Mitsubishi U-70 VHS player playback problem

[frubsen]

Hi all,

Got my hands on a Mitsubishi U-70 VHS deck. Its branded as an Electrohome AVR G95 cause I'm in Canada, but its really a Mitsubishi.

My problem is when playing back tapes, I'm getting a lot of noise in the picture. I've uploaded a sample recording here...http://www.sendspace.com/file/jrtwxd

This is a retail VHS tape and I know its good, cause it plays fine in my other decks.

Is this a head alignment problem, a video output problem, or what?

Thanks

[johns0]

Looks like the video heads are getting worn out,only way to fix that is to replace the heads,not worth it.

[frubsen]

do you think cleaning them would fix it up, or do you think they are just shot?

I guess I've got nothing to lose by cleaing the heads

[johns0]

You can try cleaning them but it probably won't help.

[orsetto]

Just be careful when attempting to clean the heads: the person before you may have caused this very head damage trying to do the same thing. Chamois swab, across the head in the direction the tape moves over it. Up and down scrubbing is the cause of most head damage.

Note it may not even be the heads: old Mitsubishi SVHS models had a couple design flaws that also can cause this "dropout" effect." Cold solder joints can break down on some of the video boards, also a thin film of shielding on some boards can separate over time due to aged adhesives. Either or both defects will cause these dropout storms. Repair is tedious and expensive unless you're a gifted DIY tech. Oddly, this board-related "dropout" issue never occurs with the non-SVHS versions of these Mitsubishis.