JVC HR-S9600U head drum not spinning?
 

When I insert a tape, it gets spooled around the drum properly, but the drum never spins. I was advised to check for +12V on pin 1 of the connector on the top stator assembly. I only got around 1.5 volts across this pin, which I believe is just electrical noise. After this, I read elsewhere that a fuse labelled "CP4001 ICP-N15" might be the culprit. Sure enough, it was blown. However, after replacing it, the head drum still won't move. :depressed:

It's also worth mentioning that the plastic pin guide on one end of the ribbon cable connecting the stator board to the mainboard fell off on one end. I glued a new makeshift plastic backing onto it as a temporary last-ditch effort to save it, and I don't know if this actually worked.

I had also previously bought a replacement stator board and tried that one out, but to no avail. After attempting to bring an old and fragile cable back to life, replacing a fuse, and even replacing the entire stator board, I've run out of leads.

Does anyone know where I can find a replacement cable? (A DigiKey part number maybe? :hmm:) Or better yet, has anyone else had this issue before and managed to fix it?

Did you connect the cable with the correct side towards the contacts? I did that mistake once, and was worried until I figured it out. Also check the voltage again if you didn't already, and that the fuse has voltage and has continuity.

You could probably salvage a cable and connectors from a lower-end JVC VCR from the same or next few years. (The older S9500 and related had a slightly different mech, and the very late ones ones have a different one again or are LG-made.) They shared many parts including the base mechanism between the models in a lineup.

I haven't looked into part numbers, but digikey does have a gazillion different variants of flex cable so maybe there is something that would fit there as you note if it's just the cable.

Previously, I had just clipped the old one off and left the old leads in, then I soldered the new one to those leads. I did a poor job and the new one snapped off when I was probing it. So, I decided to consult the service manual and disassemble the while VCR and solder the fuse in from the back of the motherboard, and lo and behold, it's working again! I guess my soldering job first time around was worse than I had expected. That's what I get for being lazy. :D