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  1. I have been using a toshiba vcr (made around 2002) to watch all my old vhs tapes. It rewinds and fast-forwards very quickly and I have been using it for months watching hundreds of tapes without issue. But a couple of days ago something happened that upset me very much and am very nervous to use it again. I was watching my Logan's Run vhs tape (made around 1987) and watched about 5 minutes and it was playing fine with a couple of snowy patches that were not too bad. So I did a quick fast-forward rewind of the tape (because in my experience, that helps clean off any debris on the tape, and helps it remove those little snowy patches) and re-watching the 5 minute part I just watched before fast-forward rewind there appeared this permanent horizontal glitchy line. I have never had that happen to me before, so I started thinking about what could have caused this. Maybe the vcr needs a good cleaning, but is it also possible that the super fast-forward rewind is a bit too harsh for older delicate tapes (pre-1990) and I should maybe use an older vcr that does not fast-forward and rewind so fast?
    I know it is very possible for a dirty vhs tape to mess up the heads in a working vcr, but could it also be possible that a more modern vcr (post-2000 with very quick fast-forward rewind) will damage older vhs tapes because of the more delicate magnetic tape used in old vhs tapes?
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    Open the tape flap at the glitchy part and see if you can see a crease in the tape or some other obvious damage
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  3. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    It's not heads, don't "clean" them, etc.
    The unit is likely feathering the tape, alignment has drifted, realignment is needed.

    As dave said, open the tape gate, look at the section.
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    you really should have backed up the tape long ago to digital. every time they are played the more wear occurs. retail movies weren't put on the best tape to begin with and over time they all dry out and start shedding. a "dirty" tape is most likely one that's shedding it's recording layer these days. a different vcr probably won't help recover what's already lost.

    you can get the movie on blu-ray for about $6. i like the thought that went into it but the production was sorely lacking even for the time....
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  5. Originally Posted by lordsmurf View Post
    It's not heads, don't "clean" them, etc.
    The unit is likely feathering the tape, alignment has drifted, realignment is needed.

    As dave said, open the tape gate, look at the section.
    I was really worried last night when it first happened, because I took the tape out of the Toshiba vcr and tried it in another good clean working vcr (Sharp) and the horizontal glitchy line was still there, so I assumed it was one of those permanent lines that don't go away...
    Now today, I opened the tape gate like you guys suggested, and saw a lot of moldy looking debris near the reel, so I tried to clean it off the best I could, and tried the tape again in the toshiba vcr, and it was playing perfectly fine (no horizontal line). Big sigh of relief, thanks for the suggestions everyone. (A wild guess of what happened- maybe a piece of the mold from the tape or debris from inside the vcr got onto the tape reel during the fast-forward rewind and caused that horizontal line temporarily and simply playing the tape more made it fall off)
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    Hydrogen peroxide is safe for cleaning mold off tape. Use a respirator because you don't want to breathe those spores.
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  7. 3 hours later - I rewind the tape to fully watch logan's run and the horizontal line is back!! So depressing lol... And lifting the flap I can sort of see a slight crease near the middle similar to the spot where it is on the screen. So maybe my vcr is misaligned or something like he said (or maybe needs a good cleaning). But I still find it very odd, because I just tested a bunch of random other movie tapes I have, and they do not get damaged at all from use in the toshiba vcr when I fast-forward, rewind them etc., so why would just Logan's Run get the horizontal line damage and not the other tapes? (and last year I remember I watched the logan's run vhs completely and it played perfect)

    edit - After testing out a bunch more old vhs tapes, i've come to the conclusion that the toshiba vcr is not damaging the tapes at all, it was just a bad logan's run tape that i got lucky the first time watching. thanks for all the responses everybody.
    Last edited by streetsofrage47; 18th Mar 2019 at 03:39.
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    Damage usually occurs at or near the pinch roller, which comes after the video drum. So your tape was probably damaged while you watched it last year.
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  9. Originally Posted by JVRaines View Post
    Damage usually occurs at or near the pinch roller, which comes after the video drum. So your tape was probably damaged while you watched it last year.
    Oh, that is interesting, and searching "vcr pinch roller" I saw this post- "http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vcr-repair/6518-how-vcr-pinch.html" talking about the importance of having a good clean pinch roller.
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    Clean and in good condition. It's made of rubber and as you know, rubber changes over time. A hardened, shiny, or out-of-round pinch roller can wreck VHS tape, which is awfully thin. The pinch roller squeezes the tape against a metal capstan and that's what actually pulls the tape through the machine.
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    If you are too worried about your tapes get them in a modern format and digitize the ones that never made it to digital, VCR's are not going to last forever they will eventually break due to age even when not used.
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    Mold in a VCR isn't good whatsoever. It will screw up the deck, as well as any other tapes put into it.
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  13. Some urge buying favorite movies in current formats - abandoning the VHS tapes. In my experience, this is not an option as the reformatting cuts not only the original music, but a great deal movie. Even the spectacularly-composed opening setup for The Stepford Wives, for example, that provides such a sound basis for the movie, is utterly deadened in the DVD version. Surely there must be a way to continue production and repair of VCRs.
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    Production, no. Extremely limited market. Buyers will buy and resell as they're doing now once they're done with their project.

    Repair, yes. As long as you're willing to pay the high cost for them. Parts are getting harder and harder to find, but offer enough and someone will get them for you.
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  15. Thank you. I should mention that the VCR part of my VCR/DVD combo began working correctly when I shifted its position so that it was sloping downward ever so slightly. Lucky me. I mean, lucky. I don't see why production of VCRs should end, however, as the demand will only increase, just as it has with LP vinyl records. DVDs are incredibly wasteful. Not everyone is going ot have or want to stream or whatever. Another bit of luck is that one of my dearest movies is playing even though the top edge had feathered. I'll have to be very careful not to rewind the tape fully. (ending transmission)
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    Originally Posted by lingyi View Post
    Repair, yes. As long as you're willing to pay the high cost for them. Parts are getting harder and harder to find, but offer enough and someone will get them for you.
    I've started to run into irreparable JVC decks, and I'm of the understanding that TGrant and deter have run into some irreparable Panasonics.

    People are generally morons with VCRs, and ruin them. Youtube videos by idiots isn't helping. All this "cleaning" of heads, and "cleaning mold" from tapes is killing VCRs. Decks that were originally $1k-2k, and had $500-$1k value now, are instead boat anchors due to irresponsible use.

    My last fubar deck was precisely because it had been used for mold.

    The person said, almost verbatim, "I wiped off the mold with alcohol, and then it seemed fine playing a couple of the moldy tapes, then just stopped working a few hours later. Then I cleaned the heads, and it didn't help." That's because he shredded the heads, and the mold spores seemingly damaged the mainboard of the deck (arcing board contacts is my guess). My unspoken thought was "Congrats, you just pissed away $500. How does it feel?"
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    Difference between turntables and VCRs is that turntable buyers want them for whatever sonic differences analog provide provide over digital. Users tend to buy and keep their equipment. Also, properly cared for records (i.e. cleaned before playing, stored upright in a cool place, etc), plays on a quality turntable with a good stylus can and have last for decades with minimal wear.

    Videotapes offer no advantage over any digital format, DVD, Blu-Ray, streaming, etc. VCR purchases however, as I stated above are overwhelming buy and resell, creating a secondary market of high priced quality machines and low priced (often free), low quality (even when new) machines that can actually cause damage to tapes. Unlike vinyl, even the most pampered tape can be destroyed by just a single play through a malfunctioning machine.

    Even if someone were to begin producing VCRs again, what would the price point be? When they were in mass production, high quality machines cost $1000 -2000+. This wasn't all price padding, it was the cost of design, engineering, production and quality assurance. So paying half that amount for a well maintained machine today is really a fair price.

    As for starting production again, the fact is that all the tooling for the parts required have long since scrapped, starting production of VCRs today would require recreating and retooling of production lines. Costs that have to be factored in and passed onto the buyer. A bit of cost savings can be realized with better integrated circuits, but the mechanical parts of the machines will still cost the same, most likely more with low production than they were when VCR manufacturing began ending. Bottom line, the cost of a new high quality, high end VCR (There's really no sense in making anything else) would likely cost more than the $1000-$2000 cost back then. How big would the market be for that?

    The one possible company that may be able to revive their VCR production line would be Funai who stopped making VCRs (which I believe were part of the VCR/DVD combo units) in 2016. But even if they were able to start up their production line with minimal cost, the fact remains their machines were never high quality.
    Last edited by lingyi; 17th Nov 2019 at 22:16.
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    Originally Posted by lordsmurf View Post
    Originally Posted by lingyi View Post
    Repair, yes. As long as you're willing to pay the high cost for them. Parts are getting harder and harder to find, but offer enough and someone will get them for you.
    I've started to run into irreparable JVC decks, and I'm of the understanding that TGrant and deter have run into some irreparable Panasonics.

    People are generally morons with VCRs, and ruin them. Youtube videos by idiots isn't helping. All this "cleaning" of heads, and "cleaning mold" from tapes is killing VCRs. Decks that were originally $1k-2k, and had $500-$1k value now, are instead boat anchors due to irresponsible use.

    My last fubar deck was precisely because it had been used for mold.

    The person said, almost verbatim, "I wiped off the mold with alcohol, and then it seemed fine playing a couple of the moldy tapes, then just stopped working a few hours later. Then I cleaned the heads, and it didn't help." That's because he shredded the heads, and the mold spores seemingly damaged the mainboard of the deck (arcing board contacts is my guess). My unspoken thought was "Congrats, you just pissed away $500. How does it feel?"
    ++1

    A prime example of what I said about a single play of a tape, and in this case a VCR being destroyed. I owned 20+ Betamax VCRs back in the day and had hundreds of tapes. There was always a slight level of trepidation as I knew that every time I loaded a tape it could be mangled during loading or unloading or shed so badly as to completely clog and ruin the videoheads. I'll admit now that I've mangled a few rental tapes and innocently returned them without saying a word, knowing they could ruin the next renters machine. Not something I'm at all proud of.
    Last edited by lingyi; 17th Nov 2019 at 19:18.
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