DIYbanter - View Single Post - VCR image only when fast-forwarding (tried cleaning heads)

wrote in
oups.com:

wrote:
tim:
Either the heads are still dirty or clogged..... or the heads are
damaged or broken. An improper or haphazard cleaning can easily
damage the fragile head chips.
A quick examination by a service shop tech can give you the
answer.... many times a small shop can give you a fairly
inexpensive diagnosis for the price of a cleaning or less....
and if it just needs to be cleaned, it will be done properly and
safely by a shop tech.... and of course, expect to be charged for
a cleaning.... and then your VCR will work properly.
electricitym
.
.
.

I'm not taking this thing to a repair shop. It was junk right out
of the box, and the person who bought it didn't keep the box or
receipt. I suggested taking it back a week after it was purchased
(again it's an ESA). It would constantly not fully rewind tapes,
you would have to stop and then hit rewind again a couple times on
most tapes. The time it takes to spit out a tape is extremely
annoying, who know what the *** it's doing before it just ejects
the stupid tape. About 4 months later is quit recording -
everything came out as just noise, like you are tuned to a
non-existant channel - and we had recorded with it infrequently.
Now it has quit playing our daughters cartoon tapes, which is its
main use. (It's only a few months old.) I'd just throw the thing
away right now, except the TV gets broadcast channels better when
the antenna goes through the VCR - the ONLY thing that still
works. I'm looking for a replacement. If I can't easily fix it,
it's going in the trash.

Sounds like you've got it figured out :-)

I would bet money (a dollar or two only) that the heads or their
associated wire leads or amplifiers have died. As one poster pointed
out, there are separate heads for different speeds, which would
explain why FF & REW still show a picture.

Looks like it's time to find a new one and hope it's better made.

Gino

--
Gene E. Bloch (Gino)
letters617blochg3251
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