Video chewing tapes?

[Uncle Bully]

What is the most likely cause of this, and is it a cost effective repair?
My $900 Sony VCR, about 5 years old now, started doing it and my parent's 2
year old Akai has also doing it. Doesn't matter which tape you put in, old
new or otherwise. I never budget tapes in my machine anyway.
Since you can buy a new Hifi VCR for about $150 is it worth fixing, or just
replacing?

[petefletch]

A few years ago I took my old vcr in for repair (it was one of the first hifi vcr's) because the picture quality had deteriorated and it wasn't tracking properly.
The repair quote (mainly for new heads, I think) was twice the price of a new hifi vcr of the same brand.

It went straight into bin.

[Kevin Hendrikssen]

"Uncle Bully" <wakeupcall@optushome.com.au.REMOVE> wrote in message
news:40146d13$0$19707$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.a u...
> What is the most likely cause of this, and is it a cost effective repair?
> My $900 Sony VCR, about 5 years old now, started doing it and my parent's
2
> year old Akai has also doing it. Doesn't matter which tape you put in, old
> new or otherwise. I never budget tapes in my machine anyway.
> Since you can buy a new Hifi VCR for about $150 is it worth fixing, or
just
> replacing?

Have they ever been serviced to have heads and rollers etc cleaned? If
they're dirty the tape could be sticking to them.

[Uncle Bully]

> > Since you can buy a new Hifi VCR for about $150 is it worth fixing, or
> just
> > replacing?
>
> Have they ever been serviced to have heads and rollers etc cleaned? If
> they're dirty the tape could be sticking to them.

No. Is this the most likely cause? My last video, a Mitsubishi, lasted a
good 10 years without any work done to it whatsoever. Can I fix this myself?
I'm handy with a screwdriver, just never really been into VCRs before.

[Kevin Hendrikssen]

"Uncle Bully" <wakeupcall@optushome.com.au.REMOVE> wrote in message
news:40147c59$0$19709$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.a u...
>
> > > Since you can buy a new Hifi VCR for about $150 is it worth fixing, or
> > just
> > > replacing?
> >
> > Have they ever been serviced to have heads and rollers etc cleaned? If
> > they're dirty the tape could be sticking to them.
>
> No. Is this the most likely cause?

Could be. Can't hurt to have a look under the hood. You haven't got young
children, have you? There was the programme about child development a few
weeks back on ABC, which showed kids pushing toys into the VCR flap.

> My last video, a Mitsubishi, lasted a
> good 10 years without any work done to it whatsoever. Can I fix this
myself?
> I'm handy with a screwdriver, just never really been into VCRs before.

I've done it. I used medical swabs (isopropal alcohol). As you say, with new
VCRs so cheap, and the machine already destroying your tapes you don't
really have much to lose.

[Uncle Bully]

> I've done it. I used medical swabs (isopropal alcohol). As you say, with
new
> VCRs so cheap, and the machine already destroying your tapes you don't
> really have much to lose.

Easy. All the rollers and drum had heaps of black stuff on them, so I dabbed
everything down with cotton buds and nail polish remover. I noticed one of
the spring loaded levers wasn't springing back on eject, so I gave it some
oil, loosened the screw holding it down, put it back together and it works
again now.

Thanks.

[Chris Runner]

You would be surprised how a good clean of the tape path using Isoproxy
alcohol and chamois sticks, and replacement of the pinch roller and belts
(if applicable) makes a huge difference to the operation of a VCR, and yes I
think it may fix your problem.

All of the above should not cost you more than $25-$30, if you are in
Melbourne I can tell you the name of a good place in Doncaster which sells
these supplies.

If this doesn't fix it, probably time for a new one, but the new ones (in my
opinion) are not the same built quality, and also my 11 year old Panasonic
HiFi has a better picture than my 1 year old Panasonic HiFi, but again that
is just my opinion.

So if you are handy with a screwdriver give it a shot, if not decide what
you think is best!

"Uncle Bully" <wakeupcall@optushome.com.au.REMOVE> wrote in message
news:40146d13$0$19707$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.a u...
> What is the most likely cause of this, and is it a cost effective repair?
> My $900 Sony VCR, about 5 years old now, started doing it and my parent's
2
> year old Akai has also doing it. Doesn't matter which tape you put in, old
> new or otherwise. I never budget tapes in my machine anyway.
> Since you can buy a new Hifi VCR for about $150 is it worth fixing, or
just
> replacing?
>
>
>

[Sam Richards]

On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 12:27:47 +1100, "Uncle Bully"
<wakeupcall@optushome.com.au.REMOVE> wrote:

>What is the most likely cause of this, and is it a cost effective repair?
>My $900 Sony VCR, about 5 years old now, started doing it and my parent's 2
>year old Akai has also doing it. Doesn't matter which tape you put in, old
>new or otherwise. I never budget tapes in my machine anyway.
>Since you can buy a new Hifi VCR for about $150 is it worth fixing, or just
>replacing?

Toss it in the bin

It is not worth repairing as any qoute will be well above $100 and
will not fix the problem for long.

VCR's just wear out as they have lots of moving parts and just
changing belts is not enough for a long term repair when new ones are
so cheap.

Sam

[David Sauer]

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On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 14:37:52 +1100, "Uncle Bully"
<wakeupcall@optushome.com.au.REMOVE> wrote:

>
>> I've done it. I used medical swabs (isopropal alcohol). As you say, with
>new
>> VCRs so cheap, and the machine already destroying your tapes you don't
>> really have much to lose.
>
>Easy. All the rollers and drum had heaps of black stuff on them, so I dabbed
>everything down with cotton buds and nail polish remover. I noticed one of
>the spring loaded levers wasn't springing back on eject, so I gave it some
>oil, loosened the screw holding it down, put it back together and it works
>again now.

Acetone is the proper shit to use, nail polish remover has some oil or
something in it with the acetone which can leave a residue. Then
there's some synthetic nail polish removers that dont even have
acetone. A few bucks from a hardware store.

When cleaning the head drum assembly, its horizontal, never up and
down. The heads are the little matchstick head sized doobies at the
bottom of the rotating drum with the grooves cut in it.
Recommend using a clean hard piece of card still and rotating the drum
past the card in the direction that the heads normally spin.

[David]

"Sam Richards" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:bv2h6l$n88d3$1@ID-197514.news.uni-berlin.de...
> On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 12:27:47 +1100, "Uncle Bully"
> <wakeupcall@optushome.com.au.REMOVE> wrote:
>
> >What is the most likely cause of this, and is it a cost effective repair?
> >My $900 Sony VCR, about 5 years old now, started doing it and my parent's
2
> >year old Akai has also doing it. Doesn't matter which tape you put in,
old
> >new or otherwise. I never budget tapes in my machine anyway.
> >Since you can buy a new Hifi VCR for about $150 is it worth fixing, or
just
> >replacing?
>
> Toss it in the bin
>
> It is not worth repairing as any qoute will be well above $100 and
> will not fix the problem for long.
>
> VCR's just wear out as they have lots of moving parts and just
> changing belts is not enough for a long term repair when new ones are
> so cheap.
>
> Sam

I personally prefer to keep my older machines going. They are far more
reliable than the new ones. The new ones are just cheap crap. My sister
has had 3 late model vcr's in which time my old faithful Panasonic FS1's
have kept on chugging along.

This site has some interesting info for D.I.Y.
http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_vcrfaq.html

David.