Urgent! 31 Year Old VHS Tape Help Needed!

[JVRaines]

If you're still faced with this problem, Dianne, try cleaning the heads on your VCR. Use a cleaning cassette if you have one. Or play a newer cassette for a while until the picture comes back. Don't try to clean the heads with your old tape, because that's what clogged them up in the first place!

[crusoe89]

If you're still faced with this problem, Dianne, try cleaning the heads on your VCR. Use a cleaning cassette if you have one. Or play a newer cassette for a while until the picture comes back. Don't try to clean the heads with your old tape, because that's what clogged them up in the first place!

Hi,

Thanks so much for your reply. I should have returned to this thread to mention that I did indeed manage to solve this issue. I played a much newer tape in the machine and FFW/RW it a few times, all the while noticing that the image was improving. I then put in the original tape I was having trouble with and did the same thing. I carefully FFW to almost the end of the tape and RW it all the way back. The picture finally became clear again and I was able to make a DVD recording as I had originally intended to do. Now my precious memories are preserved!

So even though I already managed to fix this issue, your advice was perfect and I recommend it to anyone with the same problem. I really do think you're right in your suggestion that the original tape is what probably clogged the tape heads in the first place.

Thank you very much for replying and I hope your solution and all the other advice on this thread will be useful to others with the same issue.

Kind Regards,

Dianne.