Anyone repair VCR's?

[fmctm1sw]

I did a little research on the net and found a parts supply site for Sony VCR's. I have 13 years experience in the electronic field but not specifically VCR repair. I would like any assistance in identifying these parts. The dark gray arm you see is what grabs the tape and pulls it up to the head. The gear under it is what controls it's movement (Yes, the one with the teeth chewed off). What are these parts called? The dark gray arm siezed up and repeated attempts to load the tape chewed the teeth off. Not bad for $1 if I can fix it.....

edit: Horray! Finally....

[pacmania_2001]

Roundabout will be the man for this sort of stuff. From my understanding he's worked as a Sony technician repairing all manners of things so he should be able to help you.

[zzyzzx]

I'd take the part (and the picture) or the whole thing to your local electronics parts place (not Radio Shack) and point to it and ask for a new one.

[fmctm1sw]

I'd take the part (and the picture) or the whole thing to your local electronics parts place (not Radio Shack) and point to it and ask for a new one.

I wish I could. I'm havn't seen one since I arrived been here (Japan). Nor would I know anyway since everything is in Kanji I did stumble across them on the net though:

http://www.iglou.com/studiosound/tunsony.htm

All the way at the bottom. Huh, high failure items?

[zzyzzx]

http://www.iglou.com/studiosound/tunsony.htm

All the way at the bottom. Huh, high failure items?

That's Sony quality for you! It used to be that VCR's were easy to fix, as long as it was a belt, sensor, video head, or just needed a cleaning. Now they seem to be throwaway items. I have on VCR that I have replaced the video head on it I think 3 times.

[MrMungus]

I'd take the part (and the picture) or the whole thing to your local electronics parts place (not Radio Shack) and point to it and ask for a new one.

I wish I could. I'm havn't seen one since I arrived been here (Japan). Nor would I know anyway since everything is in Kanji I did stumble across them on the net though:

http://www.iglou.com/studiosound/tunsony.htm

All the way at the bottom. Huh, high failure items?

I once repaired a CD player by finding a schematic of the unit then calling Yamaha to get a replacement part (same problem -- broken gear teeth). They have departments that send parts to repair places so they could probably send it to you too.

[freak_in_cage_10k]

when i was 15 i found a VCR in a skip. i took it home and fired it up and it worked fine for about a day, but it kept on jamming and messing up. anyway, i prodded it around with a screw driver and it did about 2 years with the top off. it would accasionally jam but needed nothing more than a friendly kick and a couple of violent stabs with a screw driver and it was happy for a day or so.

(it must have been into S & M i guess!!!)

[handyguy]

Make, manf, model of vcr?

Sure the part might be a $1 but shipping is $6 Plus that part probably isn't what is causing the issue so add some more parts.

[Roundabout]

Maybe I can help. I don't know what model vcr you have, so I can't tell you exactly which part we're looking at here. However, you have a couple of options.

You can call Sony Parts Dept 1-800-222-SONY in KC, MO. and tell them what part you need by describing it to them, they're used to having people call in and say "I need XYZ part" and find it by description. This appears to be a loading gear, and shouldn't be hard to replace. However, there are several such gears in these machines, so you need to know which one it is.

If you plan to keep the unit, you might want to invest in a service manual for it first, then you can identify the part by yourself and order by 9-digit Sony part number (i.e., A-4672-478-A). The gear probably costs next to nothing, the manual costs $5 - 10 depending on model (at least that's what they cost when I worked there, prices may have gone up some).

I have an older model SLV-575hf VHS VCR that constantly has this problem with the loading arm, it freezes up if I don't use the unit for a while. The grease dries up and the arm just stops moving freely - this is a common problem, in fact, probably the #1 problem on Sony VCR's, at least the older models. I just remove the arm and use some oil on the shaft, put it back and work it back and forth a few times and it's fine for a year or so. If your VCR is an older model, you should do the same periodically to ensure it doesn't happen again after you replace the gear.

Let me know if I can help you further.

[fmctm1sw]

when i was 15 i found a VCR in a skip. i took it home and fired it up and it worked fine for about a day, but it kept on jamming and messing up. anyway, i prodded it around with a screw driver and it did about 2 years with the top off. it would accasionally jam but needed nothing more than a friendly kick and a couple of violent stabs with a screw driver and it was happy for a day or so.

First, what is a "skip?" I just trashed a VCR (an old top loader) that I had to sit a brick on top of to keep the tray down. It worked but the kids kept destroying tapes by trying to take them out.

Make, manf, model of vcr?

Sure the part might be a $1 but shipping is $6. Plus that part probably isn't what is causing the issue so add some more parts.

<edit: It was the VCR itself that cost me $1.>

Sony SLV-575UC. As I mentioned (I think), I have a decent background in electronics. Parts are $20 total and another $10 for shipping. For a VCR that selles on ebay for $80 to $130, I feel like I made out a bit

I have an older model SLV-575hf VHS VCR that constantly has this problem with the loading arm, it freezes up if I don't use the unit for a while. The grease dries up and the arm just stops moving freely - this is a common problem, in fact, probably the #1 problem on Sony VCR's, at least the older models. I just remove the arm and use some oil on the shaft, put it back and work it back and forth a few times and it's fine for a year or so. If your VCR is an older model, you should do the same periodically to ensure it doesn't happen again after you replace the gear.

Excellent information. The "half load arm" is my problem as well. It siezed and resulted in the "reverse cam gear" getting chewed up. They say that parts will come with instruction as to how to replace the arm, but your expertise may come in handy. Here's the parts (bottom): http://www.iglou.com/studiosound/tunsony.htm

[freak_in_cage_10k]

[quote="fmctm1sw"]

when i was 15 i found a VCR in a skip. i took it home and fired it up and it worked fine for about a day, but it kept on jamming and messing up. anyway, i prodded it around with a screw driver and it did about 2 years with the top off. it would accasionally jam but needed nothing more than a friendly kick and a couple of violent stabs with a screw driver and it was happy for a day or so.

First, what is a "skip?" I just trashed a VCR (an old top loader) that I had to sit a brick on top of to keep the tray down. It worked but the kids kept destroying tapes by trying to take them out.

a skip is a REALLY big bin, same size as a car, which you fill with rubbish when you are moving house/redoing up the kitchen etc. in uk they are usually yellow!

[Roundabout]

fmctm1sw,

I hope you didn't order the half-load arm, you don't need to replace it. Just use some light machine oil and put it on the shaft where it pivots and work it back and forth until it frees up. It's exactly the same problem I have regularly on my 575. I was lucky, the gear was never damaged because the arm never froze up completely, it just moved slowly due to the oil getting goopy. I used some light oil I got from Sony (it was free ) but you could use something like 3-in-1 oil on it, just make sure you don't get any onto the part of the arm that loads the tape. Then just use your fingers and work it back and forth as many times as necessary to make it move freely. If you have to, use a hairdryer on high and point it at the shaft to warm it up a little, this will thin the oil out and get it going. No reason to replace the arm, it's made of metal and doesn't wear out. Then you just need to be sure that you lube it about once a year or so to make sure it doesn't freeze up again. If you let the unit sit for a long period of time without using it, take it apart first and make sure the arm moves freely before putting a tape into it, or you might say goodbye to that tape...

The 575 is an excellent unit otherwise, I've had mine since they were new (my memory is weak, but I think it was around '86 or '87). I like the adjustable recording level control, so you can boost weak audio signals, something that lacks on most all newer units (and the nice level meters). Also, I like that it has a line out separate from the monitor out, so the on-screen menus don't appear on the line output. That allows you to check how much tape is left, etc. without messing up your recordings - by hooking the line out to your go-to source. I think I still have my owner's manual for this unit somewhere, come to think of it, I probably have the service manual somewhere too. I'm just not sure where right now because I moved a little while back and a lot of things are still packed up out in the garage in boxes. If you need it sometime, I will try to find it and can scan it into a PDF file and send it to you.

This is a very nice VCR, I wish they still made ones like this, but competition forced them to make them cheaper and cheaper over the years, so I never bought a new one, even though as an employee, I could get them for about half price. I just held onto this one, it does everything new ones do, but with better quality. The only thing I wish I'd done is buy a SLV-R5 (S-VHS) when I had the chance...too late now.

Anyway, let me know if you have some more questions and I'll try to answer whatever I can. Let me know when you get the part. Hopefully there's no other problem with it other than that...