VHS tape turns very slowly & will stop

[Sir_Loin]

Hi.

I have a VHS tape that is very slow to rewind/fast forward. It will stop because any of the VCRs that rewind/FF the tape think that the tape is stuck. Its very difficult to play continuously without a machine stopping the tape.

Ive opened the tape. There is nothing blocking any mechanism. The tape is clean and free from mould. Its a 3 hour tape.

Is there anything else i could do to make it easier to turn?

THanks

[dellsam34]

Transfer it to another cassette.

[ConsumerDV]

Gooey or sticky tape? I had one like this. It would play, then stop, then the picture would disappear. I had to play another throwaway tape to clean the heads. Needless to say, I threw the sticky tape away.

[Sir_Loin]

Transfer it to another cassette.

Thanks, Ive just tried that and the same thing happens.
It just feels heavier than most tapes.

There is no water damage to it.
There is no sticky residue on any part of the tape.
The tape has no physical damage to it what so ever.

It squeeks when attempting to rewind and it slows right down to a stop and then wont continue.

Im at a loss/

[davexnet]

This happened to me once, it was an old tape and was heavier than newer tapes.
I think either the clutch mechanism in the deck was slipping, and/or
A weakening motor.

[Sir_Loin]

Gooey or sticky tape? I had one like this. It would play, then stop, then the picture would disappear. I had to play another throwaway tape to clean the heads. Needless to say, I threw the sticky tape away.

Neither. There is no goo or any type of substance on the tape.
Its just really slow when rewinding/fast forwarding and may turn 2 revolutions and then stop. Its almost as if there is friction from the weight of the actual tape.

Manually turning the tape with scissors feels strenuous. It is not as free to turn as most tapes are.

I have just swapped out the cassette for another but this has had no effect. So the problem lies with the spools and tape.

[Sir_Loin]

This happened to me once, it was an old tape and was heavier than newer tapes.
I think either the clutch mechanism in the deck was slipping, and/or
A weakening motor.

I thought it could be a vcr and have tried all 6 of the ones i have, but all have the same issue.

Manually turning the tape with scissors demonstrates the resistance the tape is providing.

[davexnet]

This guy says it's due to the shell. I thought when the tape was loaded into the vcr, sitting on the reel tables - that this lifted them up slightly so that the tape spools are not resting on the bottom part of the case. Perhaps I'm wrong.
Take a look
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zabWwy4A96E

[dellsam34]

Also some tape shed cannot be seen or touched, The tape looks clean but as soon as it touches a metal surface it grabs. Try look up baking VHS tapes.

[Sir_Loin]

This guy says it's due to the shell. I thought when the tape was loaded into the vcr, sitting on the reel tables - that this lifted them up slightly so that the tape spools are not resting on the bottom part of the case. Perhaps I'm wrong.
Take a look
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zabWwy4A96E

Thank you Davexnet. I was able to follow along and the video is now playing. 🙌

[rgr]

Hi.

I have a VHS tape that is very slow to rewind/fast forward. It will stop because any of the VCRs that rewind/FF the tape think that the tape is stuck. Its very difficult to play continuously without a machine stopping the tape.

Ive opened the tape. There is nothing blocking any mechanism. The tape is clean and free from mould. Its a 3 hour tape.

Is there anything else i could do to make it easier to turn?

THanks

I had the same problem.
Moving the tape to a different enclosure helped. Apparently the plastic deformed after years. Of course, it could easily scroll with the knife but not in VCR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k7tOVwhqgE&ab_channel=12voltvids