Guys, what can one find on internet... congratulations! I have one high definition Sony HDR-HC9, which last week fell into a swimming pool with my wife who successfully helped our son out who fell there in the first place... So, as you can imagine camera was literally swimming. I opened every door(apart of tape,which was inside...) placed it at the sun and waited few days.... On plugging it to mains it displayed c:31:40 error, which disappeared after.... hitting it with hand on the bottom and using some hair-drier !!! CHEERS TO ALL

OMG! I have a Sony DCR-TRV530 that I had fixed (for a couple hundred $ ...) just so I can transfer my old tapes to DVD. After a few transfers and time passing, it stopped working, with the C-3-1-40 error code coming up. Thought I'd Google the error code before taking it in- (got to love Google) and since so many people had had success with the spanking, four sharp smacks on the bottom later- IT WORKS!!! Another THANK YOU to whoever first put in the suggestion, and I recommend trying this before taking your camera in~

Yes! a firm SLAP with the hand to the bottom of the camera works! Thanks guys you saved my bacon.

Wow - Shook it and it works ... we did shake it open. We had it serviced by Sony for $700, then was told it was due to living in a humid climate. THanks for the suggestion. Crazy.

Just as I was ready to dumpe my TRV235E after not using it from 2 years (due to the famous error code...), I googled the code and got to this page. The solution was too crazy and stupid to believe in, but it worked!!!! Shaking and banging did the job and I have my camcorder back to try and trasfer all my cassettes to DVD. Unbelievable! Thanks a lot!

I hit mmy camera on the bottom and voila---the cassette now went down into place. Shgows just how poor quality Sony is. Why wouldn't they warn us about it and fix it fpor free. Garbage..

I own 2 Sony Camcorders, 1 - the oldest being a DCR-TRV520 NTSC and the newest a DCR-TRV130 NTSC. Lately I have been getting the vanted C:31:40 error code mainly on the TRV520, and less often on the TRV130. Do you a solution that would allow me a quick fix ???? About 2 years ago I sent the TRV520 into a Sony repair center, and they replaced the record / PB mechanism for about $550 as I recall. And it did work fine, until I taped a Church Service, was ready to edit the service using my Sony Editing / DVD creator SW, and I got the error message, AGAIN !!!! I would love a simple solution that I could do myself. Thanks, Pastor Jim Foley - Church of the Creator !!!!

I went on a trip with my 2 oldest to New Hampshire this past summer to visit my parents and sibs. About 5 days into our 19 day trip, my 10 year old Sony TRV315 decides to flash the C:31:40 error. Must have been all the trips to Newfound Lake, Big Sam's frog pond, the Bristol Dam, Sculptured Rocks, the rain and humidity - bad combination that results in mechanical failure. I was devastated!!! 14 days of memories lost! Every few days I'd return to the thing and try to "surpize" it with a quick start-up, hoping the problem would be fixed... but to no avail, that "beep" sounded off loud and clear. I read through the user manual and applied all the suggestions offered - no go! Just tonight I was on a date with my wife. In anticipation of the birth of our 5th child in 6 weeks, and knowing that we were camera-less, we visited Best Buy to check out the cameras. After returning home and running a few searches online, it occurred to me to Google "sony c:31:40 error trv315". This thread was one of the first results that appeared. Well after reading 5 pages of "hit it", "slap it", "slam it", "bang it" I thought I was on a Mixed Martial Arts, do-it-yourself training site. But then I figured, if it worked for 38 random people, what could I possibly lose in making the attempt. So I went into the garage and contemplated... "Do I use the 34 inch, 33 ounce wooden Louisville Slugger or the 3/4 inch, 4 foot length of rebar?" After coming to my senses, I returned to the kitchen, having decided to trust the good ole hand slap. Bang, bang, bang with the flat of my palm on the base of the camcorder, followed by enough shaking to turn cream into butter. Shazaaaammm! Power up, press the little red record button, and "boom".... it works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I went into the garage and contemplated... Do I use the 34 inch, 33 ounce wooden Louisville Slugger or the 3/4 inch, 4 foot length of rebar? After coming to my senses, I returned to the kitchen, having decided to trust the good ole hand slap. Bang, bang, bang with the flat of my palm on the base of the camcorder, followed by enough shaking to turn cream into butter. Power up, press the little red record button, and boom.... it works!

Wow - it worked!!!