#1  
03-22-2010, 06:50 PM
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My Panasonic 1980 is playing old vhs tapes as s-vhs tapes and all I see is snow with the TBC on, with TBC off I get no pic and the info. on the display is coming on and off, the output on the 1980 I am using is s-video and the 1980 was working fine last night, what happened?.
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  #2  
03-22-2010, 06:56 PM
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Hmmm...
  • Is it just this tape, or all tapes?
  • Is there a chance this tape was accidentally recorded over, or is blank?
  • Does the same tape play fine in another VCR?

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  #3  
03-22-2010, 08:09 PM
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It's all of them doing it, even the one that played fine last night, I hear audio but no video.

I have tried different cables, for output of the 1980 all I have is the s-video, I don't have any of the adapters for composite, but I wouldn't want to use that for these old videos, that's why I got one of these 1980's. The svhs light is on and it has not been, Just a guess but I think that's the problem, for some reason it's trying to play them as svhs, does anyone know why it would be doing that?
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  #4  
03-23-2010, 01:06 AM
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Pick one tape.
So the same tape is fine in another VCR?

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  #5  
03-23-2010, 09:06 AM
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The tapes do play in my JVC, not well but plays, all these are old tapes, I wonder if the 1980 has got it's heads clogged, I will try to correctly clean them and see if this is what's going on.

-- merged --

Update...
I think it's the heads, 2 of them look gold/brass and 2 look kinda silver, is this correct?
I cleaned them with an old professional vcr cleaning kit I have, the sticks with the applicators look like a soft leather, and they do kinda catch on the heads so I went real easy but now it is playing the tape from the other night and no svhs light, so it must be dirty heads, I wonder if I got them clean, what are the best cleaning applicator?

-- merged --

Even the 1980 with TBC on, going through AVT TBC does not produce a good picture, still have horizontal lines moving vertically, miss tracking looking, audio sometimes muffled...is there a vcr that will play old tapes any better, I can eject this tape, open the flap and the tape does not look mangled or anything, it is so old I am sure it was recorded with a cheap 2 head vcr but come on....I thought the 1980 with an external AVT TBC was supposed to clean this crap up!
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  #6  
03-25-2010, 05:59 PM
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Is this a new (to you) machine that has never worked correctly, or did it just start to not work right? Need more history. Thanks!

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  #7  
03-26-2010, 08:36 PM
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Well I have been transferring several vhs (mostly football games) to dvd and I have a JVC 8007, Jots says is a proconsumer model just no NR or TBC and the old vhs tapes do a lot of jumping and I bought the 1980 about a month ago and it appears to really help with the jumping/flickering but it still does it but have used it to record probably 15 tapes over to dvd running from the 1980 to the AVT, to a sima to the JVC or Liteon, and it's been going ok, not a good as I hoped for but some of these tapes are 20+ years old, but the other night the svhs light came on and after cleaning the heads it would play, just not well at all and my new POS Panasonic vhs/dvd recorder (bought for the HDMI and upscaler which I think does a pretty good job seems to play that old vhs tape much better than the 1980....so now I am really confused???
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  #8  
03-26-2010, 09:12 PM
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The condition of units can affect how well it plays/records tapes. I'm thinking your AG-1980P is just a dud. Mine doesn't have any of the problems you've mentioned.

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  #9  
03-27-2010, 02:33 PM
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I really don't think it's a dud, but maybe, it was bought from B&H Photo not many years ago brand new and the units doesn't have a mark on it, was used and I bought from a professional photographer that was retireing, he was selling all his equipment and he told me he used this unit almost daily and never had any problems, it was never opened!, guess it could still be bad though, the TBC works as you can tell when turned off/on, everything seems to work, I cleaned it with denatured alchol and it still left a residu but plays the tapes again, I think I will try to clean with acetone, that should not leave a residu.
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  #10  
03-27-2010, 02:39 PM
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Do not use acetone!

Residue is a tell-tale sign of chemical impurities. If you see residue, then you need a new bottle of alcohol, either denatured or isopropyl with 70-90% purity. Don't get the bargain "rubbing alcohol" without checking its percentage, as many are only 50%.

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  #11  
03-27-2010, 02:53 PM
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Here's a perfect example of terrible advice: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/165

Quote:
The material you will need you probably already have at home: cotton swabs, blank sheet of paper and a bottle of alcohol.
I don't know who wrote that, but he/she is an idiot.
  1. NEVER use cotton swabs!! Use the non-cotton swabs, often made of a chamois or foam material. Cotton will leave lint (including microscopic lint) on the ferrite heads, possibly damaging them in the process.
  2. NEVER use just any old "alcohol" or "cleaner fluid". If you use a poor % of alcohol, you may as well just be pouring beer on it. The wrong chemical (like acetone!) could eat through the heads. Use either denatured or 70% (or better!) isopropyl alcohol.
  3. Blank sheet of paper? WTF? No! No paper! Period!

Dampen the swab in the alcohol, and hold it in a stationary position. Rotate the head while gently-but-firmly pressing against the head with the swab. You do not want to damage the heads by pressing too hard.

Up-and-down motions will also damage the heads.

I find most VCR head damage is not caused by age, by by poor or improper maintenance. Heads should last (in theory), many tens of thousands of hours.


As much as I don't like linking to About.com, Bob Silva has a decent step-by-step here:
Quote:
WARNING: Make sure you have all the proper screwdriver(s), chamois, cleaning solution, etc... before starting this process. DO NOT USE Q-TIPS.
  1. Eject any tape from the VCR and unplug it from wall current.
  2. Unplug any other cables from VCR (Cable, Antenna, Audio/Video Cables, etc..).
  3. Place VCR on flat surface, such as a table covered with newspaper or cloth to protect table surface.
  4. With the appropriate screwdriver, remove VCR cover carefully.
  5. You will see a shiny round drum--this is the Head Drum. Take an isopropyl alcohol-dipped chamois tipped cleaning stick and place it on the Head Drum with light pressure.
  6. Manually rotate Head Drum with your free hand (it spins freely), keeping chamois stick stationary, allowing fluid to clean the drum (Never move the chamois stick in the vertical direction-you may snap off Head protrusions on the drum).
  7. With fresh chamois tips and alcohol, now clean the Stationary audio head, capstans, rollers, and gears. Check for dust. Do not get excessive fluid on any parts.
  8. Clean Belts and Pulleys using fresh chamois tips, once again, do not use excessive fluid.
  9. Clean dust off Circuit Boards using a mini-vacuum cleaner and/or compressed air (Use just enough force to remove the dust and dirt).
  10. Let machine site a few minutes after finishing above process.
  11. With the VCR still open, plug into wall and TV, turn on VCR and insert a recorded tape. (Do not touch any of the interior workings of the VCR or interior metal cabinet during this process).
  12. Press Play on VCR and confirm that everything is functioning correctly and picture and sound is restored.
  13. Repeat steps 1-10 if results are not satisfactory.
  14. Eject tape, Unplug VCR from wall, uplug all cables.
  15. Screw VCR cover back on and place back in original location with proper hookups.

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  #12  
04-20-2010, 07:27 PM
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FYI-turned out to be the speed sensor
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  #13  
04-21-2010, 11:34 AM
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Did you send it in for repair?
If so, where, what was the cost? (Good info to have.)

Or did you consult a service manual, troubleshoot and fix it yourself?
Or did you guess? (I've even done this, when at my wit's end. Surprisingly, it can work well!)

Thanks for the updates. That's what makes a thread useful to others!
Everybody can search for problems, but having answers is the pot of gold.

Again, thanks.

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  #14  
04-21-2010, 01:05 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by admin View Post
Did you send it in for repair?
If so, where, what was the cost? (Good info to have.)

Or did you consult a service manual, troubleshoot and fix it yourself?
Or did you guess? (I've even done this, when at my wit's end. Surprisingly, it can work well!)

Thanks for the updates. That's what makes a thread useful to others!
Everybody can search for problems, but having answers is the pot of gold.

Again, thanks.
That is the truth!!!

I found a guy locally that doesn't even advertise for this kind of stuff, just a general fixit shop named "Dallas fixit shop" in Lakeland, Fl., he knew the unit and it's features so I let him check it out, he charged me like $ 75 I think it was, IMO very reasonable.
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  #15  
04-21-2010, 01:57 PM
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That's interesting. I'd have never considered contacting a general fix-it type of shop. But I guess a VCR isn't too terribly much different from a vacuum cleaner or toaster, if you get right down to it. With the right tools, some knowledge on how it works, maybe a repair manual -- good to go.

Good info for anybody in the Tampa-Orlando, Florida area, needing VCR repair. Within an hour or so of those big cities MSAs.

Thanks.

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  #16  
04-21-2010, 03:48 PM
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Yes it's funny almost every TV repair shop won't work on VCR's or DVD units, can't make any money on them is what I am told...they all recommend one TV shop here in town...the one that said my first 1980 needed the "link gear" and then they just happened to find one...and not charge me for it...I think alot of b/s going on their...and then I just stopped in to see if "Dallas fixit shop" and he knew the unit, knew it was a high end with the TBC and fixed that unit, it works fine now and I have taken the first unit to Dallas...let's see what he finds.
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