Panasonic PV-S4670 Vhs One horizonical line

[Oly500]

Hello

I ran into a problem with my old vhs player.
Panasonic PV-S4670
No matter if i have the RCA or S-Video jacks, I have this one horizontal line only when in play.
when i hit FF or RW and slow motion it goes away.



It's even there when you hit stop and when tape is out, with blue background screen.

I talked to a Vhs repair guy on the phone, he said he might buff the heads and see if that helps, I have to wonder if it's in the heads, that'll cost $20, if that doesn't work, I'd of been better buying a new one....
Having 4 0r 5 Vhs tapes to do and then I'm done, so i hate waist the $ on a new deck and never use it again. I may have borrow one if i can't fix it.

thanks in advance

[orsetto]

From your screen cap, and description of the problem appearing even when no tape is loaded, I'd say it isn't a video head issue. This looks more like an electronic circuit glitch. The power supply may be failing, or a cold solder joint may be cracking on one of the video boards. I have also seen this type of fixed white line in this series of Panasonic models when stress developed on one of the jacks or cables connecting the VCR to the rest of my system. How are you currently connected for viewing? With the line out jacks or RF on channel 3 of your TV? Try switching from one hookup to the other to see if it goes away: if it does, you can start swapping in new cables or trying different jacks (composite instead of S-Video outputs, etc).

The 4670 was probably the last of the really excellent Panasonic consumer-grade SVHS vcrs, top-of-the-line circa 1995. It had better color and luma DNR than the "pro" AG1980! Its also quite rare, few dealers carried it. This is one of the few VCRs I would actually spend serious money trying to fix, because its usually worth it (unless the front loading tray breaks: no parts are available). An electrical short takes time to trace, your local repair guy may not want to bother or may need to charge you $60. If you truly only have a half-dozen tapes left to dub to DVD, the repair may not be worth it to you: you can buy a passable used working SVHS vcr on eBay or Craigs List for $30 these days. Don't discard your 4670: put it up for sale and let someone else repair it if you don't want to. Even if you only make $20, this wonderful VCR should be kept in circulation. Its too uncommon and too high-performance to end up as landfill.

Good Luck!

[Oly500]

The screen shot is from a Vhs to PC/Dvd. so i thought I'd hook it up to the Tv in the other room with different rca jacks, same thing.
I'll talk to the repair guy again and see if he can fix it then.

It's nice know some people value some of these relics yet, it was around $300+ when i bought it, she was a beauty when i got it.
I would like to fix it in case i run into another Vhs transfer, never know when you find a hard to find (out of circulation) rare one.

I'll post back with the outcome.
thanks again