All tapes are suddenly playing at double speed

[Mitko]

Hello,
I've got a Sony SLV-X1 that I power on once every few years and as far as I remember, the only issue it ever had was around 10 years ago when a tape got stuck inside and wouldn't eject which turned out to be some rubber band that had to be replaced and ever since then it was working just fine. The last time I used it was around 3 years ago where I was able to rip a few tapes without any issues.

I now need to use it again but for some reason every single tape I insert doesn't play normally but at like double speed. I tried pausing a bunch of times, fast forwarding, rewinding, etc never gets normal.

I've uploaded a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsXb6RkAuME

Problem is I'm having difficulties finding a technician this time that knows what it is and how to fix it. Anyone here that may have experienced this, is it some kind of mechanical issue again or this time it's something with the board and I may as well just dump it and look for a new VCR?

[timtape]

That's faster than double speed, more like x8 speed. A possible cause is a pinch roller not engaging properly with the tape and capstan in play mode. Unfortunately over time VCR's can slowly develop a fault just sitting safely and unused in a cupboard.

[dellsam34]

Either a pinch roller is not pressing against the capstan shaft or a faulty capstan motor servo, It is just a regular VHS VCR, get another working one or better yet get a S-VHS VCR to get better quality over S-Video for your regular VHS tapes, The ones with TBC/DNR are a little bit more expensive than the non-TBC S-VHS VCRs.