In article , Bugbear wrote:
Two nights ago my VCR refused to play a tape;
the tape was already in, and had been recorded
on timer. The display showed 80 minutes
of recording.
[...]
The local TV shop has quoted a MINIMUM repair fee of 100 quid,
and VCR's aren't really available on the market right now.

Richer Sounds are selling a 6 head Nicam stereo VHS for £59.95, and
there are probably a few others if you do an online search.

In a bid to save money, and defer the inevitable
(eventual) purchase of a HDD/DVD or PVR box,
I would like to try to get my VCR going again.

Don't waste your time. I had a 10 year old VHS that went crunch in a
similar manner, a small plastic component having snapped. I've tried
repairing plastic cogs before, and it never works. Glue doesn't stick,
there isn't room to bolt or splint anything, and it's extremely
unlikely you'll be able to buy a replacement part. You can buy a brand
new machine for less than the cost of repairing the old one (if it's
even possible to repair it at all).

My only need for a VHS now is to make the occasional transfer to disk,
so I just got the cheapest one I could find that could do stereo
playback, but if you have no archive material on tape, your decision is
even easier. Disk recorders are a bit more expensive, but you'd be
buying one someday soon anyway.

Rod.