Betamax plays back blank/black dropouts in picture on parts. Is it faulty?

[Neil-Betamax]

When I play back a tape at times, the screen goes black / blank.

If I pause, Fast Forward or Rewind at the same part of the tape, I can see the image which plays back blank on playback. I have PCM switched off and I've tested direct into a TV from composite output and through the DVD recorder.

I compared the same tape with a recording I captured using a sanyo Betacord. There wasn't any drop outs / blank parts at those moments in the tape on that machine.

I'm wondering if I should contact the seller and suggest it may need a service to correct the issue?

It's a well serviced Sony SL-F1UB+TT-F1UB Betamax, everything seems fine and the picture quality is great, other than the dropouts.

I was about to start editting my latest captures by filling in the blank parts from the Sanyo capture.
I realised how long this would take and that potentially, I could have a faulty Betamax. I'm just hoping it isn't anything too problematic.

I had a good search for a topic about this but suprisingly couldn't see any results.
Any thoughts would be great, thanks.

[dellsam34]

Before you contact the seller make sure you have firm connections, cable is good quality not chinese cheap ones that use thin wires and break internally.

Do the breaks happen at the exact same scenes or random? Other reasons could be the composite output socket on the VCR has broken soldier points, To rule this out try RF output of the VCR to RF input on the TV, if the problem persists this means the VCR has an internal problem.

[Neil-Betamax]

Before you contact the seller make sure you have firm connections, cable is good quality not chinese cheap ones that use thin wires and break internally.

Do the breaks happen at the exact same scenes or random? Other reasons could be the composite output socket on the VCR has broken soldier points, To rule this out try RF output of the VCR to RF input on the TV, if the problem persists this means the VCR has an internal problem.

Thanks for the help, that clears up a lot.
It took a while to establish as I initially thought it was a problem related to my capturing process.

The breaks happen at the exact same scenes, it isn't random. As I only have limited knowledge, I'd were wondering its normal for this to happen as the tapes in question are pretty worn and old. I was wondering if its something which often happens with this model of Betamax when a tape is particularly worn in places, but if its something which could be corrected I think I'll ask the seller nicely if he could take a look at it.

The Sanyo Betacord didn't have drop outs at all in these places. There's one particular tape which the Sanyo Betacord played through with no drop outs, but the picture was almost completely unwatchable on that machine - tons of image distortion, but it never cut out to a black screen.
The same tape in this Sony F1 Betamax played back with a perfect picture, I was amazed, but there were many parts where the image cut out and went black.

On a different tape, the image quality played back ok on the Sanyo, but on the Sony F1 there's a lot of black outs. The image comes back when you press pause or rewind etc.

Most of the time it doesn't do this on playback, some tapes play right through with no issues, only perhaps for a few seconds between recordings.

The seller is a very sound guy, he said if I had any issues he could have a look at it. It's had a lot of service too, new capacitors in the capstan servo unit & power supply, cleaned tape path and tracking aligned, new hall effect sensor on drum motor, inputs & outputs tested etc etc.

I connected my CRT today by RF to further eliminate any other possibilities, it still cuts out at the same places.

I contacted him about it briefly a week or so ago and he said:

"if the video can't pick up the audio control track at the bottom of the tape, the picture will mute the screen will go black. Its the same when you come to an end of a recoding the screen will mute a d go black same if a short recoding then stops, the screen will go black. check the bottom of the tapes that's not working to good to see if any lines on wrinkles on tape will cause the screen to go black."

I was wondering if I'm to expect this result from worn tapes using a Sony F1, & perhaps it's just the nature of the Sanyo Betacord which happens to allow those parts to play through without blackouts.

From what you say though, do you think its pretty safe to say it could do with a bit of service?

[dellsam34]

It sounds like this is a combination of worn tapes and a slightly out of alignment VCR, Yes you could have it re-aligned by a qualified person, the problem is, since there is no official alignment tapes left, You are going to use a prerecorded tape and are going to get it as good as that particular tape, Future problems cannot be avoided.

[johns0]

Check the tape guides to see if they are loose.

[Neil-Betamax]

It sounds like this is a combination of worn tapes and a slightly out of alignment VCR, Yes you could have it re-aligned by a qualified person, the problem is, since there is no official alignment tapes left, You are going to use a prerecorded tape and are going to get it as good as that particular tape, Future problems cannot be avoided.

Yes, what you say there makes a lot of sense. It appears to be brilliant for tapes which aren't as worn, so I'm going to capture them all before I look into asking the seller if he could have a go re-aligning it.

I read briefly somewhere (I can't remember where now, it was late night reading), that if you continue to play over the same part it can affect the tape in a way which eventually can bring the image back slightly. I've played back some of the parts affected and noticed the image remained displayed for a couple of seconds longer. But I'll leave that idea as a last resort as I wouldn't want to risk making the heads dirty.

Thanks for the tip Johns0, I'll have a look closer at the tapes to check. These are very old tapes, it's cleared up a lot for me after talking it through.
I guess with the tapes being the condition they are, the two machines have had different responses to how they play back. The Betacord didn't cut out at all, but the image quality was bad, whilst my current Sony F1 Betamax plays perfect, but cuts out at the most problematic points on the tape.

It was so confusing when I first saw it happen whilst capturing through media express, I thought it was to do with my capturing process, but after testing I recall it happening years ago on ocassions when I was using the betamax a lot. Still, these are amazing machines.