wrote in message
...
Hi,

I repaired many VCRs when I was involved in consumer electronics
repair service.

Once in a great while, I serviced a VCR that wasn't used for some
time,
and when the owner tried to play a tape, the VCR would not "play" or
the VCR turned itself off. Recently this happened to my own old RCA VCR
model
VR500. Note: I have not used this VCR (I have others) for about a year.

I removed the top cover and looked at the video heads cylinder
assembly. When I pushed the "Play" button, it did not spin as the tape
was
"threading". This VCR turned itself off after the tape was "withdrawn".

I put my finger on the top edge of the cylinder and noticed it was
"stuck". I moved the cylinder and now it moved "freely". Afterwards,
I had no trouble playing (or recording) a tape.

If you have a VCR that hasn't been used for some time, with this same
symptom, do what I just did. Note: There are other possible causes for
this
"won't play" problem.

John








The clearance fit of the bearing is as close to having no clearance as you
can get. Probably like engineering guage blocks, you do not store them
touching together, or they will "cold weld" together at an atomic level