Hello everybody !

I've got a Samsung TVP3380 VCR and it shows some snow in playback and
no images. I've come to the conclusion that the video head needs
replacing after checking the output of the video head
amplifier. However, i've got no clue where to get a replacement video
head for this VCR in UK or Europe. There seems to be a reference on
the video head saying DMVDMT04G but google does not know anything
about it.

any help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Thierry.

Does it play a precorded tape?
If its a 4 head try both sp and EP record/playback
Also try recording in this unit and playing back in another.
maybe its lacking controll pulse .( head switching)
Also make sure the record switch B+ is not on, caused by maybe a leaky
transistor.

Thierry:
Unless the heads were broken by improper cleaning or a severely damaged
tape, the video heads usually do not fail all at once. Usually they
gradually produce a less clear picture and tracking becomes critical to
the point that the streaks and lines can not be eliminated.
If it is a 4 head VCR it would be very very unlikely that both the SP
pair of heads would fail at exactly the same time as the SLP/EP pair of
heads. Usually the SP heads go first. So a good test here is to try
pre-recorded known good tapes in both SP and SLP/EP speeds. If both
speeds produce snow then I would say that you need to continue trying
to carefully clean the video heads again, and again. For the proper
and safe instructions you should go to the website for this newsgroup
at
http://www.repairfaq.org/
Plan to spend some search time there.... lots of good information.
electricitym
..
..

In message
Thierry Delaitre wrote:

I've got a Samsung TVP3380 VCR and it shows some snow in playback and
no images. I've come to the conclusion that the video head needs
replacing after checking the output of the video head amplifier.

Complete absence of image is unlikely to be due to head-failure, unless
something wrecked it physically.

However, i've got no clue where to get a replacement video
head for this VCR in UK or Europe. There seems to be a reference on
the video head saying DMVDMT04G but google does not know anything
about it.

I'd start with the websites of grandata, cpc, and/or visionaids, largely
devoted to spares for most brands of TV and VCR.
Their URLs are all of the form www.as above.co.uk

--
Peter Duck