Sounds like the loader is worn out.

Taking the most ut, or utmost care not to touch the video head, try to clean
the tracks where the loading arms travel, Ive found that sewing machine oil
on a q tip will absorb dust and debris. Then apply the grease used for
those mechanisms, just a very thin coating.

Dont have the grease? open your newer VCR and borrow some with a new Q tip

Now check the belts. What is the belt driving the loader? its probably
slipping.

If you use belt reconditioner, its a temporary fix; what grabs better is to
find very tiny rubber bands like those used in retainers and put one of
those around the driven wheel, then put the belt. It should not slip. If
its driven by a worm setup then this doesnt apply.

typically there is a supply reel and a takeup reel. The Capstan/pinch roller
setup is what moves the tape across the head.

In some of those UMatic systems there was a big alignment block the shape of
a tape, but solid and with a couple of holes, you installed it and aligned
against it

but in this case, it sounds like the tape guide tracks need to be greased
carefully and the belt for the loader replaced. Its late and maybe I didnt
say that right, the part you cant see is where the grease goes; As a last
step, I carefully clean where the tape will go with VCR cleaner on a lint
free wipe

Keep the UMatics, they are collectors items getting more valuable each day

"DaveC" wrote in message
al.net...
I've got a couple of Panasonic NV-9100 U-Matic video players that display
similar symptoms.

The tape is withdrawn from the cassette by the loading arm (probably not
the
best use of terminology, to be sure), but the arm halts before reaching
its
destination.

In an attempt to help with the loading process, when I manually pull tape
off
of the supply reel, it is immediately taken up by the take-up reel, rather
than providing more tape for the load process to complete, which was my
intent.

If I help the load arm reach its destination, the load ring (that contains
the pinch roller and all the tape guides) does its thing, rotating and
taking
over the loading process. Then everything works.

Is take-up or supply reel tension the cause of this symptom?

The reason I took apart this particular player is because the brake
material
had come off of the supply reel's brake band (the glue dried). I glued it
back on (we're pretty remote out here, and the players are needed this
week),
and now it won't load.

I've got a factory maintenance manual for a similar but not identical
Panasonic unit, but -- you guessed it -- not with me.

Any suggestions to help me get this one running (without me standing up in
front of the audience and helping the load process each time : -) would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
--
DaveC

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