I'm looking for "Yes, there's a straightforward fix" or "No, toss it"
responses. I'm not trying to initiate a long, drawn-out discussion full of
wild speculation.

Tapes load, and are wrapped around the drum. But they don't begin playing. Nor
do wind/rewind work.

The capstan is pressed firmly against the pinch roller, but it doesn't turn.
The idler gear (that engages the hubs for playback tension and wind/rewind)
does appear to work, as the hubs briefly "twitch" when the tape is loaded. The
idler gear connects to the capstan -- turning the capstan rotates the idler
gear.

I don't have a service manual.

Thoughts, anyone? Thanks in advance.

"We already know the answers -- we just haven't asked the right questions."
-- Edwin Land

First a couple of questions:

1) Do the heads spin at all during the loading process?

2) Have you checked the condition of the belts at all?

I would check the capstan belt first. Without this, you won't get any tape movement. I suspect that the tape is not being retracted into the cassette either. This could be a slipping capstan belt or a failed capstan motor.

Dan

First a couple of questions:

1) Do the heads spin at all during the loading process?

Absolutely.


2) Have you checked the condition of the belts at all?

Yes, those I can get to.


I would check the capstan belt first. Without this, you won't get any
tape movement.

Turning the capstan by hand turns the idler gear and (I think) the opposite is
true. This is a very late machine, and difficult to fully disassemble.


I suspect the tape is not being retracted into the cassette, either.

Well, when I press Eject, the tape is pulled back and the cassette ejected. Is
that what you mean?

William Sommerwerck wrote:
I'm looking for "Yes, there's a straightforward fix" or "No, toss it"
responses. I'm not trying to initiate a long, drawn-out discussion
full of wild speculation.

Tapes load, and are wrapped around the drum. But they don't begin
playing. Nor do wind/rewind work.

The capstan is pressed firmly against the pinch roller, but it
doesn't turn. The idler gear (that engages the hubs for playback
tension and wind/rewind) does appear to work, as the hubs briefly
"twitch" when the tape is loaded. The idler gear connects to the
capstan -- turning the capstan rotates the idler gear.

I don't have a service manual.

Thoughts, anyone? Thanks in advance.

"We already know the answers -- we just haven't asked the right
questions." -- Edwin Land

Hi William,

I think I have the same machine somewhere in my garage. Maybe checking the
ESR of the caps would be a good place to start? I remember at some point
years ago I had to clean the mode switch to correct some strange behaviors.
Be careful of the timing marks if you do remove it. There is a V-notch that
has to be aligned. Again, take a good look at it before you pull it out.

Also, make sure the loading mechanism makes it to the end of its travel.
That tiny loading belt can slip though the power would probably just shut
off if it did time out.

Good luck.
--
David Farber
Los Osos, CA

Based upon the responses, I would agree that the likely cause of this is the mode switch. Careful removal of this, cleaning it and replacing it should resolve the problem.

Dan

Based upon the responses, I would agree that the likely cause
of this is the mode switch. Careful removal of this, cleaning it
and replacing it should resolve the problem.


Thanks to Dave and Dan for their excellent suggestions. Perhaps it would be
wise to get a service manual.

William Sommerwerck wrote:
Based upon the responses, I would agree that the likely cause
of this is the mode switch. Careful removal of this, cleaning it
and replacing it should resolve the problem.


Thanks to Dave and Dan for their excellent suggestions. Perhaps it
would be wise to get a service manual.

I have the paper manual for HR-S7000U which I think is the same chassis. If
you need a scan of the alignment procedure, let me know.

--
David Farber
Los Osos, CA

"David Farber" wrote in message ...
William Sommerwerck wrote:

I have the paper manual for HR-S7000U which I think is the same
chassis. If you need a scan of the alignment procedure, let me know.

Thank you for the offer.

I'm not sure what I need. I don't see how to take it apart to get to the mode
switch (which I assume is the grey-and-white thingy near the front, on the
right of the transport).

If it wouldn't be too much trouble to scan just that information -- removal +
adjustment -- it would be appreciated. No rush.

William Sommerwerck wrote:
"David Farber" wrote in message ...
William Sommerwerck wrote:

I have the paper manual for HR-S7000U which I think is the same
chassis. If you need a scan of the alignment procedure, let me know.

Thank you for the offer.

I'm not sure what I need. I don't see how to take it apart to get to
the mode switch (which I assume is the grey-and-white thingy near the
front, on the right of the transport).

If it wouldn't be too much trouble to scan just that information --
removal + adjustment -- it would be appreciated. No rush.

Hi William,

I'll scan it for you. It might be easier to find my machine and just explain
it to you.

--
David Farber
Los Osos, CA

David Farber wrote:
William Sommerwerck wrote:
"David Farber" wrote in message ...
William Sommerwerck wrote:

I have the paper manual for HR-S7000U which I think is the same
chassis. If you need a scan of the alignment procedure, let me know.

Thank you for the offer.

I'm not sure what I need. I don't see how to take it apart to get to
the mode switch (which I assume is the grey-and-white thingy near the
front, on the right of the transport).

If it wouldn't be too much trouble to scan just that information --
removal + adjustment -- it would be appreciated. No rush.

Hi William,

I'll scan it for you. It might be easier to find my machine and just
explain it to you.

Hi again William,

I found my VCR. It's an HR-S7000U. It's from the late '80's. That would
explain why I have that manual. I looked up a picture of your HR-S9600. They
look nothing alike. My VCR has a bottom panel you can remove and get easy
access to the loading mechanism and belt. From your description, it sounds
like it isn't quite so easy.

I hope you're able to figure it out.
--
David Farber
Los Osos, CA

"David Farber" wrote in message ...

I found my VCR. It's an HR-S7000U. It's from the late '80's. That would
explain why I have that manual. I looked up a picture of your HR-S9600.
They look nothing alike. My VCR has a bottom panel you can remove and get
easy access to the loading mechanism and belt. From your
description, it sounds like it isn't quite so easy.

It's one of those units in which almost everything is on one board -- and the
transport sits above the board, so it's hard to get to the transport.

Let's see if I got this straight. It is not "eating tapes" as in spilling them all over. The loading motor is working and the capstan motor is running during unloading so the tape IS retracted back in the cassette ?

If this is all correct you have a problem in the capstan servo. The motor, in unload, FF or REW just runs full blast. During play is when the acive servo comes into play. This is going to require a print to troubleshoot as far as I can tell.

Given that it is a newer unit and probably has a totally digital servo on a chip, it is very unlikwly to be anything other than that chip. the same chip tells the capstan motor to run during unload, or FF and REW. Therefore it probably needs the chip.

What I woulld do is to look around and see what chip it uses for that and see if I can get one. Change it, if it works write the bill and call the guy.. If it doesn't work call the guy and say the jig is up for this thing. It's too ****ing hard to figure out what could cause this outside of the chip.

On the other hand, if it is spilling the tape, it is probably much more fixable.

We are in a strange time now. This equipment is getting old and we are going to see weird ass problems nobody would have ever thunk of in the old day. Ever. I have seen some weird **** myself.

wrote in message ...

Let's see if I got this straight. It is not "eating tapes" as in spilling them
all over. The loading motor is working and the capstan motor is running during
unloading so the tape IS retracted back in the cassette?

Correct.


If this is all correct you have a problem in the capstan servo. The motor, in
unload, FF or REW just runs full blast. During play is when the acive servo
comes into play. This is going to require a print to troubleshoot as far as I
can tell.

Given that it is a newer unit and probably has a totally digital servo on a
chip, it is very unlikely to be anything other than that chip. the same chip
tells the capstan motor to run during unload, or FF and REW. Therefore it
probably needs the chip.

What I would do is to look around and see what chip it uses for that and see
if I can get one. Change it, if it works write the bill and call the guy. If
it doesn't work call the guy and say the jig is up for this thing. It's too
****ing hard to figure out what could cause this outside of the chip.

We are in a strange time now. This equipment is getting old and we are going
to see weird ass problems nobody would have ever thunk of in the old day.
Ever. I have seen some weird **** myself.


Your analysis (urinalysis?) seems correct -- this is a motor-drive problem, of
some sort. The problem is that it's virtually impossible to get to the board.
Looks like I'm just going to have to toss it.

In article ,
says...

wrote in message ...

Let's see if I got this straight. It is not "eating tapes" as in spilling them
all over. The loading motor is working and the capstan motor is running during
unloading so the tape IS retracted back in the cassette?

Correct.


If this is all correct you have a problem in the capstan servo. The motor, in
unload, FF or REW just runs full blast. During play is when the acive servo
comes into play. This is going to require a print to troubleshoot as far as I
can tell.

Given that it is a newer unit and probably has a totally digital servo on a
chip, it is very unlikely to be anything other than that chip. the same chip
tells the capstan motor to run during unload, or FF and REW. Therefore it
probably needs the chip.

What I would do is to look around and see what chip it uses for that and see
if I can get one. Change it, if it works write the bill and call the guy. If
it doesn't work call the guy and say the jig is up for this thing. It's too
****ing hard to figure out what could cause this outside of the chip.

We are in a strange time now. This equipment is getting old and we are going
to see weird ass problems nobody would have ever thunk of in the old day.
Ever. I have seen some weird **** myself.


Your analysis (urinalysis?) seems correct -- this is a motor-drive problem, of
some sort. The problem is that it's virtually impossible to get to the board.
Looks like I'm just going to have to toss it.

That's a shame - that is a nice deck. I remember when they were new I
always wanted one but never could justify the cost back then. Many years
later, I wound up getting a refurb Panasonic AG-1980P instead (at a very
reasonable price, since by that time even the prosumer editing decks
were no longer much in demand).

This site appears to have a downloadable version of the service manual
in two parts - scroll down to the bottom of the page. You'll have to
register an account on the site in order to download files, and you'll
need free software like 7-Zip to extract the RAR files:

http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vide...4-problem-jvc-
s9600u.html

http://preview.tinyurl.com/nvwg6jl