Samsung MiniDV Tape Compartment Won't Move

[Pendell]

My friend was collecting footage for a short documentary he's putting together and pulled out his old Samsung SCD107 camcorder to watch some old tapes. He tells me that he opened the tape compartment, took out the tape he was watching, and accidentally unplugged it before closing the tape compartment. He closed the tray, but the compartment didn't pull back into the camcorder. The battery doesn't hold a charge from what I've seen, so I assumed it was as simple as giving the camcorder power so that the motor could close the compartment. But when I plugged in the AC adapter, the tray simply popped back up. I pushed it back down, and the compartment didn't move. I lowered the lid and lifted it back up, which triggered the tray to snap open again. I repeated the process several times. Nothing. I decided to take out the battery, CMOS battery, and AC power and left it discharging for about an hour. When I plugged it back in, I got the exact same thing. I put a blank tape in, hoping that might help, but it behaved the same way, didn't even try to unspool the tape, and the camera kept complaining about the lack of a tape. The display and menus all work fine, and the camera seems to be in perfect working order otherwise.

I would like some help here. It seems like there's some simple answer I'm missing. Cutting off power couldn't kill a MiniDV compartment, right?

Here is a 15mb video of the phenomenon.

[JVRaines]

The holder does not appear to be closing all the way on the right side. Is something hanging it up?

[Pendell]

The holder does not appear to be closing all the way on the right side. Is something hanging it up?

No, that's just from the angle I'm holding my camera at and the way the compartment protrudes out a little on the right-end side. There's nothing hanging it up and it all clicks down nicely.

[JVRaines]

My guess is that either (1) a sensor has coincidentally stopped working or (2) a part was deformed, misaligned, or mistimed by closing the holder with the power off. You'd really have to take it apart to figure that out.

[Pendell]

My guess is that either (1) a sensor has coincidentally stopped working or (2) a part was deformed, misaligned, or mistimed by closing the holder with the power off. You'd really have to take it apart to figure that out.

This is the only unit he owns. I looked online and I found this same camcorder for about $100 bundled with all the original equipment and some tapes, and also a for-parts unit with a working tape tray for only $23.

Would it be gamble to take it apart and look at the internals? As in, could I ever get it back together again? And if I do, would it be a good idea to buy a parts unit? Or should I just recommend he buy a new unit?

[JVRaines]

It really depends on how mechanical you are. You'd want the service manual for sure, which you can download from Samsung for $12. Camcorders have very tiny, fiddly parts so this is a job for someone who likes working with things like watches. Maybe you could ask around and see if a friend (of a friend) has a DV camcorder or player stashed in a closet?