guys said, beating the crap out of it got the door to retract and eject the tape as needed, only hope that it holds out for my summer vacation !! Thanks guys, together you all proved that many heads are better than one !!

Mark Khan
Sun, 04 Jul 2010 18:41:47 +0000

I have a Sony DCR-HC28
I think I removed my cassette with the power off.
It would not close, and I kept getting the C32:11 error.
I tried the hitting method, No go here.
I tried reset in several ways, power on, power off, battery in, battery out. No go again.
So I tried Dave and Constantine's way.
I never got any movement from the cassette, but after applying power 3 or 4 times, I decided to put the battery on and try it.
It worked!!! I have opened and closed it several times testing, it still works.
Thank you to Dave and Constantine!!!!

Dannella Boyd
Mon, 05 Jul 2010 00:22:43 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnyDtJOu6k&feature=related

!!!!

TUX
Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:15:24 +0000

The video link above is for this video:

Repair Sony Camcorder Error code C:32:11 Mini DV HDV temporally

Chieh Cheng
Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:34:31 +0000

My HC27E would not eject. I smacked the crap out of it as described above. Now works fine.

Many thanks.

Bodders
Sun, 18 Jul 2010 16:15:03 +0000

I just want to say thanks to Nick (Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:07:57 +0000) , Dave and Constantine - in fact everyone
I had that problem and thought Oh well thats the end of my camera (maybe built in obsolescent timings or something) and resigned myself to buying another

Then I found this forum and tried everything from the hitting to the tiny screwdriver on the mechanism and all points in between

BIG thanks to all! fixed my problem!

If I could I would buy you all a drink!

A

A Hughes
Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:25:40 +0000

I have a Sony DCR TRV250 which has not worked for about 2 years. I was getting the triangle 32:22 error and having problems with the tape loading (opening and closing) I finnally got the tape out but was still getting the triangle error with other tapes... so I thought maybe I could manually loosen the tape up (maybe it was stuck) so I used a spoon to manully unwind the tap a little bit and LOW and Behold this fixed all of the problems... no more errors!!!! recorded works great now. Go figure!!!

Pat
Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:58:57 +0000

I had the C:32:11 on my HC96 after taking out a tape and wanting to put another one back in. The door wouldn't "click in".

I tried the battery trick which kind of worked. It would lock the door and pull the tape in. But on the next trial same shit again. I wonder what I can do the tell the camera not to push the tray out as far as it does. Tried in ON and OFF, but no difference.

I figured another workaround to get a new tape in:
1. Open the tray in OFF mode.
2. Insert new tape and hold the lid which is supposed to click into place.
3. While holding the lid with little force, switch to ON. My HC96 locks the lid and pulls the tape in.

Too bad that Sony designed such crap.

Thanks to the board for all your help!

Fanste
Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:40:22 +0000

LMAO!! wow just got the DCR-HC38 from a buddy of mine. was wondering why he sold it to me for $40 lol now i know why...as ive read people calling it "THE INFAMOUS 32:11" it tells me to reconnect it to the power source but thats a negative. i looked on "youtube" and i saw a video of this kid who took out the battery and let the camera sit (with the battery detached) for about 2-4 weeks. He said the "date battery" drained and it reset everything. Soooo before i do that i am going to try just about all the methods (Besides the a** whoopin cuz that was also a fail for me) i have found on this forum. Hopefully ONE of them works. If not ill be waiting 4 weeks. So hopefully for those who have found all the possible methods a FAIL, try this 2-4 week deal, I hope it works. if it does i will post again in a few weeks. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!! and for SONY and "THE INFAMOUS 32:11" (MIDDLE FINGER TO YOU GUYS)

OozerOne
Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:04:08 +0000

So I read all these post and figured nothing would work. I have a DCR-HC28 and the casette case wouldn't close and it was beeping C:32:11 and saying reattch power cord. I tried punching the bottom a couple times and nothing. So the next day I plug in the power cord and turned it on and banged it and still nothing. I then spent about 20 minutes turning it on and off, taking off battery and putting it back in, plugging in cord and taking it out and banging the bottom really hard in every different combination I could think of.. The whole time i was holding the cassette part closed. Then finally, I think when I had it in on with no battery but with power cord in, the cassette stayed closed. It didn't descend however. So I spent another 15 minutes doing the same thing. All of a sudden it made a little motor type noise so I stopped banging and sure enough the cassette descended. I then shut the top and push eject tape. The tape came out and I can now use it again with no problems. I thought it was ridiculous that people said to bang the bottom but sure enough it works. Just don't give up. I seriously spent almost 45-an hour messing with it and smacking the bottom with my hand. I was hitting it as hard as i could without hurting myself. My hand is quite red and sore, but my video camera works, so I'm happy!!! Hope noone wastes their money going the best buy or sending it back to sony!!! It is an internal flaw and all it takes is a beating and it'll work again!!!!! Good luck!

Desiree
Tue, 10 Aug 2010 21:17:58 +0000

Okay people...I'm back again. Last year around this time, I had a problem with my camcorder. I was able to fix it, but I made the same mistake. I left the door open and the battery died on me. So, I was stuck with that same code again. I haven't used it since...Until today. After reading the very last post that was done last week, I decided to give the whole banging on the back thing a chance.

I did that and I also plugged in the main charger and took the battery out, while hitting the bottom. It didn't take long for the motor to accept the tape. Don't give up!!! You might have to take it off and put it back on a few times.

JFlyswatter
Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:08:58 +0000

WOW, am I glad I found this place! I was also ready to throw it out the window (DCR-HC38) so I read everything on here and did the bang the bottom thing and got it working, for now anyhow. Thanx to ALL who contributed, I sure appreciate it!!

Jerry
Sat, 21 Aug 2010 19:51:59 +0000

Contacted the CEO of Sony with a two page letter on the C:32:11 error and other problems I've experienced with my HC-7. Finally heard back from a Sony rep who said my unit was out of warranty (which it is), there is "no known problem" with the tape drive mechanisms (to which I replied they should Google the error message on the Internet) and that it would cost $470 to fix my unit. I used it underwater in a housing and have been less than pleased with the results (and detailed why to the CEO in the letter). I've generally been a loyal Sony customer (6-7 Sony camcorders, all used within the same underwater housing) but this may be the straw that breaks that string. My TRV-510 suffered from a defective tape drive mechanism and is also unusable as did my TRV-17 (but I seem to be able to recover from the C:32:11 error on that one pretty easily).

Dr. Bill Bushing
Fri, 27 Aug 2010 05:41:35 +0000

This worked out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnyDtJOu6k&feature=related

Oscar
Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:50:04 +0000

Since Sony doesn't officially recognize this problem (based on their feedback to me) because it isn't recorded on an official Sony web site, I suggest ALL of us who have experienced this tape drive issue on any of their camcorder models officially record our problems on their web site. I'm thinking of printing up this page and sending it to the CEO (although they state they don't look at non Sony web pages). Some customer service!

Dr. Bill Bushing
Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:01:02 +0000

I have this code C:32:11 in my DCR-HC26 sony mini DV , I have done everything , but didn't worked , I found this movie by a genius
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnyDtJOu6k&feature=related
It worked
carefully do this , very soft

arash
Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:07:26 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnyDtJOu6k&feature=related
It WORKS!!!
Simply a Genius

Alfred
Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:00:16 +0000

An AA battery, two lengths of wire and it worked first time. Tape lowered into camera within seconds of me touching the two sweet spots. Once the tape drops i'd suggest closing the side panel and then holding the reset button in for fifteen seconds. Error message clears and the camcorder works as good as new. Make sure the camera is switched on before inserting/ejecting tapes. Thank you so much for solving this problem. My camera shop quoted �130 for a repair!

Phil
Fri, 10 Sep 2010 09:09:06 +0000

Tried each of the PRO or SAFE solutions.
Ended solving the issue by doing THE CAVEMAN!

Jorge
Sat, 18 Sep 2010 19:01:58 +0000

Thanks for this forum!!
I have a HDR FX 1000 - an almost $3000 Sony cam & I got this error! First of all it's amazing that Sony has this problem, even in the more expensive models! I came across this problem when I ejected a tape with the camera in OFF. Never again.
However, I did the fix the problem (for now) with the battery method. None of the other methods worked for me.
Thanks to bertreynolds too for posting the photo of his battery/wire device. Went to Radio Shack this morn to pick up the parts and used a 1.5 V "C" battery. Then did this:

1) took out the battery,
2) taped the door closed w/scotch tape (leaving a folded over tab in order to pull the tape off quickly when the door opened properly),
3) charged the nodes with the positive and negative wire, which didn't work at first so I switched nodes which then slowly lowered the tape door all the way,
4) pushed the reset button for 15 secs (which I don't really think affected anything at all),
5) charged the nodes again for good measure
6) put battery back in and turned the camera on
7) opened/ejected tape door & pulled tape tab off fast
8) inserted tape, but the door will only close if I switch the camera off and then back on to either camera or vcr mode (HDR FX 1000 doesn't have an "ON" only position).

This seems to do the trick for now. Thanks everyone!

paul
Thu, 30 Sep 2010 19:29:22 +0000

I have an HDR-HC3 and battery rig worked great! You need to have the camera battery OUT of the camcorder and the power ON. I made contact with the battery and allowed the motor to fully-retract the cassette (empty) into the camera, closed the door (there was joy at this point)and then held the RESET button for about 20sec. I then re-inserted the camera's battery, powered-on and opened the door. I inserted a new cassette and ALL IS WELL! YOU GUYS ROCK!

JimmyD
Sun, 10 Oct 2010 03:09:50 +0000

THANKS Constantine for the clarity of description and THANKS Dave for the pictures.I have HC-46 that is 4 years old never recorded more than 10 hours with it and all of a sudden I had the same problem door wont close, and the c33:11 thing well fiddling with the wires was very difficult so i just wrapped them round 2 small screw drivers without having to dismantle anything and voila it worked not on the first time though cause although the door closed it wont start the tape so i just reversed the cables to get it to open the door, reversed it back again to close, reset wile the battery in and here is the trick you really have to enter the date cause i used to cancel the edit date thing. dont think it will be a permenant solution though but at least its working. Sony again? dont think so

Khaled
Fri, 15 Oct 2010 12:22:46 +0000

well then ....

read it all from old to october 16th 2010 tried everything and nothing worked ...

banging it few times, not to mutch else you destroy camera
not frying anything with batteries you mess programming up then & everything
checked out the youtube video, that kinda started to look good & all, but couldnt find it exactly as in video found some rotating device tried to push that down and tried the wheels to turn but no luck there either ...

i got this error when i was uploading and capturing a movie but my battery died out and i hit stop at about the same time, i changed battery and when i ejected tape and inserted new tape i got the error...

i think ive had it in the past too but then it was quickly fixed with just turning it on and off again couple times ...

but i use my camera very heavily almost every weekend for over period of 2 years, so just time for new one i guess

reading all the sollutions that failed with me & all and known programming bug and all its just wear down from electronics that die off after 2 years or so depending how often you use it & all

same with my tomtom too after 2 years of using it almost every weekend

most people use handycam and tomtom like with holiday vacation & all and big companies know about that so they live with it if majority can last with it a long while ...

thanks for all the people who tried to provide a sollution & all but nothing works, all is left now to just buy a new one again

thanks everybody bye bye

doc raver
Sat, 16 Oct 2010 19:56:25 +0000

Same problem with my SONY HC52 camcorder. I didn't use it very often, two weeks ago just trying to use it, opened the cassette compartment and it never came back again. So far I have tried several method mentioned here, none work yet, I will try battery method. Anyway, seeing so many people share the same problem with so many different model of SONY camcorder, all I can say is I will avoid SONY as muc as possible...

Neil B
Tue, 19 Oct 2010 01:34:30 +0000

Ok. I have a sony HC96e camera. I not used it for a long time and then I tryed - tape was out but I can't load again.
I had the same trouble - tape tray did not close. I tryed battery no-off, with reset, without reset, I closed tape tray by way via connect 1.5V direct to motor but after it I opened tray and it did not close again.
So I tryed the way from video and after it I closed and opened the tray about four times and it work.
Fucked Sony - contacts are very unstable! I hope that I'll can use the camera about year and change it. And new camera will be not Sony 100%.

GonGon
Thu, 21 Oct 2010 21:32:34 +0000

I had the same problem with my Sony DCR-HC37 (i.e. C:32:11) and I just followed bertrenolds instruction and pictures from the Tue, 25 May 2010 03:26:23 +0000 and it worked! I also had to lower my motor with the AA battery twice before it finally took a tape, but it's all good now.

Thanks everyone for the info above!!!!

Peter (Sweden)
Mon, 01 Nov 2010 21:32:39 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnyDtJOu6k&NR=1 and your answer is there. REALLY WORKS, It demonstrates repairing 32:11 in a clear video. It is a gear problem. A gear is stuck and you must budge it with a little screwdriver. Better than banging. But be gentle. Cheers.

This really works for those of us less electrically minded. LOL

marky mark
Thu, 04 Nov 2010 09:31:16 +0000

Y e s!

I'm so happy. I'm really glad this thread exists. It's cool to see how it started back in 2008 and stretches all the way up until just recently. Seems this thread is sort of the number one market place for C.32:11 issues. Now, I was starting to break down and lose hope. I have a DCR-HC53E which have been frequently used since my fiance gave birth to our daughter. I've taken extra good care of it, having bought a comfy storage bag and all, still, the other day when I had just finished a tape and ejected it, the tape compartment would just not close. This was freaking me out and I tried ordinary reset measures. This was of no success. I started thinking that this was the end of my camera. I had paid almost 3000 Swedish crowns (~430 USD) and guarantee lasts only a year so, it would then be the tragic death of a gadget that has become more or less a family member.

Now, I tried those bashing measures also, the other night. Of no sucess. I did different acts of reseting with or without actual power as well, also this yielded no success. I was stuck. Today, I decided to try the battery act. I simply took a cheap (Euroshopper) AAA battery and hooked it to some wires using electrical tape. To be honest, it took me and my adorable fiance a while to manage. She had to hold a LED lamp plus the camera steady, while it did my best to make the wires connect to the -/+ dots, which was a headache per se.

The order of the wires is of significance, since one order will have the motor try to eject (and the compartment is already ejected, and stuck, right?) whereas the other direction will do right. In fact, first time we managed to get the compartment go down (thus close the hatch) we sort of took out the celebration in advance, we would later see. Because, next ejection made the compartment go lock/stuck once again. Awaergh. I did not give up so easily though. Fiance wanted to go watch Oprah so I tried to manipulate motor by myself. I have too lousy motor control, it soon turned out, lol. I could not manage to hit the +/- dots rights. I had to beg my fiance to hold steady once more. She did. And this time, I did some additional voodoo shit. After turning my camera on. I pressed eject. Then i shut the tray 1/4 second after the motor had started working, hence it 'aborted' and returned to stable position. I did this two or three times, for no particular reason. Then I finished the trick by bashing the camera on its bottom side once. Then I held my fingers crossed and pressed eject, and actually let it go all the way. Then, still having my fingers crossed, I put a tape in, and gently pushed the hatchet like you're supposed to. When it clicked, and I saw the tape descend into the camera, I was so happy. This time though, I wouldn't take out celebration in advance. I re-did the operation five or ten times, with no further failures. Worked perfect.

I must say I'm afraid that this will happen again, sort of that the camera has become slightly twisted in some mechanical way, perhaps because of the repeated hitting from under that I did the other night (with no success at all). Anyways, I hope this was a one time thing. I'd really like to thank you all in this thread, especially the guy(s) who spoke about the electrical deal using a battery, which did the trick to me. Me and my fiance are really happy, now we can film our 2-year-old again. Weee! Oh by the way, this is how our 'battery instrument' looked like.

http://imgbin.org/images/2805.JPG

Again, thanks alot!

Attached Image:

PICT0093.JPG

Calle (Sweden)
Fri, 12 Nov 2010 12:45:15 +0000

Thanks!! Same problem: C:32:11! I needed 2x AAs and it worked for my DCR HC47!!!

sancho
Wed, 17 Nov 2010 22:25:09 +0000

I had a problem with my Sony DCR-HC38. The cassette bay wouldn't close. I just removed the battery, then replaced it and it worked.

Bruce
Sat, 20 Nov 2010 22:07:30 +0000

Let me say something more about SONY:
I owned well over a dozen of various cameras, and worked on more than three dozens of various brands, and types, throughout more than three decades, and have to state here, that latch problem for SONY c:32:11 that has not been recalled and fixed once for all is definitively putting this company out of the league of brand names. I long battled with one of my friends, who, being lame in technology, always spoke for Sony. I used to have only problems with SONY since very beginning of their video cameras. Two of them used once by our company failed in the same way and SONY offered no support whatsoever. It costed us again half the price of the camcorder to get it fixed, and while it was fixed we were told by the authorized shop that all the capacitors had to be replaced as well (at our cost) as they "dried out" after several years of service, and "may have failed any time". Never before I have seen such a situation but I was learning. Later another Sony camcorder has developed a battery lifetime problem which occurred to be non curable. Each time, and over the years SONY was falling behind the wall of silence. From once a reputable company it became not even a shadow of its past. Products of SONY are of no quality, their technology sucks, and even more - they offer zero support to their customers. I owned two camcorders by Cannon, and they took severe beating in trips around the globe. They were in heats of Australia, and moisture of Japan, cold of northern Canada and ultra humid of jungles and under the Niagara falls (literally). Both survived and only one of them was damaged slightly two years ago by my daughter, who forced a switch on instead turning it properly (newbies never read the manual, do they, LOL). Nevertheless this was the only problem I had with Cannon camcorders or cameras. My HD JVC is working just fine, and I am getting ready for a Panasonic. Two years ago I needed quickly a DV camcorder and was offered in Best Buy the only model they had at the moment Sony dcr-hc52. They sold me on Zeiss lenses. I had Zeiss-Ikon lenses on number of cameras in the past and they are awesome. I took it as a backup camcorder on the trip in Northern Ontario with a VIP from overseas. We were making a documentary project out there. You can imagine my pleasure, when it came to starting this seldom used Sony camcorder only to get this famous error right after we replaced the first tape. The latch would not close. There was no moisture out there, August, nice weather, the camcorder was in perfect keeping, no speck of dust on it... I wish I had that old Cannon with me, even the one with a switch that sometimes played tricks on me... Sony was a lot worse... and the problem occurred for me not to be fixed there.

Only here I found "Chuck's method, and after crossing my heart and saying bye to the camcorder I administered "treatment". It took good 30 minutes of whacking it from different angles, moving the latch by hand a fraction of a millimetre at a time to try to move all possible parts of the latch inside and looking for one that might have gotten stuck. I used compressed air, and wiggled number of components inside. It eventually worked and I got the mechanism to kick in, but not completely. At this point it does not want to return the cassette itself. There is a little spring on the side, and a latch release hook, which can easily be pulled from the outside, so it would work... but the name of Sony is as of now out of my list forever. A company which makes this kind of junk and does not support its customers does not deserve customers.

You can guess - NO MORE SONY !!! Period.

steven
Wed, 01 Dec 2010 03:55:27 +0000

It worked for sony DCR HC48 thanks for the info. But I have to do the battery thing every time I have to close the tape unit...... What a crap stupid Sony !!!
Thanks again for this forum

Balaji (USA)
Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:41:38 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnyDtJOu6k&NR=1
This procedure realy works for me. Many thanks to all. Never buy Sony again.

G.R.
Mon, 06 Dec 2010 07:19:29 +0000

I had this very same problem that started just today. I fixed it by forcing the tape and tape "carrier" (the thing the tape sits in) downward into the camera. It would not move but after quite a bit of force I heard a click sound. The camera will now allow you to close the carrier, but it would not move downward into the camera, so you cannot close the door. So, I pulled up on the tape and carrier and heard a similar click. Now I turned the camera back on and gently pushed the carrier closed. The carrier then retracted into the camera which allowed me to close the door. However, the door will now open and the carrier will move upward but it will not eject the tape. I pushed up on the "latch" (see Julie's image) and the tape will eject. Now in order to eject the tape, the latch must be moved upward, but this is a much less annoying problem then having the camera not work at all.

Ryan
Wed, 08 Dec 2010 02:50:54 +0000

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! Tried the techie fixes first to no avail. Stumbled upon this forum and got my HC-3 fixed. Who would have thought the good old fashion bang on it method would work. Thanks Chuck for posting this.

Chuck C
Sat, 18 Dec 2010 20:08:33 +0000

Ok, I would like to try the battery method but need help first with another problem. Before the posting for using the battery on the motor contacts to raise and lower the tape housing I had tried the banging method and got more than I had bargained for. A piece fell out of the camera and not sure where to put it back. Was wondering if someone with a HDR-HC3 would not mind looking inside their unit and see where this piece might have come from. I have attached pics of the part and inside my camera. Any help would be very much appreciated. Just hate tossing a $1K cam. BAD SONY BAD!!!

Attached Image:

Sony HDR-HC3 Part.jpg

Charlie
Sat, 18 Dec 2010 20:47:48 +0000

well thanks to every one there who helped but my problem still exist i smacked my HC28 n the door is closed but not going down I tried all methods mentioned here tried reseting and sound was also generated but useless i tried battry nothing happend now ant one PLEASE TELL ME WHAT TO DO CAUSE THE DOOR IS CLOSED BUT MACHINE IS NOT TAKING IT DOWN AND STILL HAVE THT ERROR.

Prince
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 20:00:34 +0000

Thanks Dave and Constantine (Nov/Dec 09). Used your method on a DCR-HC37, I used a 3 volt watch battery, I took the bottom off the camera for easy access to the terminals as there's not much solder visible from the top. A BRILLIANT SOLUTION!

Dan (UK)
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 22:26:16 +0000

I have DCR HC26 Used two C batteries in series (end to end like in a flashlight). Took the cassette tape out to be able to see the motor (did not have to unscrew or remove anything). Touched the two 'bumps' on the motor with wires (see runamuffins picture)- red (positive) wire to the left and the black (negative) on the left bumps. Heard a noise from the motor and now it worked. I tried this after taking out battery, resetting, whacking etc.

Thanks much.

Michael
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 04:58:50 +0000

Screwdriver trick from the Youtube video worked for me. Model: DCR-HC38

GB
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:39:40 +0000

This is why the internet is such a valuable resource. I was ready to throw this camera through the wall. Now I can film my kids' Christmas because of user suggestions. A combination of the "hitting" method and the power down and remove the battery method worked for me.

Brian
Fri, 24 Dec 2010 16:20:57 +0000

Yeeepeeee the motor trick worked but now I hate Sony they r such a dump......

Prince
Fri, 24 Dec 2010 18:36:38 +0000

Smacking the bottom of the camera worked! Thanks Chuck.

Michael
Sat, 25 Dec 2010 18:51:24 +0000

Thanks Chuck! You've made my Christmas! Banging the camera really worked.

Deanna
Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:02:01 +0000

Thanks for advice....we tried the hit method but that didn't work. My HC28's wouldn't close. This is what worked.
1. Put tape back in
2. Hold it closed
3. Push reset switch (its under the screen) using a sharp thin point
4. The camera closed, accepting the tape....seems to be working now

Kyle RSA
Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:13:06 +0000

I hadn't noticed if anyone else had this problem with the DCR-HC26. I noticed the 28 version. I am having this problem after already spending the whole day looking for the power cord. Next I just wanted to check to see if there was a tape in it then BLAM! Next 3 hours dedicated to the problem. I've tried hitting it, resetting it. I'm willing to the battery thing but I was saving it to last. I had this so much, I'M JUST TRYING TO MAKE A VIDEO FOR SCHOOL! If I fail cause I can't make a video, I'm blaming sony. :D

Luck
Mon, 17 Jan 2011 21:48:08 +0000

This genius guy fixed mine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnyDtJOu6k&feature=related

Vaida
Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:37:26 +0000

Thank you all for your nice comments brothers !

Ok One thing you can do to prevent the problem from coming up again is always eject the tape while haveing the battery on and the charger cable out.

I have noticed that i only get this problem when both battery and charger are hooked up or when the camera runs only on charger power without the battery.

Constantine
Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:53:34 +0000

I have an HDR-HC7 with the same stuck tape problem. I was hesitant to whack it, but did so anyway. Held tape firmly in, then 4 solid whacks on the bottom. Turned power on and couldn't beleive it - it worked!!

Richard Felton
Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:21:50 +0000

Sony DCR-HC37, same C:32:11 error. Strong bottom spanking for three or four times, removing the battery a couple of times and voil�. Alive and kickin'.
Cheers mates.

Loris
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:48:12 +0000

I have the same issue and their is an eject symbol flashing on the display. Is their any way the camera can be rebooted so that it resets itself?

James Kirkwood
Mon, 07 Mar 2011 03:43:01 +0000

I just banged it on three different sessions...the third worked...for how long..who knows...I'm transferring files to my computer

THANK YOU...THANK YOU....THANK YOU

Communication through the internet has so much power..

I write poetry almost every Friday...Sat night over a few beer...and share on Facebook..maybe I need a poem about this.....Friends work...when big companies like Sony let you down....cheers to all on this Site...Anthony..

Anthony Cochrane
Sun, 13 Mar 2011 23:23:00 +0000

It is a shame that Sony has fallen from the unwritten law of quality.

i spent $2000 on this when it came out and i think used only like 20 tapes or
so during my ownership.This problem is clearly designed into the product.

Sony used to be a very reliable brand.
They used to make high end products which would prevail.

Do they really believe there is no demand for quality as the High-end market
has been vanishing in the light of cheaper electronics for all?
Would not SONY now more than ever have benefitted from a good standing with
the market?

This is just a shame that any Yap pre-economiccrisis could walk into a businessmeeting at Sony and rant anything he well fancied at the moment.

Poor desicions, poor management and poor support.
quality never goes out of style!

though the EU wants everything to be poor
(read Toyotas fall from quality).

So im stuck with a shiny camera that dont work. Fixed the 31:11 following
the video..thanks.
Now we got the 31:23....and on an on an on

Norwegic
Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:36:59 +0000

Hello everybody
I had the same problem...error code C:32:11 cassette carriage cant close (Model sony HDR-HC37E).I used 2x AA batteries (tried 1 battery..was ok for 3-4 times door function) as explained by "bertrenolds on 24.05.2010 & runamuffin (pictures) on 30.11.2009.Tape carriage works properly for the moment (but how long?????????????).
Thanks guys....
Mathurata
Switzerland

K.Mathurata
Sat, 26 Mar 2011 20:01:23 +0000

I was not sure but I tried the caveman method. Smacked it a few times on the bottom and it works. Hilarious!!!

Wes Allen
Sat, 26 Mar 2011 21:26:26 +0000

this worked for me too! Thanks! A LOT!

patman
Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:06:47 +0000

Sony HDR-HC3, tape door not closing. Lite bottom hits for three or four times, removed the battery and toggled the on/off switch a couple of times. Now working again.
Thanks All.

Dave
Wed, 30 Mar 2011 01:51:31 +0000

Can't believe it. Wack-a-cam works! I have a Sony TRV240 that I have had for 8 years. This has actually been a great camcorder. Must have a couple thousand hours on it. Took it to Florida for Parents 50th anniversary and got the C:31:40 error after about 5 mins of recording. Basically, tape door would not retract with tape in, but would do it with tape out. Couldn't work on it until I got back home. Found this website and tried everything I could read. Tried hitting it a few times and nothing. After about 6 hours of screwing around with it I finally removed the tape, closed the door, took out the battery and smacked the shit out of it twice. The tape now goes in. This goes against everything I ever thought. I have been on my kids for years about not banging up the camera, but it is the only thing that worked. Thank god. Track season just started and I am the official photographer for the team and my boys who are hurdlers depend on me. I want to thank everyone who took the time to post their results. HAPPY CAMERA LADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monica
Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:14:52 +0000

Hi all, thanks for all these tips to get the sony working again. I tried everything working at it for about 4 hours. Had the tape closing and opening a couple of times with a battery attached to wires,then the dreaded error came back. Finally solved the problem by watching the john han You Tube footage and gave it a shot. IT WORKED. Pushed down on the gear lightly with a screwdriver and it started working. My two daughters are off filming now.
Thanks to everyone for posting hope you all solve your problems too. John

John
Sat, 02 Apr 2011 05:37:18 +0000

Had the same error and did everything mentioned on this page. Some combination of them worked because the error went away. So a generic thank you to everyone.

ChrisK
Sat, 09 Apr 2011 19:53:10 +0000

I HAD the HDR HC7. I tried hitting the camera and it worked once then not again. Somehow I jammed the door and now it doesn't work at all. It's in the garbage. unfortunately, I have like 70 tapes (several years of home video of the kids) of which I only have a few on DVD. Now I am stuck having to buy another one if I want to watch the tapes or transfer them to DVD. the player is $1,300 and I won't buy it. Guess I'll hold onto the DVR tapes for a few years until I find a way to transfer them to a portable hard drive or something. I refuse to buy another Sony camcorder or Sony anything. Thought I had a bargain, I won this camera in an auction for $350.00, learned my lesson.

Keith
Tue, 12 Apr 2011 02:09:07 +0000

FIXED!

Haven't read all post, 1/4 down the page I found my solution:

Turn camera on. Insert cassette, push it in. Take out battery without turning it off. Wait a few seconds. Put battery back in, while still pushing the cassette in, and while dial is in on position - woila! The cassette loaded!

Are-Harald Brenne
Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:10:20 +0000

The "caveman" with a rubber-hammer worked finally for me (DCR-HC27)...cant believe it.
I tried everything...battery on and off...power cord on and off ...reset ...and so on...
even the battery-wire-trick (which worked one time).
But then the error-code came back...so I thought "what the heck"...hit it!
Now the new tape is inside and hopefully it will work tomorrow.
So...THANK YOU ALL!!!

Heiko
Sun, 17 Apr 2011 19:16:07 +0000

I have the same problem with my DCR-HC27E, the door won't shut with or without a cassette and the same symptoms as the other contributors. Surprised that Sony have not come on this site to explain possible causes and possible remedies. Must take advise on legal remedies and awaken consumer agencies and the public to Sony's post sale lack of interest in these customers...James

James
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 11:04:07 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnyDtJOu6k&feature=related

matt
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 22:27:31 +0000

sony dcr-hc47e cassette door dont close

Watched the vid on the link above and it fixed the problem straight away

matt
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 22:30:38 +0000

THANKS FOR THE INFO MY DCR-HC28 DOOR CLOSED WITH THE BANGING ON THE BOTTOM

paul
Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:13:33 +0000

Door would not close on my DCR-HC53E.
I tried removing the battery and banging the bottom of it. After a few goes the mechanism engaged and the door closed.

Thanks for the help.

Jon
Sat, 30 Apr 2011 11:04:55 +0000

SONY DCR-HC37 door don�t close and C:32:11 error. I was disasembling the camera after trying hitting, batery out.... I found this post and using a 3 Volts power supply to the motor, could fix the problem. Thanks to Dave and Constantine and to ALL.

I think the problem could be caused by ejectting tape while camera power is OFF, so it�s better not to do this, first switch ON an then press the eject button.

I have also an old SONY camera with same problem, but this could be fixed by hitting the camera.

NEVER SONY AGAIN

Antonio
Sat, 30 Apr 2011 13:43:16 +0000

Thanks to Dave, Constantine and Curt for your write ups on how to fix this issue. (C:32:11). I have a DCR-HC96 Sony handycam that had the door won't close problem. Used a AA battery and manually jumped the motor as described so that the unit would go down and closed the door. It worked once but I had to do the procedure again. After the second time so far so good. For now. Everything is working. Sony camcorders? not so much. My next one will be of a different brand. Thanks for all the info.

Chris
Tue, 03 May 2011 17:15:29 +0000

SONY HC27E

ERROR; 32:11

Error explanation:
http://www.kb.sony.com/selfservice/documentLink.do?externalI . . .

"The camcorder has detected an issue that may require a power reset. "

RESETTING CAMCORDER (i.e. Fixing it) TAKING OUT SMALL BATTERY

1) take out the big battery

2) unscrew all screws at the base + all other screws that are holding the LCD part to the camcorder.

Hidden screws: Lense that ur looking into - extend it back - see the silver screw - take it out
This allows to take off the upper part of camcorder (mine says 800x digital zoom)
Under it there are 2 more screws - take them out.
Provided u have taken out all other screws that hold LCD to camcorder.
This will allow to seprate the LCD part from camcorder (not entirely - so watch out for wires; but it makes the gap
big enough for screwdrivers to enter.)

3) Find the coin like small battery. (mine was at the bottom of the front lense; on camcorder part NOT on LCD part)

4) Take it out for 60 seconds.

5) Put it back in.

6) Replace the big battery + turn the camcorder ON.

7) Close the tape department.

Dmitri
Thu, 05 May 2011 15:44:41 +0000

The whacking it on the bottom worked (2nd time). Saved me over �200 on the Sony approved repair estimate (that cost me �40). Wish I'd searched first!

Richard Radford
Sun, 08 May 2011 15:45:30 +0000

OMG. ThANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. I did not want to use the hitting the camera method. Tried all the combinations of on and off. Then tried the Dave/Constantine method to hot-wire the camera. Was so frustrated, but finally got my little AA battery wires into the damn hole in the right way and it WORKED. I have never commented on a blog thread before but this made me so happy. GOing to get the miniDV tapes onto hard drive and then put this in closet to never use it again! I have Sony HDR-HC3. The pictures of inside of camera, and how to wire my AA battery really helped me. I still can't believe it worked.

steph in st louis
Mon, 16 May 2011 19:48:20 +0000

i tried d battery method, it worked but i made a mistake, i left d battery there. now my cam cant power on, what should i do. thanks for all solutions posted.

Fasanya Deji
Wed, 25 May 2011 20:19:10 +0000

Honestly I cant believe this.... talked to the Sony online centre and she had the temerity to say Sony is not aware of this problem... yeah right...... told her to use google....lol..

Anyhow in desperation I did the remove all power sources and gave it good hard smacks on the bottom (u know at first u scared to damage this "sensitive" piece of equipment so your smacks are rather light), now l didnt care anymore..figured it would cost too much time and worry to send in for repairs so if it breaks well so be it... and guess what? powered it back up and DONE!!..now its working...

This is the funniest thing l have ever seen... so much for technology... still a good smack on the bottom saves da day...lmao

My model is a HC 28E

zwidem
Thu, 02 Jun 2011 23:03:16 +0000

After reading mostly of the advices here and many frustrating attempts with my HC3 (smacking etc). The 15 s reset with no batteri and other powersource in and camera mode at "on". Worked for me. Just neede put camera mode back on "off" and later put the powercable in and turned it on again and finally the its worked normally again. But I tried at least 5 times before it worked out, tho.

somnamna
Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:28:11 +0000

THANKS FOR THE CAMCORDER FIX!!!
I have a DCR-HC52 model and I was having issues with it no longer recognizing there was a tape inserted and that it had to close automatically to allow me to close the tape door, etc.
I followed the advice of "JVOND" posted on August 14, 2009!
It worked like a charm!!!
Thank you soooo much!

DM
Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:57:36 +0000

Used battery and wires to drive cassette carrier in on a couple of occasions on my SONY DCR-HC27. Since the last time i needed to do it, the camcorder will not power up at all ???????? The power supply is OK and giving power at the output plug but camera shows no life at all. Is there an internal fuse in the camera that i may have blown or have i done something more serious :0(

smudger
Thu, 09 Jun 2011 13:32:08 +0000

My HC9 developed this problem this week. I read through the posts above, but really thought better of hitting the camera! I thought it was going to be a throw away item...
I used to fix cameras and VCRs, the the symptoms suggested mode switch error (the contacts in the rotary switch which report the mechanisms position back to the microprocessor, become weak and unreliable). This was always a BIG problem in VCRs causing tapes to get damaged, and cause eject/load errors. The youtube video showing moving the gear helps contacts to be remade - but may not remain reliable.
For the time being I got mine going by:
1. turning on the camera,
2. holding in the reset button for 10secs,
3. then Hold down the case mechanism,
4. Disconnect power or remove battery,
5. Reconnect power,
6. repeat until mechanism starts. (holding down the tape mech all the time).

If you're lucky like me, it will start and the tape mechanism will start working.

Thanks to all for the efforts made to solve this issue - NOW Sony - what are you going to do about your defective somewhat problematical Mode switches?!

CrayonBox
Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:31:53 +0000

Lol...so crazy and it worked the very first time! :)

Richard
Wed, 22 Jun 2011 01:38:01 +0000

CrayonBox, I read many comments on this page today, without finding a solution for my closing problem on my HC7, when I decided to have a look at the bottom, thinking the solution could be here. And, your procedure worked at the very first try. Thanks a lot!

Markus
Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:00:26 +0000

Hitting the bottom really hard quite a few timew actually worked for me!

lubby
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 03:44:50 +0000

Sony HDR-HC3

Error code: C:32:11

Cassette door would not close.

I solved it by, turning off the camera, taking out and replacing battery and switching camera back on.

Great site, thanks to all contributors. Nice to know, it's not just you!

Chris
Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:13:29 +0000

this is the 3rd time I came back to this site(have a sony TRV120 and Sony DCRHC38), and yes, the hitting helped the 120, and I eventually did the softer approach with tapping the spool(resort to post in TVR 120 code reset).

The video for pushing the gear down worked! I had to push it hard but it eventually took.

I want to thank everyone for their input and comments(we're ALL frustrated with this!)

And I agree with the collective opinion about Sony: They've seen the last of my money.

Juanito
Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:33:32 +0000

bertrenolds ( 25 May 2010) your solution is a winner! Apply 1.5 volts from a AA battery( see photo) to the motor and the tape cover closes! To hell with Sony , from a deceptive manual, to a faulty product, this was the last product I will purchase from that company!

Since I'm on vacation I had to improvise a fix with the materials at hand. Tape is from a first aid kit and the "wires" are paper fasteners flattened out I used two taped together for a length of 10 cm ( 4 inches)

Attached Image:

Photo938.jpg

Scott
Sun, 31 Jul 2011 15:26:08 +0000

Well, I have read through many of these forums and am going home after work to try out some of these solutions. I had not used my camera for quite some time and when I finally got around to it I ejected the mini DV tape and then door would not close. The screen says "plug in power source or plug in battery pack". I plug it in with no sign of the camera battery charging. I see I can purchase a new battery pack online for around $25 but am trying to not spend any money on this thing. From what I have read I will move onto a different company.
Anyone have suggestions as to a good internal flash camera or internal dedicated memory or even and HD camera for less than $500? Panasonic and Canon get some good reviews, but I notice there are not any good reviews for the handicams anymore. Wonder why! :)

Russ Baslow
Sun, 31 Jul 2011 17:11:29 +0000

Thanks to every one for the various methods of dealing with this annoying problem.
I tried everything that was said here (most of it) and the only thing that helped me get the door to close, is using the battery wires.
However, my question is: do you have to do this every time you change a tape? cause as soon as I eject it I would have to go through the same process again.
Another question: wouldn't removing the coin like battery for 60 seconds be equivalent to resetting it?

At the moment I would say that my problem is half solved, cuz I can use it but not in the way I am supposed to.
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks alot

Zak
Sun, 31 Jul 2011 19:09:31 +0000

Exact same problem with my 4 year old DCR-HC28. I really had to beat on it though. First two times I whacked it hard (I thought) on the bottom (4 or 5 times each), it didn't fix anything. The third attempt, I was flat out angry, hit the bottom hard enough to send it flying accross the room if I let go, and even beat it onto my desk, and THAT TIME I powered it up and problem fixed!

I didn't see the "beat the Hell out of your cam corder" instructions in the manual, but it sure seemed to work for me. THANKS!

Dave Marshall
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:17:09 +0000

I just hit the bottom a couple a times and it worked... Thanks mate...

Hendrik
Sat, 06 Aug 2011 02:53:11 +0000

Unbelievable! So glad I found this site, had same problems with my Sony Handycam, tape door wouldn't close and giving error message and saying needed to connect power (even though it had full battery and I had also plugged power cable in). Gave it a few large bangs on the table (kids thought I'd gone mad as they're always being told to treat it carefully!!!) and low and behold it worked again. Many thanks, probably saved me a fortune either having to get it repaired or buying again on ebay ;-)

Cathy
Tue, 16 Aug 2011 12:06:42 +0000

I tried Dave's "hot wire" method about 6-7 times before I got the tape to be recognized by the camera. Thanks for the McGuyver method it worked.

Tony
Sat, 27 Aug 2011 23:20:35 +0000

I have a Sony DCR-HC52 and the Tape Door Won't Close or Eject the tape with C:32:11 Error Code, I removed battery and unplugged it for 30 seconds. Plugged the power supply back in and it ejected the tape. Turns out the inside of the miniDV tape had a piece that had become loose. My tape jammed a little but I was able to remove it with minimal damage. I removed the part that was loose, put it back in the machine and it works fine now.

Nelson Rodriguez
Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:36:35 +0000

the folowing worked for me. try it a few times, "hit the bottom" should really be the last option

"I contacted their chatline with the same problem and they fixed it!

Take out the battery and the AC cord.
Turn the camera on (tape, memory, edit settings) for 15 seconds.
Turn camera to off setting.
Plug battery or AC cord back in.

After doing this, my camera accepted the tape - door stayed shut and tape descended into the camera."

edward
Fri, 16 Sep 2011 23:11:06 +0000

Paul's suggestion (11/08) worked well for my Sony camcorder. Thanks so much for posting!

Grateful
Sat, 24 Sep 2011 17:45:44 +0000

I had same problem with my Sony camcorder - try this one guys - when you open the screen on the side, there is a small RESET hole. I carefully pushed it with a paperclip, & the cassette door now opens. all you then have to do is reset the date & time.

hope this helps - it sure did with me !!

andy warrener
Sat, 24 Sep 2011 22:03:50 +0000

I had this problem with my Handycam DCR HC52. All I had to do was remove the battery, then hook up the power cord and re-insert the battery. After that, the tape ejected, so I put it back in and closed it. After that, it worked fine.

Matthew S.
Sat, 24 Sep 2011 22:59:00 +0000

The Dave/Constantine/and all battery to power motor method worked great on our DCR HC38. Nothing else worked -- battery in and out, reset, holding the door closed, etc.
It took longer to get the battery and tape the wire to it than the actual fix.
Touched the leads until I heard the motor move a little. Closed the door and it stayed. Then it descended. Reset for 15 secs.
Has worked fine for several trials since then.
My wife wants to send cookies to Dave and Constantine she's so happy.

Larry
Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:46:13 +0000

Same problem with the error code and the door not shutting on Sony HDR HC-3. Hitting/resetting/plugging/unplugging didn't work. Dave's trick with hot-wiring the motor did the trick! I used a AA battery.

Kent
Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:10:34 +0000

HI I am technician fro greece
the solution for problem c:32:11 is
use degreaser spray ,spraying the gear next to the motor,
Leave to dry for a minute
All problems solved.

sarosi
Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:40:58 +0000

I have C:32:11 error and not closing casset bay in my Sony HDR-FX7 camera. I use hot-wiring the motor, nothing else helps. I use the camera battery as a power sourse. With this I close the casset bay and after camera reset everything works properly. The motor looks like cylinder with 5-7mm diameter and with 2 small hemispheres on the bottom. The motor is situated in right-bottom side of the bay.

Dmitry
Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:07:58 +0000

Be careful, I read about the 'applying 2 wires to a 1,5v battery' and then applying it to the motor.
I did, the cartridge goes up and down as planned. When I opened it up to remove the tape however the problem came back. No big problem since I can just do it again.
HOWEVER. Be extremely CAUTIOUS when doing this.
I slipped when pressing a bit too weirdly the second time and one of the wires went a bit next to the motor. Byebye camera, it won't even start up anymore now.

so see this as a WARNING! you will fry your entire camera if you're not careful.

Reinier
Fri, 07 Oct 2011 22:09:12 +0000

Thanks Guys, hitting the bottom and reset button worked for me!! Am so happy though i had lost my videos of my kids when they where babies

Laura
Sat, 08 Oct 2011 10:42:58 +0000

I had t the c:32:11 error on my sony hdv-1000. hitting back while holding the lid close, solved the problem.

thanks lot for the solution.

chaminda
Tue, 11 Oct 2011 04:52:51 +0000

Simple solution:

WIth the battery in,

1. Press and hold the reset button for 15-20 seconds.
2. Release it.

The tape door will now operate. If not, change the power switch to "on" if it was off, or vice versa.

It is inexcusable that Sony is ignoring this defect. I've already moved on to Samsung TVs (better picture). Now I'm looking at Canon cameras.

Rich
Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:54:56 +0000

Thank you thank you thank you. Taking the battery out etc worked! The tape door closed.

Ann
Sun, 30 Oct 2011 08:59:56 +0000

Attaching a battery circuit to the soldered pieces in the picture posted by Dave on Nov 30th 2009 did the trick for me! I think I did it with the camera still turned on and taped the tape closed. Once it closed it worked like a charm. I was hoping that the good solid whapping on the bottom would work, but it didn't. Unscrewing the bottom of the camera to get to the soldered pieces was way easier than trying to stick the wires down from the top.

McKay
Thu, 03 Nov 2011 23:05:39 +0000

I faced the same problem ( cassette door jammed , I have a 10 yr old TRV48E-PAL ) and went around a fair bit of town ( New Delhi area India ) with no lukc for a quick fix . Eventually I could fix the same after bumping into this forum and using the simples technique ( take out battery , power and slap bottom hard 5/6 times !!! ) and voila .... it worked .

Thanks a lot forum
cheers
Rahul
Gurgaon india

rahul das
Sat, 05 Nov 2011 13:56:15 +0000

I Tried the Chieh Cheng method (above in a you tube video). It Worked for me.

Luis Conde
Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:20:24 +0000

''I contacted their chatline with the same problem and they fixed it!

Take out the battery and the AC cord.
Turn the camera on (tape, memory, edit settings) for 15 seconds.
Turn camera to off setting.
Plug battery or AC cord back in.

After doing this, my camera accepted the tape - door stayed shut and tape descended into the camera.

Paul Workentine
Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:24:02 +0000''

This helped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you so much man!!!!!!! <333

Kristian M
Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:17:59 +0000

I solved the problem easily by following this totoriel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnyDtJOu6k
the problem is stupid, it is due to a small gear that gets stuck

Lionel B.
Sun, 20 Nov 2011 07:03:53 +0000

Can not believe hitting it worked but 5 minutes after reading the top posts - boom! Well chuffed.

Dan W
Sat, 26 Nov 2011 10:39:27 +0000

After trying all other ways mentioned here I went and got a C type battery and cable (used the cable from a broken pair of headphones I had lying around so no need to go out and buy cable if you've any old broken electronic equipment lying around.

It frickin worked!!!

The first time I tried it I forgot to press the "reset button" for 15 seconds after getting the tape deck to close, so when I tried it again I had the same error message and it wouldn't close again. I applied the cables the same way again but nothing happened. Oh that's it I thought, the motor probably got burnt out now or something... but then I realised that the battery was spent after the first try, so I used a different battery from the same pack and it worket. After resetting I've tried opening and closing several times and it works!!! If it happens again I know how to sort it. Thank you sooooo much!!!
I'm so happy!

Cecilia
Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:54:58 +0000

Hi all. I have a Sony DCR-HC37E. Tape stuck issue.
Tried this:

Take out the battery and the AC cord.
Turn the camera to ON position (tape, memory, edit settings) for 15 seconds.
Turn camera to OFF setting.
Plug battery or AC cord back in.

After doing this, my camera accepted the tape - door stayed shut and tape descended into the camera.

Try it!

Nick
Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:08:53 +0000

I can't believe it...it worked!!! Held the tape door shut and wacked it very hard a number of times. Removed the battery a few times as well and it eventually worked. Tape went down and |I was able to close the unit. It records great...just in time for christmas videos. Thanks!!

Dan
Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:23:43 +0000

This has saved one of my cameras. Just gave the gear a bit of a nudge and now it seems to be working fine. What I want to know is, how long have people found that this has lasted for? I gather it's only a temporary fix but any ideas how long I can expect it to last?

Big thanks to everyone!

Stacey
Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:14:05 +0000

Sony HRD-HC5. read through the post... tried all the different suggestions... slapped the sony with ring off, it's working. Thank you.

Steven
Tue, 20 Dec 2011 02:27:03 +0300

The motor jump with a D battery worked perfect. I tried all the other ideas with no luck.

ranuswarts
Wed, 21 Dec 2011 04:18:20 +0300

I have a Sony HDR-HC7 with the C:32:11 error along with the Re-Attach Power Source couldn't get the door to close and tried everything that was suggested and nothing happened. Called Sony (waste of time they want $461 to fix it). Was about to give up and put it all away and then decided to smack it a couple more times (what more harm would matter at this point) and tried a different battery and pressed the re-start button and the error magically went away. Was able to close the tape door and then attempted to put in a tape. Then I got the C:31:23 error. Did a restart and that error went away as well. I'm not sure if I want to trust this camera any more though. Any user length of time success out there? Thanks for all the suggestions.

Grant
Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:56:26 +0300

Also Sony HDR-HC7 owner here with same problem. Yes slapping fixes it, but no way am I going to rely on this for my priceless videos. $461 to repair what is clearly a serious and widespread product defect is outrageous. I will never purchase another Sony product (and I have plenty of them) ever again.

Bill
Sat, 24 Dec 2011 03:02:45 +0300

also had the infamous c32:11 error after maybe 20 hours of use. Ridiculous that Sony does not recall this machine. But a Christmas miracle, smacked it over and over again Christmas Eve figuring nothing to lose. Woke up Christmas Day, a couple more smacks and whirring sound started, cassette closed and it now works. Amazing. I own an old MG car so I get the smack it thing but this was a total surprise. The message is....dont give up. Keep bangin.

Bruce from CT
Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:17:02 +0300

I talked with Sony and they said it's an error code for the heads. We need to either clean the head with alcohol or possibly have it adjusted

kw
Tue, 03 Jan 2012 03:37:41 +0300

I have a sony dcr-hc27e that had the same problem: the tape door didn't closed and the C32:11 error written. Sony assistance in Padua (Italy) said us we have to change all the mechanical parts and it would take us 120 euros (the price of a new similar cam is since 180 euro). We followed some of the advices written in these place, we reached the solution:
I closed with some tape the cassette carriage, I took an adjustable lab power supply (since I didn't know what voltage I would need), turned it to 1.5V and touched the two little solder joints on the retracting motor with the positive and negative cables. The carriage retracted and everything is good with the world again.

I attached two pics. The red arrow is the positive cable and the white arrow is the negative cable. Since I used 1.5V to do this, you may be able to actuate the motor with a AA or C battery. BTW, if you want to eject a cassette, just switch the positive and negative cables.

Now you can put the battery on and make the door work right.

Attached Image:

1 - small_Camera 001_leads.jpg

Lorenzo
Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:15:58 +0300

Good day dear friends and thank you all for reading my posts concerning the tray problem. I figured out that i only get this problem when i open and close the tape tray with both the battery and the dc charger hooked on my camcorder. When i just use the battery it never jams. Let me know if you have tryed this and if it worked or not. If it didnt worked and problem presists then i will tear appart my camcorder to see if there is anything else you all can do at home to fix this !

Constantine
Sun, 08 Jan 2012 17:13:08 +0300

I have an HC46 that sat for almost two years unused. When I powered it on to view some old tapes, the all too common tape door closing problem occurred with error code 32:11. Based on the amount of time the camera was powered down, my (uneducated) guess is this issue is related to the internal battery.

Just wanted to share that moving the position of the tape carriage by powering the motor with a 9v battery worked for me too. As others have mentioned, it takes some patience to jerry-rig a wire or wires to reach the terminals but I didn't need to remove any screws or pieces of the casing. One polarity brought the carriage up, the opposite polarity moved it down. You can move the carriage up and down a surprising amount, and it's very easy to move it TOO low.

I'll add that for me it was a long and frustrating process of trial and error to find the "sweet spot" and position the carriage in just the right place for the tape to thread. Too high and the door would not close. Too low and the tape would not thread and the camera displayed a "reinsert the cassette" and 31:23 error message.

Thanks to the folks who shared their solution.

Jim
Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:09:52 +0300

Had the DCR-HC47 camera with the door not open problem. Searched on internet to see what the real cause is, did the motor boost, reset, etc, only works for one time.
Found a video on the youtube how to replace the position detector gear, opened the camera up to the mechanical parts - see picture. Cleaned that gear and the spring contacts, put everything back and it worked, for couple of times, then again, same door not closing. Then it hit me, I did not even need to take apart the camera, just open the bottom cover to gain access to the gears motor, the one that has to be boosted, bring it back to some mid position, so the cover will close.
Now comes the stroke of genius, you need to use a small syringe and put some alcohol ( couple of drops) to that position gear, holding the camera upside down, so it will not drip on the heads.
Replace the battery and do some cycles of close and open the cassette compartment.
After I applied the alcohol I did around 20 cycles, no fail.
I think the grease used on that sliding position detector was aging and causing the contacts to open, thus confusing the CPU about the position of the mechanism. I used 99% isopropyl alcohol.

Attached Image:

close-up.jpg

camera_once_boy
Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:33:56 +0300

Sony DCR-HC53E Door stuck open. I read all these posts and in the end it all makes sense. It seems that most of these Sony mini cams use the same system so this should help other camera owners as well..
If you bang it on the bottom it may release the stuck cogs inside the mechanism, but ultimately this is not the ideal solution as you can easily damage the delicate and highly complex mechanism that you need for it to work again and the problem will come back. (Just watch it working with a torch once you have fixed it and before you put the bottom cover back on!)
After trying the reset methods which only worked once for me, I needed to to lower the mechanism, as suggested in other posts, by taping wires to each end of two AA batteries (taped together is easiest- see pic posted 12.11.10 but use 2 x already used AA's so you have around 2.5 volts)and having already removed the bottom plastic cover (as in pic posted 05/12/09) I put 2 or 3 drops of some medical glycol & alcohol I had in the bathroom cabinet onto the cogs using a torch to get it right (shown in the pic posted 25.01.12) and then put the camera on the edge of the desk (switched off with no power or battery attached) and by going in from the top of the open door held the wires (mine had solid metal ends which makes it much easier to get good contact) onto the little silver points at the bottom on the tiny motor(as in pic where you remove the cover) which is in the very bottom corner right next to the hand strap metal fixing point - by trying each combination I could make the motor start to lower the carriage mechanism, and at the same time when it was all the way down actually close the door with my hand. I first tried getting at the motor from the bottom which is easier, but then the camera is upside down and you can't see what the carriage movement is doing, which is important.
It was then just a case of keeping on doing this lots of times until the lubricant had worked its way into the cogs and also after pressing the reset button for 10-15 seconds with camera switched to 'on' but with the battery out and then putting the battery back in it eventually settled down so that it opened and closed every time I gently pushed on the black plastic door with the silver metal strip which slides in just under the 'Do not push' part- if the plastic part does not go all the way in and come into contact with the 'Do not push' part the little mechanism needs to be lowered again by the wires onto the motor method, however once it has the clearance just gently hold the plastic door against the 'Do not push' part and then after about 3 seconds the motor will descend the mechanism in the normal way.
As long as the battery is connected the camera does not need to be switched on for this.
When it has fully descended the mechanism you can then snap the door shut.
Then to open just slide back the open/eject catch and fully open the door all the way back and then the mechanism will pop up again.
I was so pleased that I kept on doing this as I couldn't believe I had actually fixed it properly!
I then managed to get it to accept a tape (it got one a bit stuck one time so be careful doing this, and finally I was happy with the fix to put the bottom cover back on, which has to slide under the silver part which has to move back to allow this, which is why those 2 screws needed to come out of the silver part as well.
So easy when you know how...
Thanks to all who have helped on here- GOOD LUCK!

Mark B
Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:21:27 +0300

As an addition to my post (above), I also meant to say that when you place the camera on the edge of the desk, this is so you can then touch the wires onto the points on the motor from the bottom (underneath), whilst looking down through the open door, since the exposed bottom end of the camera with the motor is just off the edge of the desk, so this is the easiest way to get at it to see what you are doing...

Mark B
Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:05:26 +0300

SOB IT WORKED!!! I beat the crap out of it and tada the door magically closed. I have to manualy shut it once the housing goes down, but Fingers crossed it is working.

MSVBALL
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:31:39 +0300

Smack me, Jack me, Whack me, it worked!!

Bryanisdad
Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:34:02 +0300

Took several hours of playing around, but wound up following video several times and fianlly, she came around. When it finally worked, I took a chance and put some oil on a Q-tip & placed on gears. Have worked it about a dozen times, still going. Hopefully, this will keep it working long enough to transfer the tapes to another format & then I can throw this piece of crap into the can. NO MORE SONY !!!

Tom V
Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:41:52 +0300

I had the same problem, with my HDR-Hc7. I turned it off and took out the battery, unplugged it and banged the bottom, and to no avail. I kept reading and I saw that some one disconnected all power sources and pushed the RESET button. I did just that and it works fine now. Thank you RESET button.

jbuseboy
Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:49:22 +0300

I was able to fix my handycam door closure problem. So far 25 cycles and no repeat error! First try pressing small reset button behind flip out LCD panel while camera is turned on. I had to result to electrical taping some wires to a C 1.5 Volt battery and touching wires to motor solder points (see Lorenzo January 03, 2012 picture) to get camera to cycle to where it would close. Thank you Nick (June 16, 2009) for pointing out the problem closure mechanism in his pictures. The battery trick only temporarily fixed the problem and after that I had to reset with reset button about every forth door open cycle and one time reset did not work and had to do battery jumper to opener mechanism motor again to get camera to cycle closed again. The frustration at having to reset clock almost every tape change forced me to read further. The post and pictures by Camera_once_boy (January 25, 2012) seems to have solved the problem. After studying Camera_once_boy's picture I used aerosol electronic cleaner (the type used to clean electrical contacts, not the canned air stuff used to clean keyboards and such) and carefully directed the red straw that comes with the can for the nozzle into the open door and gave a couple short squirts to the top of the position sensor gear. I did not have to take anything apart. The edge of the position sensor gear is barely visible as it is buried under sever layers of other mechanisms. The cleaner must have found its way under the gear and cleaned what ever grease and gunk that is causing the contacts to not make because as soon as I turned the unit back on the door worked repeatedly with out fault! Be careful not to get cleaner on the head, spray away from it and keep camera laying flat till cleaner dries. Do not use too much as it may cause all sorts of other problems. Thank you to all that posted, especially those that figured out applying a remote power source to the opener motor and camera-once-boy for spending the time to dismantle a handycam to discover the source of the problem se we didnt have to!

Eddie Hill
Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:51:40 +0300

I had the same problem, with my HDR-HCE7.
I used the battery trick and managed to close the tray.
After reset, the load/unload seemed to work OK, so I tried to insert a tape and test.

Now I get C:32:31 (Reinsert your tape). So I removed the tape and when tried to insert it again got back to initial problem.

Can someone give me som light on this problem?

Miguel
Sat, 25 Feb 2012 02:53:02 +0300

thanks to every one.i simply remove the batery n then closed the door by my hand n kept it there at the same time again atach the batry(camera was at on mode) n sudenly it produced a sound and closed.thanks

bilal khan
Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:01:58 +0300

I smashed it a few times as recommended then noticed one of the posts mentioned "reset button".

Tried that and it's all good! Long live Mini DV!!

Toronto
Sun, 18 Mar 2012 05:39:48 +0300

I just fixed mine. I removed the tape, turned the power off, removed the battery and held in the reset button for a few seconds. I reattached the battery and turned the camera on. I then inserted the tape and held the tape door shut as best as I could. The mechanism kicked in and accepted the tape. Good as new.

Mike
Sun, 18 Mar 2012 06:30:34 +0300

Used the battery to the motor solder points trick and retracted an otherwise uncooperative tape tray. Thanks to Dave and Constantine!

Mark
Sun, 25 Mar 2012 05:58:48 +0400

Used the reset button. Finally it worked. Did not use the hitting method, since I don't seem to know my own powers (LOL). But it seems to be fixed now, so fingers crossed!

Never again a Sony.

Mike
Sun, 01 Apr 2012 20:14:01 +0400

I think the picture explains it all..
Youtube has a video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnyDtJOu6k
In Effect the !!BASHING!! does the same thing, just more harmful to your machine

Attached Image:

Sony C-32-11.jpg

Tony Redpath
Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:48:52 +0400

it took ten hits for the door to close and you said it would take five times. and now it didn't close again. what the heck why won't it just stay closed. raaaar and grrrrrr. >:(

david
Mon, 09 Apr 2012 06:09:45 +0400

i tried every method on this list and only the reset method work. DON'T TRY THE HITTING METHOD it only worked once for me now i can record videos yeah. :D

david
Mon, 09 Apr 2012 06:19:11 +0400

Thany you guys. My camera has been sitting for 2 years with door open. I finally did a google search and found this site. The AAA baterry method worked for me. Sony support is crap. thank god for the internet.

Lambert
Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:54:20 +0400

Hitting it actually worked :D
It didn't first time so i unplugged t all took out battery then re plugged it hit it and it started working thanks guys :)

Amy
Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:05:31 +0400

man! i dosent work with "Sony DCR-HC28' :(

Hammam
Mon, 07 May 2012 23:01:04 +0400

This solution from below worked for me.

Take out the battery and the AC cord.
Turn the camera on (tape, memory, edit settings) for 15 seconds.
Turn camera to off setting.
Plug battery or AC cord back in.

Aaron
Fri, 18 May 2012 17:40:56 +0400

Guys,
I managed closing that door 3 times using a battery 1,5V solution with wires.
After a while the problem has returned and currently battery solution doesn'f fix it....
I replaced a battery for a new one, connection is ok (checked with small bulb). What has happened? Is there a chance that a motor was burnt? Should I try with a higher voltage? This camera and Sony cost me so many hours and nervous that I'll never buy anything from Sony... What a shit !
Greetings from Poland.

Marcin
Wed, 23 May 2012 16:01:32 +0400

Have just managed to fix this problem on my HC35E. After several try using reset in different ways tried the following:-

- Battery fully charged
- power switch set to on
- pressed reset for 15 seconds
- on release motor responded
- time set up screen appeared
- now seems to be working OK
- for info there is a nastly little warning in the manual to run the cassette deck for about three mimutes periodically. This may help to avoid the problem.

Paul
Fri, 08 Jun 2012 18:25:04 +0400

Hi There.

I have a sony camcorder that is displacing the error code c3211. I have tried some of the suggestions eg resetting but this hasn't worked. Can anyone tell me what the actual problem is and how to fix it. I am desperate to get it working as I have filmed my sister's wedding&now cant upload the footage as I can't load any tape into the camcorder.

Thanks in advance.
Luc

luc
Sat, 09 Jun 2012 14:15:08 +0400

Hi there.

What a huge post! Although none of the written solutions worked, i finally got my camera working. Just pushed down one side of the tape slot, and connected the power cable. Finally heard the gear sound :D

DCR-HC24E

Thanks everybody for keeping me motivated with your comments.
Regards.

Jose

Jose
Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:58:46 +0400

I found a solution worked on my DCR-HC38 camera.
Turn camera off (leave battery in).
Insert tape and hold it in with your right hand.
With you left hand, push the reset button with your right hand still holding the tape in place.
You'll here that the camera is resetting itself, hold the tape in.
The tape will move down to its place.

I used this on DCR-HC47 AND IT WORKED ty wilson UR A LIFE SAVIOR

Franck ty to WILSON
Fri, 15 Jun 2012 04:28:15 +0400

Hi

My HDR-HC5 had the C:32:11 error. It started after I simply removed a tape. Upon putting in a new tape it would not close. I followed the youtube below and it worked. I did not hit hard, only pushed.

:D back in business

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnyDtJOu6k&feature=related

Veronica
Fri, 15 Jun 2012 04:42:44 +0400

I have a HC37 and used an 1.5 Volt AA battery to lower it slightly. Thanks to the comment made on 8/1/2012 I realised that if you lower it too much you get error C32:23 re-insert tape. So it really needs patience to get the thing in the right spot. If too high, error C32:11 (it will not close), too low it will close but you get error C32:23. Trial & error. Also in order to put the wires, the camara needs to be in the off position. Be patience and you will succeed!

Stefan
Sat, 30 Jun 2012 23:03:45 +0400

Great post. Finally got the battery trick to work on my HC37. You guys are genius.
With sincere thanks from France.

Joel
Wed, 11 Jul 2012 00:42:36 +0400

The following which is included in the comments back in 2008 worked first time. I have added a bit for ease.

Take out the battery and the AC cord.
Turn the camera on (tape, memory, play, edit settings)(remember it wont actually come on your just going through the process of turning it on to the play edit mode) for 15 seconds.
Turn camera to off setting.
Plug battery or AC cord back in.

worked like a charm.

Steeny
Sat, 21 Jul 2012 17:53:23 +0400

Model SONY DCR-HC52, door would not close. Thank you Dave for the AA battery solution (2009, Nov30). The tape tray moved all the way down, than I pushed the reset switch down for 15 seconds and all went back to normal. I believe tha batery was weak after a long time sitting and when I tried to change the tape it did not fully push the tray all the way up. I will always use the power adapter from now on before I change the tape again. Thanks to all.

Radu
Thu, 26 Jul 2012 22:10:32 +0400

I tried the movie-solution (TUX Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:15:24 +0000) and it works great!!
The first time I was to carefull and that made it not work.
The second time I pushed a little harder, powerd on, and... HALLELUJAH!!!! My handycam (HDR HC5-E) works great again!!!

AchaLaBacha
Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:05:05 +0400

whacking technique just helped me fix my sony handycam thanks a lot guys

Robert
Sat, 28 Jul 2012 01:44:26 +0400

After trying everything and talking to Sony for hours I tried this http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RSn . . . It worked!!!! Not sure how long it will last but it beats the hell out of $480.00 Sony wanted to fix it!!!! johnhanmyk You are a tech god!

mcarr
Thu, 02 Aug 2012 00:06:59 +0400

I've got a DCR-HC96. Tried pushing on the mode gear to no avail. Tried the D battery trick. Got the motor to move twice, and the compartment to close both times, but opening it back up the issue returned. I can't get the motor to move with the battery every time, just twice in probably 20 tries, using D, C, AA and once w/ speaker wire and once w/ 14g electrical solid wire. Seems like mine is a bit more messed up than most. Came home to the tape popped out and my 8 year old saying he only slid the open/eject button and nothing else. Suppose that's possible. Any other ideas?

JB
Wed, 08 Aug 2012 05:48:02 +0400

After trying everything and talking to Sony for hours I tried this http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RSn . . . It worked!!!! Not sure how long it will last but it beats the hell out of $480.00 Sony wanted to fix it!!!! johnhanmyk You are a tech god!

After this I sent the camera to John at MYK and just got it back completely repaired for $149.00. Here's their web page: http://www.myksvc.com/index.html

5+ stars for John & MYK!

mcarr
Thu, 16 Aug 2012 01:20:24 +0400

I may have found the solution for the HDR-HC3... After trying to close the door for months and not using the camera... I have followed everything that was mentioned above and nothing worked... but then I hit the EASY button at the side of the camera and the door closed and retracted.

May be a combination but would love to know if it worked for anyone else.

Sony Solution
Sat, 25 Aug 2012 01:52:17 +0400

It works! I have the Sony HC5 and all of a sudden the cassette door just wouldn't closed. Basically tried a variation of the combinations above and it works now.

- With only the batter, powered on the removed the batter
- Hit the bottom a few times firmly
- Battery back in and with the power in the on position

And worked!

Stephen Corke
Thu, 13 Sep 2012 21:14:29 +0400

Brilliant postings. My HDR-HC3 is now fixed with the caveman method. Mind you, If I had read all the postings before I slammed this thing into the floor, I would have opted for the more technical solutions! Interestingly, this camera was a replacement for a previous model that had failed in the same way. On that occasion, my son being fairly heavy handed and out of sheer frustration, forced shut the mechanism, damaging the delicate metal components. It was fortunate that the Sony state sales rep happened to be visiting the store from where I purchased the camera when I rocked up with this sad looking machine. Cutting a long story short, the rep was initially reluctant to sanction a replacement or free repair based on the fact that it had been abused. His reluctance changed when I made it clear in no uncertain terms that my sons frustration was fuelled in the first instance by not being able to capture a once off event..and in the second instance realising that his dad had paid handsomely for a hunk of fairly new and expensive not fit for purpose junk! For a small difference in price, he replaced it with the new and now 'reliable' HDR-HC3. This was in 2004. I know I'm due for a technology upgrade, but great to know that I can now complete the transfer of mini tape medium to DVD.
Thanks everyone.
Steve.

Stephen Kent
Thu, 11 Oct 2012 20:30:07 +0400

While primitive the smack technique worked on my DCR-HC48. 4 firm whacks and the motor engaged lowering the cassette door finally. Thank you CHUCK.

Cathy
Wed, 17 Oct 2012 11:36:47 +0400

You have to hit it really hard,you can kinda hear a spring noise.It really works!!!Hurt my hand lol

B-rad
Sun, 21 Oct 2012 08:30:58 +0400

Thank you all for your good words !

Like i said tha 2.5V (jump start) method worked fine for me and i never had the same problem ever since.

Glad that i could be of service

Constantine
Fri, 26 Oct 2012 23:56:53 +0400

fixed by:

1 opening tape door
2 with battery inside, connected to charger (and charger to the mains)
3 took out the battery
4 disconnected charger from camera
5 connected charger to camera again after a few second

6 camera is all fine now!

mirjam
Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:48:12 +0300

worked for me too!!!after a little research , I figured out that the problem was with the sensor of the gear drive. The trick with the battery that bertrenolds suggested was the fix,but , maybe because I used a small alcaline AA battery, it didn't seem to make it to the end the first time, so , repeating the procedure,I had to help it by hand to ensure it couldn't go further, and a tiny whack of the camera on my knee right after that completed the job!Works fine!!!Thanks to all for the help!!!

nickcorfu
Sun, 23 Dec 2012 11:07:36 +0300

Hi All,

I tried the trick with hitting bottom of camera ... no luck !!

But this did work as Paul above suggested

Take out the battery and the AC cord.
Turn the camera on (tape, memory, edit settings) for 15 seconds.
Turn camera to off setting.
Plug battery or AC cord back in.

After doing this, my camera accepted the tape - door stayed shut and tape descended into the camera.

I have a HDR HC7

Batman1103
Mon, 24 Dec 2012 04:20:34 +0300

i have a sony ccd-tr845e and compartment wont shut as had c32 11 error but took top off and got tape out but dont want to push it down case break it as its not mine need to fix any ideas or how much will cost to fix thx

jason andrews
Wed, 26 Dec 2012 22:31:32 +0300

Something to consider..

I have read most of the postings, smacked it, applied a battery to the ejector-motor, tried to open it.. nothing worked. So, I got fed up with it and left the camera connected to the power supply for two days, simply because I forgot to disconnect it. This evening I thought I to have another try, and guess what.. all is working perfectly! Now, in school I had a teacher for analog electronics who said a lot of problems are caused by bad energy supplies and added that this was not only the case for electronics but also for people... The error C:32:11 tells us that we need a good power supply by the message "reattach power supply". Perhaps this message contains more than we suspect. Perhaps the battery has gone bad due to aging or whatever. In my case the camera is 5.5 years old and this could be the case. If a battery is bad it just might cause a power drain to the supply big enough to prevent the motor from working. After two days the battery could be charged enough to stand the power surge..

And this was not all.. the " reattach power supply" message has mysteriously disappeared as well..

Dixan
Wed, 02 Jan 2013 23:22:54 +0300

After reading all these posts and getting it to work for a short period of time using the battery trick to hot wire the motor, banging, upside down, battery eject, etc, I have come to the following conclusion. This is a mechanical system and needs periodic maintenance. I read one of the posts about John Hans how-to video and how he fixed it and thought this was big to show how to do it...giving the option for all to attempt it. I am an elec engineer, not a technician and sometimes I think I can fix it all. John is good at what he does, quick, professional,arts. Got mine back the other day and it sounds like it should, like new, is quick/responsive when the tape is put in, and WORKS! Recommend you try him: myk camcorder repair.

mikeL
Wed, 09 Jan 2013 03:46:01 +0300

Oh, yeah...my issue is the c32:11 and c31:23 on the sony hdr-hc3. John also sends pictures of working on your camera and when it is working. Never had that before.

mikeL
Wed, 09 Jan 2013 04:11:32 +0300

Another diagnosis.

This is a great thread. Thanks to all for sharing. Unfortunately for me nothing here worked, including stripping down to the mode switch and cleaning it. When I disassembled it again I applied some more logic and determined that my problem was that closing the tape door was not being detected. The microswitch itself checked out ok. Following the flexible cable back from there I found that the cable was fractured at the point shown in the photo. This is where the cable flexes when the mechanism is drawn in to the body. Several tracks are open circuit. Anyone had any success in repairing this sort of cable? Or anyone scrapping their camera for parts?

Attached Image:

DSC_9392.JPG

wuthered
Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:31:44 +0300

Hi

I smaked it a couple of times (the door finally closed), then the trick with removing the battery when the camera is OFF then put the battery out, turn camera ON then put battery in, worked. (i had to do this a couple of times). Finally it worked!
Greetings from Belgium

Christof
Tue, 22 Jan 2013 05:25:58 +0300

Hello everyone. I feel your pain. I tried disconnecting the power source, but was nervous about the whacking, so I was pretty gentle about it. This is what worked for me:
Disconnect the power source, press and hold the reset button for 15 seconds. Reconnect both the battery and power cable. At this time the date and time settings need to be reset. I then inserted the tape and pressed it closed. The motor engaged and the tape descended. It only took me two hours to get to this point. I hope this helps. Best wishes. Anna in Syracuse, NY.

anonymous
Sat, 26 Jan 2013 03:45:42 +0300

See also the brilliant John Han's very helpful video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RSnyD . . .

Mark
Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:58:59 +0300

This is the most fabulous forum I've visited in years--great info by a lot of very creative people. A couple of posts here just saved me $250-500. My Sony A1U was stuck open with the dreaded C32:11 error. Battery removal/reinsertion techniques did not work, so, a little to shy to bang a $2,500 camcorder, I tried Nick's post about exercising the latch with the battery out. That did the trick. A good clue that your C32:11 error might be mechanical like mine is listening to your camcorder as it first attempts to retrieve the tray. If you hear the motor start then quickly stop, something is likely causing a sensor to tell the computer the tray's not where the computer expects it to be. Bravi to everyone here and especially to those who added photos!

Mark
Sat, 16 Feb 2013 20:07:59 +0300

Ha haha ha the "hiting" technology works fine! Thanks! I now have about 300 euros more in to my pocket!

Stefanos
Sun, 17 Feb 2013 14:45:44 +0300

Thanx a lot for your posts guys. Had the door problem with a Sony DCR-HC27E. After 2 hours time trying the different suggestions made in this forum at least Jon Hans method (pushing down the mode gear http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RSnyD . . . out for me in combination with the reset button and connecting/disconnecting battery. Special thanks to Jon for that. I fixed the 32:23 error (insert cassette) occuring after the cassette in and out has functioned properly hitting the recorders bottom side a few times firm on a desk. Thanx again :-)

Thomas
Sat, 01 Jun 2013 17:14:29 +0400

confirmed for HVR-A1E the Paul Workentine solution:
"Take out the battery and the AC cord.
Turn the camera on (tape, memory, edit settings) for 15 seconds.
Turn camera to off setting.
Plug battery or AC cord back in.

After doing this, my camera accepted the tape - door stayed shut and tape descended into the camera."

thank you

lure
Sat, 15 Jun 2013 21:25:50 +0400

Hadn't used my Sony Handycam in about a year. Took the old tape out and the door wouldn't close again. Tried everything on this site, to no avail. Finally saw somewhere on here to shake it, not hit it. It worked for me! Shake it while holding the door closed when trying to close. I reopened the door, inserted a new tape and all worked well.
Thanks everyone!

Rhonda
Sun, 07 Jul 2013 21:44:24 +0400

it amazes that Sony Corp is unaware of consumer distress related to the tape door and has not addressed it.
my distress has a $1200 price tag.
Sony can do better but this will likely require a class action suit.
stay tuned!

cjoyn
Thu, 01 Aug 2013 21:12:37 +0400

error code C:32:11 extremely common fault with the Sony HDR-HC1, HDR-HC3, HDR-HC5, HDR-HC7, HDR-HC9, HVR-A1, HVR- HD1000, HVR-V1 and other model handycams with the same mechanism assembly.
Most of the time the flex that connects to the sub assembly and the cassette compartment becomes torn due to the tape compartment moving in and out when putting & taking out your tape.
We use to replace the faulty flex but found out that it was an extremely short fix & time consuming. The only reliable way of repairing the fault is to have the complete sub mechanism assembly replaced.
Bit annoying i know, but not much can be done to avoid this fault. But we do lay down a protective layer so that it lengthens its life span before the fault reoccurs.
for more information check out the following websites
www.worksperfect.com.au or www.camerarepaircentre.com.au

Attached Image:

000.jpg

Ziyad
Wed, 02 Oct 2013 04:54:47 +0400

I had the same issues, door wouldn't close on my sony H3, banged the bottom on the kitchen table a few times and walahhh, mechanism closed the door. thanks guys

Ramon
Thu, 14 Nov 2013 03:34:59 +0300

Three slaps to my camera worked fine in pulling back the cassette mechanism.
What a fantastic SLAP THERAPY, saved 2000 bucKs from SONY.

VKG
Tue, 19 Nov 2013 17:03:10 +0300

What really worked for my Handycam, was the wack method. I used an Easton 34 aluminum baseball bat. I really think I could of gotten it over the Green Monster at Fenway. After I recovered most of the parts and disposed of them in the trash barrel, I glowed with satisfaction and accomplishment from the experience of knowing what worked for me. My last Sony product! PERIOD!

Wolfgang
Wed, 18 Dec 2013 23:20:07 +0300

Damn. Wish I had thought of the baseball bat method. I slapped the camera with my hand and hit it on the floor until I had sufficient satisfaction that it was dead. It now occupies a place that it deserves between the orange peels and the coffe grounds in my garbage can. I'm thru with Sony products also.

steve
Sun, 29 Dec 2013 22:17:58 +0300

Used 9V battery method to HDR-HV7 with great success. This page was awesome!

Esa
Wed, 05 Mar 2014 01:42:24 +0300

Same problem with my HDR HC3 camera, error code & not retracting. Thank you so much for the info Dave, using 1,5 volt battery attach it to the solder joints on the motor and it retracted, had to do this twice and it is now working perfectly again.

Marius
Tue, 06 May 2014 23:02:40 +0400

The trick with batteries work for me too. I had a "sick" Sony DCR-HC37E. Thanks to Constantinos and the other guys, my camera is working well again! Thank you all.

Greetings from Greece
Mpampis - Xalkida

Mpampis - Xalkida - Greece
Sat, 21 Jun 2014 21:17:29 +0400

I messed around with the mode gear, and now it works! Thanks!


U2LN
Mon, 28 Jul 2014 19:22:09 +0400

OK, this is some time on but when I powered up the camcorder recently - DCR-HC24 - I had the problem of not being able to close the thing again, and all the rest of the issues documented here.

Tried thumping it, as an act of desperation, tried all the turn off, etc solutions. Tried everything except attaching external batteries and electrocuting it. (and possibly me)

What eventually worked was to turn it off, press the reset which is under the LCD screen, release, wait for whirr, and that was it.

I don't need to reset the date because I am only reviewing old tapes. At first it seemed I would have to reset each time I loaded a tape, but tho morning it is working normally.

Good thing technology has moved on to SSD now, though I'd never buy Sony again. The camcorder had only rarely been used. Now I'm giving it away, but at least it works for the present.

BruceNB
Sat, 09 Aug 2014 11:10:55 +0400

Wow - an old thread keeps going! Our DC38 which we have maybe used 10 times since it was bought new many years ago had same problem when I tried it now. Read all the posts and before hitting decided to do the remove battery/on 15 seconds/off/battery back on trick and it worked..... Thanks for the info!

JK
Sat, 23 Aug 2014 20:04:52 +0400

Hi, my name is Robbert from Holland (Europe).

Today a found my old Sony Handycam DCR-HC26 which I hadn't used for years.
To my surprise it wouldn't close anymore with or without tape.

Error code C32 C11

Found the following 2:40 minutes Youtube instruction AND IT WORKED!!!!!
With some tape, a small flash light and a small philips head screw driver it was easy to solve.

http://www.google.nl/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd= . . .

Greeting, good luck and happy filming!!!!!

Robbert Smit
Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:51:09 +0400

Hitting the camcorder didn't work for me but shaking while holding the door shut worked! Go Figure!

Thanks for all the posts.

Anupam Tandon
Wed, 15 Oct 2014 10:04:20 +0400

Mr Smit above is exactley right. The door wont close because the switch under that gear in the video isnt making contact. Its better to use a small screwdriver to Gently wiggle that gear to help make contact than to bang on unit and hope no further damage happens. It must be gentle wiggling though. Pressing down hard on the gear will tend to bend the switch sensing fingers even further away from what they need to touch. After wiggle and repeated attempts, the door will eventually be ready to close. The proper fix is a total disassembly to pull that gear out and clean and grease the switch under the gear. A very tedious and highly delicate process.

stts
Thu, 16 Oct 2014 08:44:25 +0400

Did not believed for the first time!
Slammed the bottom lightly and it did not worked, hit it really hard four to five times and WOW it worked, error message gone and cassette door closed automatically.

Thanks Mike for your post of Mon, 26 May 2008; it still worked miracle.

Lahore man
Sun, 02 Nov 2014 01:42:13 +0300

SOLVED !! - Here is the fix guys - no banging needed, and it works.

Only difference is I used a SMALL amount of WD40 instead of butane gas to spray into the gear mechanism to clean the contacts. You want to get a very small amount under the gear mechanism using WD40 with the spray pipe.

Also I used a single 1.5 volt battery to kickstart the mechanism instead of 3 batts

This method works !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBqP-Q86UyM

Storm
Mon, 08 Dec 2014 23:50:31 +0300

Die Tür geschlossen halten und 1,2 mal ordentlich(boden nach unten) am Tisch aufschlagen(ein bi�chen mit gefühl) funktioniert tats�chlich !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dieter
Sat, 31 Jan 2015 12:44:58 +0300

I didn't believe it but the banging the side works. Thank you all!

Alon Holliday
Sun, 01 Feb 2015 23:04:37 +0300

It's now 2015, but I had the same problem. I have an old HC6 that I wanted to transfer the videos from the tapes. Could not get the tape carrier to descend, so I googled the problem and it brought me here. After a number of tries whacking the camera on the kitchen counter, it started working. Thanks all!

brownds
Sat, 07 Feb 2015 16:25:29 +0300

So this camera was basically a hot piece of garbage since day 1, eh? Cause it's 2015 and I'm having the same damn errors (C:32:11) and now the tape mechanism is jammed. No amount of slamming it with my hand, or slamming it against a hard surface, seems to be fixing anything (even if it's a bit cathartic).

John Darc
Sun, 08 Feb 2015 02:38:48 +0300

HDR-FX7 Sony Digital HD Video Camcorder - After several unsuccessful attempts to reach a living, breathing repair person at Sony, I called their sales line... which got me transferred to a technical support person... who recommended shipping my camera across the US to Connecticut without a clue as to what it might cost and whether it could actually be repaired... The better part of the next day was spent calling numerous regional repair shops & dealers in my area who suggested damages could run as high as $1,200.00... YouTube was somewhat helpful, but Thank God, I found camerahacker.com... which has what I consider the BEST Thread I have ever read!!!

Thank You to everyone who added details, regarding using a homemade AA battery device to recharge the retracting motor when tape door won't close... Had to jump-start it more than once, but, for me, the third time was a charm... My comments repeat several already posted, but rather than try to refer you back to previous posts, here is my summation:
1. Be Sure to remove video tape, camera battery pack & power cord, if attached.
2. Switch camera to "On" position.
3. Scotch-tape transport basket door closed temporarily, leaving a piece of tape sticking up so you can remove tape when basket retracts.
4. Touch positive & negative nodes on retracting motor with wires which are attached to homemade AA battery device... wait for basket to S-l-o-w-l-y retract... (refer to photos with older posts to see location of nodes).
5. Close tape door.
6. Using end of pen or pointed tool, hold in camera "Reset" button for 15 secs (see your manual for location of "reset" button).
7. Reconnect battery pack & power on camera.
8. Press "eject" button to open tape door.
9. Insert New Blank Tape... wait for transport basket to retract... Try using camera for short video... If any error message appears... turn camera off & then on again.
10. If there still appears to be a problem... eject & re-insert tape.

Note: 1. If transport basket will not retract again... repeat above recharging steps using AA battery device (not necessary to hold down "reset" button this time).
2. If transport basket still does not retract after recharging a second time... Leave camera switch to "On" position... remove & re-insert battery pack... turn on camera to see if basket will retract.
3. It appears as though the retracting motor may recharge, but sometimes not activate transport basket until battery pack has been reconnected to camera.
4. You may have to repeat recharging steps above several times for successful outcome.

Waffle
Wed, 19 Aug 2015 02:42:55 +0400

"Violence on the bottom" meant a new start up with my HDR-HD3!!!
Our relationship began in 2007 and since last year she left me...error 32:11 showed up!!!
After a few trials (including 300 euros proposal to fix it up) I had almost given up...but today I found this "tutorial" and she came back to me after 30s...the time it took me to learn about this "wonder violence"

It also occured to me that perphaps this 32:11 problem is due to "leaving your sweetheart" alone too long...even if you don�t use the camera...open and close the door once every week...I think the mechanism tends to forget "how to perform and glues in"...the same way your sweetheart will do if you do not take good and REGULAR care of her

THANK YOU and slam them down!!...but not too hard

Ant�nio
Sun, 30 Aug 2015 18:25:27 +0400

I have the HDR-HC3 and the same door issue. Last night I wanted to record the lunar eclipse and when I went to install a fresh tape I could not close it the door. I was forced to go back in time and record it on my dinosaur Sony CCD-TRV16. I'm sure the quality will be poor (I have too afraid to review it), but I figured it was worth trying.

This morning, I know, day laye and dollar short, I came upon this site and after reading Mike's suggestion, the good old fashioned way from when banging on the side of the tv. Anyway, it too me several tries I was able to get it to work properly again. "Re-attaching power source " was key. If I had looked in the lens the first time or two Im confident it would have worked sooner. Thank you Mike!!

Stacy
Mon, 28 Sep 2015 18:27:47 +0400

I thought all my footage was lost and happened upon this site. I fussed and fussed using the battery method and jumped for joy when it worked. I went back to posts from 2009. I will transfer all my tapes and not rely on the camcorder again!!

DJCINDY
Thu, 01 Oct 2015 23:51:46 +0400

Jay's instructions (30 Nov 2009) with 3V battery pack got my DCR-HC38 cassette door to close; although it kept staying open after close/open cycle. A drop of oil on the gears near the little motor seems to keep the problem away (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBqP-Q86UyM)
-Art

art densmore
Sun, 29 Nov 2015 05:25:01 +0300

My Sony HVR V1E, the door stayed open and didn't close with the C32:11 code; I read all of the above comments and this is what I did: first; don't slam the camera; that just won't work; for some cheaper models maybe but this camera is expansive, so try this instead: take out de battery; put a cassette inside en push the mechanism in a close position and hold it so, then attache the battery and wait till you hear the motor come alive; wait for a moment and then turn the camera on vcr mode; the camera will accept the cassette and the compartment will close! This saved my camera for a trip to the Sony repair-shop!

Sillie
Fri, 04 Nov 2016 22:37:40 +0300

Hitting down on the camcoder is working.. :-)

Chaitu
Sat, 20 Jan 2018 04:34:33 -0800

I wasted a couple of hours watching YouTube videos on the issue of Sony camcorder cassette compartments not closing (I have a HDR-HC3E which my daughter wants to resurrect for a school project) and then found this site. A couple of strikes with the side of my hand on the base has fixed it, thanks!

Andy Coleman
Sun, 04 Feb 2018 06:03:56 -0800

I whacked it!!! and it worked.. lolol

akarimorph
Fri, 16 Oct 2020 20:26:26 -0700

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