advice about vcr repair.

[nick101181]

I have a jvc vcr that was given to me and it looks like a damn nice one. has dubbing and db control for the left and right audio and vcr + and something about sync something as well. The problem is this vcr needs repair. whenever you turn the unit on the left wheel that holds the tape(left if your facing the front of the vcr) spins and spins then the vcr shuts itself off. Also whenever you fast forward or rewind after a few seconds it powers off as well. Also it doesn't eject. I noticed that the motor with the pulley works fine but to eject the disc I had to manually turn the gear on the side of the tape housing. Any ideas on what needs to be fixed to have this vcr working again. Also if I can't fix it what parts should I take out of it before I junk it? Can I use the tuner for anything? thanks

[redwudz]

Mechanically, most VCRs have a couple of belts and a couple of idler pulleys. Odds are, unless you have worked on one before, it may be a lost cause. Don't mean to disillusion you, but there are are lot of mechanical parts in there and a lot of adjustments.

You can pull the cover off and clean the grunge off the idlers and check the belts (If it uses them) and maybe spot something amiss. Too often, the mechanism has been tweaked by someone ramming a tape in there.

But, give it a shot. You may find something visually that you may be able to fix. You can generally find replacement parts on the internet. The service shops charge upwards of $50US/hr for repair. Sears repairs some machines.

Put the model number into a Google search for VCR repair and see what you can find.

[handyguy]

Sounds like belts. They are $8 at vcr shops or 50 cents from Studio Sound Service on the web, which is where I bought stuff years ago.

You didn't give the model or make of your vcr, so everything is a guess.

[nick101181]

It's a JVC ultra spec vcr and the model number is HR-VP628C. If that helps any I dunno. Later I'll post pics and show details on what's it's doing. thanks

[northcat_8]

Sounds like a belt problem, follow already given advice

[handyguy]

Big Belt is usually on the bottom, so you take off the bottom of the vcr to find it. Its pretty easy.

[samijubal]

If the left reel is turning it's not the bottom belt. It sounds like it doesn't think the tape guides are back where they should be, that's probably why the left reel is turning. Pictures would help.

[nick101181]

Here is a pic with the Tape housing off and I drew lines to the stuff I noticed when powering on. These thing run when powering on until it powers itself off after about 25 seconds. I also just noticed a little lever/sliding bar/ thinga-majigge is cracked right in half. If someone tells me the proper name I'll find another one, unless i can steal another one from another vcr. here is two pics the first is one without my explanation drawn on it so you can view the parts. the second one is what I concluded while powering it on with the top off.

Pic 1 :



Pic2:

[nick101181]

There's the pics. What do you guys recommend I do to this vcr? I've been reading reviews and it sounds better than the 1996 sanyo vcr i got now. A couple of years ago I bought an expensive sony 19 micronhead auto cleaning stereo vhs and I still noticed that the sanyo I got recorded better quality than the sony. The sony was full of white specs, but when taping the same channel on the sanyo the video was clear. If this vcr can be fixed I'm thinking it would be a damn nice one to use for dubbing or as a replacement. I don't have the remote but I got a universal one with a menu button on it.

[samijubal]

See if you can turn the pulley on the right side till the tape guides come back from around the drum. The cracked arm should come back too and the pinch roller should raise.

[nick101181]

the pinch roller does not raise. It does move but doesn't raise. And that little arm moves a little bit . When I pull the pulley on the side i can make the white slide piece go all the way to the right but not all the way to the left. what is that piece that's cracked, called? Could I either superglue it back together or swap it for another one from another vcr?

[samijubal]

You could try glue. It's a sort of high stress part, I don't think it will hold. You can get one from another VCR if you can find one, it will have to be the same manufacterer and the same mechanical assembly. I have one of those, I could give you the part number if you want it. Look at the tension arm on the left side, it should move so that the guides can come back. There are a couple of small plastic pieces that like to break on those and then that arm doesn't move. If it doesn't move then move it back and turn the pulley on the right side and see if the guides and arm will come back then.

[doppletwo]

Just get a video capture card. VCR's are worthless.

That one sound good but digital video files are way easier to work with and better quallity unless you compare the cheapest digital to the most expensive VCR.


That does sound like a really good VCR but Why do you even need a VCR.

VHS Media is too expensive. I pay one USA Dollar for good VHS, but I pay 50 cents for good DVD media.

**** VCR's. unless you know where I can get cheap media. Blank VHS cost more than blank DVD. VHS is rewriteable but loss significant quality on every rewrite. Rewritable DVD cost a little more but writes the same every time until it stops erasing.

I do have a pretty good VCR and I do keep a balnk tape in it in case something crazy happens on TV. but for most purposes Digital is the way to go.

Get out of the 80's

[doppletwo]

You asked about the tuner I have some broke TV's and I know a guy that lost his remote foer his TV. you can use the VCRT as a Tuner, but I find that I like the tuners in TV's but than the ones in VCR's the ones in VCR's are usually slow for flipping channels.

[nick101181]

well I have a hauppauge wintv pvr-250 and a twinhan vp1020a dvb-s card. Just sometimes I need a vcr to tape stuff for people that don't got dvd players. Or sometimes I would want to tape something on cable while taping something from the satellite on the pc. I have a vcr now, but I was just wondering if this was better for vhs to dvd than the one I have now. If I could fix this one for cheap I would. I saw one site that sells all the belts and the pinch roller for 8 bucks.

[deguthrie]

Unless you are really bored, just go buy another one. My time is worth more than the time and effort it will take to figure out if the visible problems are the only ones in the unit. Be Happy. Help the dying VCR industry and buy a new one.

[nick101181]

yeah I might just forget it anyway. thanks to everyone for their help anyway.