help - loading trouble on video recorder

[bugbear]

Two nights ago my VCR refused to play a tape; the tape was already in, and had been recorded on timer. The display showed 80 minutes of recording.

On pressing "play", the head whirred up for around 20 seconds, an then the VCR when into "standby" mode.

A little experimentation revealed that this is what happened regardless of key presses.

In particular, eject didn't work :-(

I removed the case, and noticed that a cam-cog, driven by a worm gear, appeared to be jamming in some way.

A hefty prod with a finger managed to get it to travel "fully", and I managed to eject the tape.

Trying to load a (old, unwanted...) tape was futile, with loading failing with the same jam of the cam-cog, sometimes accompanied by clicking noises that sounded like a cog slipping a tooth. The cassette case loaded OK, and the tape threds over the head OK, but "something" that the cam-cog does ... doesn't.

The local TV shop has quoted a MINIMUM repair fee of 100 quid, and VCR's aren't really available on the market right now.

In a bid to save money, and defer the inevitable (eventual) purchase of a HDD/DVD or PVR box, I would like to try to get my VCR going again.

It's a five year old Panasonic NV-HS830B, and I've put a wide shot of the internals, and a close up of the "cam-cog" here:

anyone has tips, advice or experience, I'd be a happy man :-)

BugBear

[Paul R]

Two or three suggestions:

1. Sign up to your local freecycle group - - as people are giving VCRs and CRT TVs away for free now - I just passed on a VCR this way myself.
2. Use eBay to buy a replacement - remember, they are worth very little now (see 1)
3. Buy a DVD Recorder and borrow a VHS player and move all your tapes to DVD - I am now VHSless.

Paul R

[Marky P]

Well, I can't really help, but I had a JVC VCR that had a similar problem, but I though it might've been a sensor not detecting the tape properly. It's not worth paying £100 to get it repaired. I got a lovely used JVC VCR off Ebay for £20 (top of the range, S-VHS) so I think that would be your best bet if you need another VCR. Also, try to look for another Panasonic, so there are no problems playing back stuff you recorded on your old VCR. My recordings of the JVC don't play as well on other brands of VCR.

Marky P.

[Peter Hayes]

Try your local Tesco.

Peter

[Adrian C]

Post this to sci.electronics.repair

[Roderick Stewart]

[...]

Richer Sounds are selling a 6 head Nicam stereo VHS for £59.95, and there are probably a few others if you do an online search.

Don't waste your time. I had a 10 year old VHS that went crunch in a similar manner, a small plastic component having snapped. I've tried repairing plastic cogs before, and it never works. Glue doesn't stick, there isn't room to bolt or splint anything, and it's extremely unlikely you'll be able to buy a replacement part. You can buy a brand new machine for less than the cost of repairing the old one (if it's even possible to repair it at all).

My only need for a VHS now is to make the occasional transfer to disk, so I just got the cheapest one I could find that could do stereo playback, but if you have no archive material on tape, your decision is even easier. Disk recorders are a bit more expensive, but you'd be buying one someday soon anyway.

Rod.

[bugbear]

So many forums that I didn't know about :-)

- thanks

BugBear

[bugbear]

[Harry Bloomfield]

bugbear brought next idea :

The last VCR we bought cost around £40 new, so certainly not worth the expense of repairing. As others have suggested, try your local Freecycle for a free VCR and then transfer over to DVD's.

[Ivan]

The common fault with that particular model (Z deck) is teeth stripping on the tu loading arm.

The parts are relatively cheap (under a fiver) and pretty easy to replace, I used to do them trade for about £18.00.. however as others have pointed out, although they are a very nice vcr when one considers what a DVD recorder or lower end PVR can now be purchased for, even if you could find someone to repair it for around £30.00 it wouldn't nowadays be considered to be a worthwhile proposition.

[bugbear]

Since I'd like to defer the PVR/HDD/DVD decision for a bit (AV is still an expensive minefield), would you care to point me at a parts source and/or manual ?

I mean, the broken VCR is currently worthless, so I can't reduce it's value by trying to repair (and failing) to repair it!

BugBear

[Ivan]

Whilst I can't say with absolute certainty that this is the problem with your VCR, in my experience it's by far and away the most likely cause of the problems you describe. Unfortunately I no longer have any trade contacts as (due to illness) I'm now retired however I've supplied a link where the part can be obtained, oh and make sure you get the teeth located correctly first time, otherwise you're likely to end up with even more grief!

BugBear

[bugbear]

picture at work!)

Somewhere near here?

picture... BugBear

[Ivan]

Apologies 'forget' my previous posts, I've just had a look at the photos you provided and unfortunately had a different deck (Z) associated with the model number that you provided.

Some common problems on the deck in your photographs is the small plastic coupling device on the loading motor spindle which fits inside the worm gear, reasonably simple to replace including replacing the mode switch (which is essential to line up correctly) whilst you've got it all apart.

A rarer occurrence can be the teeth stripping on the plastic sliding rack, which to replace could be somewhat difficult and would be best not to become involved with.

The main cam (visible in the right hand top of the photo) can also become broken underneath and may need replacing.

All of these problems aren't too bad once you've done a few and you have the proper Panasonic repair manuals however for the uninitiated it would probably be best to follow the herd and relegate it to the nearest landfill.

HTH Ivan

[Stuart Noble]

When I dumped my 20 year old portable tv I bought an even older one on EBay for £2, which I suppose saves one unit from landfill.

[OldBill]

Its last century's electro-mechanical technology. Dump it and get something modern. Skip DVD recorders which are last year's gadgets and get a harddisk recorder. You'll be amazed at the difference in functionality. Can you still get VHS tapes anywhere except charity shops? In fact I still have VCR which cost £400 in 1997 but I haven't used it for 2 years as the quality is no longer acceptable.

[Marky P]

I remember when my parents bought their first VCR in 1987. I had never seen a VCR picture before close up (saw 'em at school, but TV was a good 20 foot away) and I was surprised at how bad the picturte quality was. I was expecting close to broadcast quality, but I was only 15 at the time.

Marky P.

[manatbandq]

Don't be silly!

MBQ

[manatbandq]

How do you archive material when the disk is full? What happens when the disk fails and you lose everything as you were unable to archive all your favourite material?

I suggest you keep the DVD recorder.

MBQ

[Andrew]

I have a Toppy and a DVD recorder, but when I want to archive anything, I just copy it to my PC via USB, where I can watch it at broadcast quality. The DVD recorder is just going to waste.