This '91 model TV/VCR combo is driving me up the wall. After replacing the
bad belts and idler tire, the unit appears to work nicely - then I notice a
thin line of distortion in the tape playback. It's just above the center of
the screen and runs all the way across - not snow, just distortion (almost
like pixellation). I've ruled out head alignment, dirty heads, backtension,
and tracking problems. At this point I suspect some capacitors are up in
ESR, which isn't good because I don't have an ESR meter. I'm willing to try
replacing a few caps at random, but there are too many to just guess on -
anybody know of any specific caps to try?
This thing is hardly worth repairing when you consider I'll only make
about $30 profit from it, if it will even sell. But at the same time I hate
to junk it because $30 is well, $30. That's how bad business is these days.
So bad I can't even justify buying an ESR meter, because it would literally
take months (if not years) to pay for itself.
Thanks for any advice.