Help!! Repairing a VCR.

[oneslowz28]

My mother has hundreds of VHS tapes. She bought a new VCR a few months back. Last night she called me and said it was not working. I told her I would come get it today and see if I can fix it.

So I put a tape in it and push play. It will play about 20-30 seconds of the tape and then shut off. I took the cover off and the tape is not binding. I checked all the caps to see if one had popped but all look fine. Anyone know what might be causing this to happen?

Thanks.

 

[Willbe]

Tab Books publishe(s/d) stuff on this.

 

[oneslowz28]

I can buy her a new vcr for what I can buy a book for.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Then get her a new VCR, your local landfill is probably full of them.

 

[olly_k]

What do you mean 'not binding'. I am all for recycling stuff I hate the tip it attitude - obviously this can't go on without dire environmental consequences and this is from someone who thinks global warming is a scam!

Anyway, if it is a modern VCR I would think belts can pretty much be ruled out but not entirely so you need to look for any belts (especially from a loading motor) and make sure they are not slipping.
Not sure why you are looking at capacitors maybe this job is beyond you as you are overlooking simple mechanical things and any electronic fault is not going to be visible anyway.
Check mechanics see if the tape is being un-threaded fully and tensioned and determine at what stage the machine gives up then you will start to get somewhere.

BTW you might have to test in a darkened area without the lid as the sensors rely on light and ambient light will interfere with operation.

My mother has hundreds of VHS tapes. She bought a new VCR a few months back. Last night she called me and said it was not working. I told her I would come get it today and see if I can fix it.

So I put a tape in it and push play. It will play about 20-30 seconds of the tape and then shut off. I took the cover off and the tape is not binding. I checked all the caps to see if one had popped but all look fine. Anyone know what might be causing this to happen?

Thanks.

 

[oneslowz28]

Actually I got it fixed. I opened it up at home and I must have over looked a bad cap. There was a 220uF 10v cap that was leaking. I replaced it with a 220uF 16v from an old computer mother board I had. I plugged it in and put a tape in and it worked fine. Left it running for the last hour Play for 30min and record for 30 min, rewind, fast forward. It all works fine.

The mechanics are not above me either. I find it kind of odd that you would assume that the mechanics would be over my head. The reason I asked here was because I figured it could be a quick fix that someone may have experienced before. I will admit that this is the second VCR I have been inside. There has always been dvd players in my home since I was old enough to tinker with things. The reason for my mother having vcr and VHS tapes is that she has had video cameras since I was a baby, 25 years ago. She has 400-500 family videos and is in the process of recording them to DVD.

The other reason is that VCR's are dead technology. They have been for years. I did not want to purchase a book on them as I know I would chunk it in the trash sooner or later anyway.

 

[Willbe]

I get my Tab Books from the library.

 

[bigkim100]

WHATS A vcr????

 

[gabeNC]

WHATS A vcr????

Yeah... my kids say stuff like that too. I mumbled something the other day about putting a new "ribbon" in the printer instead of ink cartridge. They look really confused.

 

[bigkim100]

Yeah... my kids say stuff like that too. I mumbled something the other day about putting a new "ribbon" in the printer instead of ink cartridge. They look really confused.

My kids became terrified that the Tv was broken one morning, came and dragged me out of bed, screaming all the way that the Tv was dying...only to find out that they had stumbled across a old Black and White movie.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Well they could have stumbled upon much worse. Does anyone actually set their V-chip?

 

[bigkim100]

Ok, now your just making things up...whats a v-chip

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Well if your TV is from the last decade or so it's got one. All modern TVs have em. Check your setup menu.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Well if your TV is from the last decade or so it's got one. All modern TVs have em. Check your setup menu.

No they don't, it's a bizzare North American only device.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Well bigkin100 is a local here in Toronto.

 

[picbits]

She bought a new VCR a few months back. Last night she called me and said it was not working. I told her I would come get it today and see if I can fix it.

I'd have just taken it back under warranty.

 

[HiTech]

IIRC the V chip was some parental control concept instituted by Billy-boy Clinton during his early years in office. The design was in the works before him but he helped mandate it into new sets so little Johnny or pretty Sally couldn't inadvertently watch adult oriented content like Beavis & Butthead or R rated movies featuring B-movie bimbos from Blonde Beach.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

IIRC the V chip was some parental control concept instituted by Billy-boy Clinton during his early years in office.

We don't get that in the civilised world!

 

[blueroomelectronics]

You don't need it in Britain
**broken link removed**

 

[Sceadwian]

Hitech... those TV's exist in vast numbers, almost all cable boxes have a v-chip like feature built in that let you block shows above a certain rating, and most will allow you to specifically lock or unlock channels with password control. It's just not legally required the privacy actavists went nuts when it was 'required' now it's just optional.