What should I do to a Vintage VCR to make sure it will work?

[vcruser]

A friend of mine is going to be giving me an old VCR sometime sometime this week. She says it is a top loading, double decker VCR, and she thinks it still works. When I get it, what should I check for? I don't want any of my tapes destroyed...

[hech54]

Try an old tape first?

[vcruser]

If it does not work, what should I be looking at if I want to try to fix it?

[TreeTops]

Come on here. Try it first then ask that question. Several things could go wrong and we need to know the symptoms before answering your questions.

[vcruser]

What I want to know is the things that could most likely go wrong with these old VCRs.

[smrpix]

Give it a good blowing out with compressed air. Make sure all the belts are tight and clean. Look for gunk on the tape path and clean it off. Put in a tape and pray.

[jman98]

Give it a good blowing out with compressed air. Make sure all the belts are tight and clean. Look for gunk on the tape path and clean it off. Put in a tape and pray.

It won't work at all.
It will start to play a tape and then destroy it (ie. unspool it, tear it, etc.).
It will play tapes but it will damage them, possibly permanently, by depositing particles on them.

Some very simple cleaning may be possible on a do it yourself basis, but I have to think that if you have to ask, you probably won't be able to do complicated repairs yourself.

Note: I mean to quote post #5 and missed that I quoted post #6 until after I posted this. Sorry.

[vcruser]

Well then I hope the VCR does not get hungry!

[vcruser]

I do have some experience with modern VCRs but I have never seen a top loading VCR. The oldest VCR I had was a Symphonic 6450 from 1991. I got it to work for a bit, then it just self destructed and stripped the gears.

[hudsonf]

I do have some experience with modern VCRs but I have never seen a top loading VCR. The oldest VCR I had was a Symphonic 6450 from 1991. I got it to work for a bit, then it just self destructed and stripped the gears.

My old top loaders were Betamax's

[johns0]

Top loaders uses rubber drives that go gummy and wear so it's best to see if it will ff/rw first before you put it in play.If its just shiny you can clean it with isopropyl alcohol to get a good rubber surface.If it's really bad then it has to be replaced,the other parts that wear are the belts which stretch and fall off.

[loster]

Try this link. Toploaders stopped being made sometime in the early 1980s.
www.repairfaq.org/sam/vcrfaq.htm
Just as others have said make sure mechanical components are clean. Most common failures would be belts and other rubber components.

[orsetto]

I'm curious why you would even bother with such an ancient VCR? Other than nostalgia kicks, the only conceivable advantage of an old top loader might be better tracking of LP mode (4-hour) tapes. Even then, it would only apply if the recorder was so old it had the dedicated LP heads (with no SLP mode). Those old clunkers are built like tanks but not as reliable as they appear. You'd almost certainly have better luck playing old tapes in a newer model: the transport mechanics improved greatly over the years on most (but of course not all) VCRs. You can pick up a minty late-1990s Panasonic, Sharp, Mitsubishi or JVC for less than $20 (often they're free for the asking).

If you just want to have fun trying to repair it, thats a different story. There are many sources of repair info for the really old models floating around. Just be aware that parts like idlers and belts are often only available from vendors with minimum order or shipping policies: you can easily drop $20 on a couple of belts unless you find a DIY-friendly parts dealer. Many of the final top loaders (those with soft touch transport buttons instead of piano keys, like Panasonic PV-1275) developed problems with their power supplies. That is a more involved repair task: rebuilding a PSU can be difficult.

[vcruser]

I am messing with it because those top loading VCRs are so cool.

[vcruser]

And it won't be this week... though it should be next week that I get it. Remember, we are talking about a dual vhs top loading system. Those must be quite rare.

[WrapArizona]

Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPVPUun3SvU

[orsetto]

I've never seen or heard of a dual-deck VCR that was top loading: AFAIK the dual-deck models were not offered until front loading became the standard. If your friend is describing her deck accurately, it must be pretty rare: when you get it please take a photo and post a link to it here, so we can all have look. An old top loading dual-decker would be a huge hunk of machinery: even if you can't fix it, it would be a very cool display piece (if you have the room and your significant other agrees).

[jagabo]

It's probably "dual speed".

[vcruser]

I will post a picture of it when I get it. I hope its soon though, because I hate waiting. She said that it was once her uncle's VCR, and he used it for dubbing tapes. If its as big as I think it is I may need a bigger table...

[johns0]

A double deck is a separate tuner and play/record meant for portability,they were fairly common back in the day,my dad had a few of them.They also could hook up to each other and be used as a regular vcr.

[vcruser]

When I got the Symphonic 6450, it would not even turn on. If I pressed the power button, it would buzz for a few seconds and turn off. I took the bottom off of it and turned the gears a bit, and I noticed that the belts were super loose, especially the one for the pancake motor. I also noticed that the pinch roller was cracked. When I plugged it back in, to my surprise, it powered on! I tried putting a tape in, and it just shut off right away (resetting the time while it was at it). I pressed eject and it came out. I put the tape back in again, and it tried to load, but it bogged down and shut off. I had to turn the gears to get my tape back. I tried one more time, and it actually started playing, and it ejected without a problem. But, the "turn off, bog down, and work" cycle started over again. Then, when I was trying to get my tape back, a piece broke off from the loading rack and the whole thing jammed and never worked again.

[vcruser]

She said it was one large unit, not a portable VCR.

[orsetto]

A double deck is a separate tuner and play/record meant for portability,they were fairly common back in the day,my dad had a few of them.They also could hook up to each other and be used as a regular vcr.

I worked in a store that sold these in the early '80s. At the time they were called "convertibles", with the most noted model being the dockable RCA VJP900. These RCAs proved so popular that all other VHS brands rushed to copy the idea, albeit with chintzier two-piece VCR/Tuner designs that did not dock together. Sony even had their very cool SL2000/TT2000 BetaMax knockoff.

The unique-to-RCA docking models essentially became a one-piece unit with the VCR in place, which I guess some people might then refer to as a "dual purpose" deck. We'll have to wait and see what vcruser tells us when he gets it.

[vcruser]

I can't wait to see it.

[johns0]

She said it was one large unit, not a portable VCR.

It is a large unit which is portable,it just comes in two pieces.

[vcruser]

No. She said it is one piece.

[johns0]

If it's a true double decker vcr then it's very rare,the only type that are top loaders that i've seen are more of super nintendo type of insert,post a pic when you get it.

[vcruser]

Super nintendo type of insert? Do you have a picture to clarify?

[johns0]

Something like this.


Its actually on its back so it's a front loader.

[vcruser]

Ah Amstrad. Those things lasted a week at most then self destructed. She said that it was a normal top loader though