"M.Joshi" wrote in message
...
Hello Ian,

I did wonder if it was the tape sensor post - I have had to change the
lamps in the past on another unit.

However, I thought that was just to sense tape end? They appear to be the
IR type. The tape isn't being lowered into the mechanism so I guess it
probably is a snapped belt?


"M.Joshi" wrote in message
...

I dusted off a Panasonic NV-SD260B VHS recorder yeterday to archive
some old tapes. It worked for a while, but no longer loads any tapes?
No matter how far I push the tape in, it won't load it into the
mechanism.

I have taken the cover of the unit off but can't see anything
obvious?

The old favourite was the sensor bulb blown - its a thin vertical post
in the middle of the deck that pokes up a hole in the bottom of the
cassette.

Later models used an IR LED - AFAIK: these never caused problems, so
might be a belt job as others have suggested.





Do you hear a motor run when you try to insert the tape? If not - possibly
the loading motor is open-circuit (or even shorted).

Locate the motor and try rotating it by hand at the moent it should run.
Does it take off and start to work?

Pretty common for PM motors which have not been used in a long time.


Mark Z.