writes:
When fast forwarding, the picture is crystal clear (except for the
normal static bar). When I switch from fast-forward to play, the
picture goes to 3/4 static (where I can still make out the picture,
which is no longer fast-forwarding), for a half-second (or less),
before going to full static, then just blue.
The problem you described certainly sounds like dirty heads, and guck
that gets into heads can sometimes be difficult to remove, so it's not
all that unusual that your first attempt at cleaning didn't do the job.
A note on head cleaning: Did I do it right? I must have spent an
hour on Google trying to find a picture of VCR heads IN a VCR,
before giving up.
Try http://images.google.com and search for vcr heads.
So I just opened it up and guessed. There's a cylinder that has
horizontal lines on the top half, with none at the bottom. At two
points 180 deg. apart, in the middle of the cylinder, there are
small openings. I assume those are the video heads.
Yes, that's where the heads are. As you guessed, many 4-head VCRs
have two openings with two heads each.
I moved the cleaning stick back and forth horizontally over these
two areas, as I had read about (no pictures...).
I've personally found the "dry paper" method very effective for
removing really stubborn dirt. In the usual version, one presses a
dry strip of plain white (copier or laser printer) paper against the
drum and applies moderate-to-strong pressure while turning the drum by
hand back and forth to bring the heads across the paper horizontally.
In the "I don't care if I break this crappy VCR" variation that I use,
I press the strip of paper against the drum while the tape is playing
and the drum is spinning normally. In using this version, one must
pay attention to which way the drum is spinning (because catching the
edge of the paper with a head would be bad) and to the pointy bits on
top of the drum (which are flying around at 1800 RPM ready to shred an
unwary knuckle).
A note on head cleaning: Did I do it right? I must have spent an
hour on Google trying to find a picture of VCR heads IN a VCR,
before giving up.
Try:
http://images.google.com/
and search for "vcr heads". Also, see the VCR FAQ he
http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/vcrfaq.htm
which has a whole chapter devoted to video heads including a
description of the dry paper method.
--
Kevin