VHS playback glitch

[Bronx Bomber 15]

Hi guys,
A quick question on VHS playback: I recently started using a Panny PV-9661 VCR for converting my old VHS tapes to DVD. When I play the tapes there are many small white lines, like little bullets almost, firing through the picture at a rapid rate. What's funny is that the picture is clear, and the color is good, but these little lines are annoying. It happens on commercial tapes as well. I have tried using a wet and dry head cleaning tape, and adjusting the tracking but nothing helps. The unit has had hardly any use. I was curious what might be the cause of this and how to fix it. Thanks.

[grannyGeek]

Cleaning tapes aren't always 100% effective, I think, and some users warn not to use them because they can damage your player.
I use a tiny piece of chamois (yup, the kind for buffing your car) and isopropyl alcohol.

a couple of threads that discuss cleaning by hand :

Cleaning heads? How to?
Best way to clean VCR heads

hope this helps

[Barnabas]

Could also be worn heads.

[PuzZLeR]

Aged video maybe? Try the tapes on another VCR at a friend's house to see if it's your tapes or VCR. Keep in mind, VHS tapes tend to deteriorate after a few years. You may have stored all of them in the same place for years and they all had the same effect under equal conditions. Lord knows it's happened to some of my stuff. At any rate, if you go ahead and capture the stuff as is, look into software or filters that conduct video restoration. Anybody in this forum know of any such tools that they can recommend?

[dadrab]

Cleaning the VCR isn't rocket science, but it requires some care.

You can use Qtips on most of the tape path, but not the record/play heads. Use a piece of plain white paper wet with alchohol or, as mentioned before, a coffee filter.

See this guide: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/165.

[Bronx Bomber 15]

Thank you for the replies. I had tried these tapes in my other Panny as well as my Toshiba and they play OK (no lines like the other unit). I did find a few tapes that played ok, but I am going to clean the unit tonight, I'll see where I stand afterwards.

[Bronx Bomber 15]

OK, I did a good cleaning and still have the same problem. It must just be the way this unit is reading certain tapes. The good news is that I cleaned up other Panny and my ancient two head RCA unit and they both are working great now, so I'll use those.
Thanks again for the help.

[Barnabas]

Sounds like worn out heads. Heads do wear out.

[PuzZLeR]

If it's your VCR that may be causing the problem, and you are really serious about converting these tapes, then I suggest investing in a new VCR for this purpose. They are really not expensive at all today, even the good models. You can even take advantage of a return policy in case it's not working for you again.

Although I can't stand VHS today (always hated it), I still bought a VCR about a year ago just to start getting rid of my 300 or so VHS tapes and it was a good investment. I wanted to make sure I got the best playback for conversion. When I'm done (hopefully this year) my VCR may be useless, but it was worth the investment nevertheless.

Good luck.