VCR Playback Problem

[Robert the Bruce]

I have a large collection of movies, documentaries, music video's, concerts and TV shows on video tape which I've built up over the years and do not want to lose any of it. I've estimated that to replace everything on VHS with DVD (not including the rare stuff which would have to be transferred manually to DVD) would cost over �3000. So you can see why I don't wish to part with the material on VHS.
Anyhow, I have both the JVC HR-S8700EK VCR and the JVC HR-S7955EK VCR. Both VCR's have been to the repair shop twice each with the same problem. I'm now very reluctant to go a third time.
The problem is this - if I insert a VHS tape which is NOT set at the start of the tape, into the machine then the tape will play fine. However, if I have to rewind the tape to the start or if the tape is already at the start then 9 times out of 10 the tape will cease to play properly after anything from 30 seconds in to approx 1 hour in. The time counter will stop and that's when I know the 'noise' will begin. The tape will not play without fault from this point on so I have to give up or risk damaging the tape even further.
The guy in the repair told me that the tapes are now so old that the machine cannot 'take-up' the tape as well it used to. He 'repaired' the machines but this only lasted a while. Thing is, if I play the tapes on an old Aiwa FX5100 machine then the tapes play OK. But I don't want the Aiwa machine in my living room. So I guess what I'm asking is, can anything be done to repair the JVC once and for all ? Or, is it possible to buy any of these JVC machines anywhere ?

[jagabo]

Whack the flat side of the tapes against your leg to smooth out the reels. Or FF all the way to the end then RW all the way back to the start. The real problem is that the rubber belts or rollers on the take-up reels are hardening and getting slippery.

[Robert the Bruce]

I've tried the FF then RW method time and again. Haven't tried the 'whack' method though. Can anything be done about the hardening/slippery take-up reels ? Also, is there anywhere I can purchase one of these VCR's second hand or 'new.'
Almost forgot, which side is flat ? I would have thought both sides were flat.

[orsetto]

JVC vcrs can be problematic machines as they age, and the fancier the JVC the more impossible it becomes to bring it back to proper spec. Experience with high-end JVC vcrs falls into two distinct camps: those who've never had a moment's problem, and those who've never had a minute's peace with them. I fall into the second group, never having owned a JVC that didn't bite me hard within a few months of purchase, never mind several years later. One of the biggest issues is service once they do start acting up: very few VCR techs truly understand the voodoo necessary to make a malfunctioning JVC work perfectly again. They are bizarrely resistant to standard repairs that on any other VCR involve simply replacing a belt and giving it back to the consumer: with JVC, replacing a belt often also involves tweaking myriad electronic adjustments and every other mechanical system in the chassis. Today, with VCR repair a dead business and no one willing to pay the true cost to recondition persnickety JVC models, most repair people do the bare minimum for a minimum price. You can get away with that on a Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Sharp and several other brands but not the SVHS JVCs.

My advice is to move the Aiwa into your living room and start copying those tapes to a DVD recorder ASAP. The option to "just hold onto a VCR until I die and play the original tapes" is no longer realistic: decent functional VCRs are getting thin on the ground (especially in Europe) and they don't hold up well in long term storage. The tapes themselves also age out, it takes a much longer time than most people think but accelerates dramatically with pre-recordeds, off-brands, and anything done at the slower LP and EP/SLP speeds. Consider shopping eBay for a recent but lesser-known Panasonic industrial VCR like NV-HD640 or NV-HD675: these tend to have strong transports that do not drift, and are rather easier to repair on the off chance they do malfunction (more info in this related thread). A strong but simple tape transport design is essential esp if your tapes are very old, say recorded before 1990: they may have the heavier cassette shell, reels and tape stock common in the '80s. Many newer VCRs, even advanced models, are sensitive to this and their tricked-up but fragile transports do not handle the heavier tapes well at all.

[Robert the Bruce]

Thank you very much for the extensive, informative and speedy reply. Thing is, I have 210 video tapes and 22 pre-recorded tapes. The tapes are either E-180's or E-240's and all tapes are full-up with material I really don't want to lose, and all on LP. So, all tapes are either 6 hours or 8 hours long. So, I can safely assume that the hard-drive on my DVD recorder would not have sufficient capacity to take all of that. Besides, the picture quality of the JVC (even on LP) is exceptional, for a VCR, and so using the Aiwa (to copy any of the tapes onto the DVD recorder) would result in a loss of quality. Even putting the VHS material onto DVD is out of the question until they invent a DVD which can handle up to 8 hours instead of the current paltry 80 minutes. As for the VCR's you mention. I will look into that but I must point out that I doubt any VCR could offer the picture quality of the JVC. I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and use the credit card to replace everything which can be replaced onto DVD.
Oh, and what side is the 'flat' side ?

[Computer Nerd Kev]

I doubt that this will help you in your problem, however just in case it does, I might as well mention that my oldest VCR (late 80's) tends to slowly come to a halt with a distinct whirring sound when at nears about the last 60-30 minutes of a tape.

To get around this I usually rewind while playing video, and after watching the counter slowly tick by for some time as the machine neared the tape's end, this actually seems fast enough.

[Robert the Bruce]

I'm afraid I simply don't know what you mean in the second paragraph. Can you re-word it ?

[orsetto]

If all your tapes are thin extended play, it is even more imperative you at least begin backing up to another medium: if not a DVD recorder then a computer hard drive. The thin tapes are of course more fragile and they are more difficult to track on VCRs that did not originally record them. As years pass you will find it increasingly difficult to obtain good playback on these.

I understand your dilemma re the JVCs having excellent playback (when they actually work), spoiling you for other VCRs. Sadly, they are as unreliable and unrepairable as they are exceptional: if you're hoping you will ever get your HR-S8700EK and HR-S7955EK repaired properly, you are likely to be disappointed. When they drift, and start behaving like yours are doing now, its pretty much a permanent condition. What makes the JVC SVHS models play so nice is the TBC/DNR circuit, an electronic "video enhancer" thats bolted onto what amounts to a junk VCR chassis. That circuit is what you've grown dependent on, not the JVC vcrs per se. If you've already had both VCRs serviced twice with no relief, don't throw any more money into repairs: you need to replace them altogether. What with, is the question. In North America, we had a fairly wide selection of JVC "DVHS" and one Mitsubishi/MGA "DVHS" with the TBC/DNR circuit. "DVHS" vcrs are compatible with VHS and SVHS and will play your old tapes with the quality you are used to.

The difficulty lies in finding such VCRs in Scotland: availability may be nonexistent. The next best choice would be a new JVC svhs similar to what you already have: again in North America JVC kept churning out various newer models until quite recently, and the newer ones were based on the improved DVHS chassis. In the second-hand arena, the Panasonic NV-FS200 is the most respected high-end VCR in your region with performance similar to your current JVCs: it has advanced TBC/DNR and also tends to track thin and LP/EP tapes better than typical VCRs. (Panasonic specialized in the LP speed while JVC actively hated it, if many of your tapes are LP you'd have better luck playing them all the way through on a Panasonic).

You may eventually need to compromise on a more standard VCR without the fancy TBC/DNR circuit: the fancy models are problematic overall in North America and can be total hell in Europe due to unavailability of alternate models and specialist repair technicians. The "ordinary" vcrs cannot mask the dodgy PQ inherent in LP and EP/SLP tapes, but they will typically play them without incident and continue to operate reliably for years at a time. If your Aiwa seems to be wearing out, consider the Panasonic NV-HD640 or similar as a "spare" VCR to be used when nothing else is operational. A bird in the hand is worth two VCRs at the repair shop...

[Robert the Bruce]

Thanks again for the info. It's not that my Aiwa is wearing out, at least it doesn't appear to be. It's just the difference in picture quality. I will definitely check availability of the Panasonic machine's you speak of. Just wish I'd been born 20 or 25 years later, wouldn't have this problem. Then again, I can remember The Beatles (just) and wouldn't want to lose that either.

[Computer Nerd Kev]

I'm afraid I simply don't know what you mean in the second paragraph. Can you re-word it ?

Sorry about that.
It appears I misread your question, I now see that your problem is not in rewinding but in playing afterwards.