HM-DH40000U/HM-DHX1 slight squealing noise, slow tape loader?
 

As the title says, I have a JVC (Victor) HM-DHX1, the Japanese equivalent of the HM-DH40000U, which is still completely functional aside from a slight intermittent squealing noise during playback and a slow cassette loader mechanism. I have not had time to open the unit for myself and I wouldn't know what to look for upon doing so, but I will upload a couple of images and possibly a video when I get the chance. Lordsmurf gave me an estimate of about 100 full tapes before action would be required, so I would simply like to know if anyone had any advice on these particular issues or if repairs on units like these are even possible at this point due to unit scarcity and parts availability.

Thanks guys.

Slow loading is usually the motor going, common on some JVCs. It can be a PITA on some models to replace, buried at the bottom of the transport. (Those same models are generally not easy to remove boards, soldered together around the case internal walls.)

Squealing can be grease, or wear to metal parts now rubbing badly.

Have I repaired JVCs? Yes, and lately all the time, for the refurbs I have in the marketplace.
This model? No.

I suspect that it would be "easier" to just get a replacement in my case when this unit eventually bites the dust as I have absolutely zero experience repairing electronics of this sort. I tried repairing a small tape recorder once and left it in worse condition than before I took it apart. I don't know if anyone else has any experience repairing JVC D-VHS models, as I'd gladly pay to have it repaired rather than go hunting forever to find a replacement.

I have taken a look at potential replacements and have found a relatively inexpensive Panasonic AG-1970, but the seller provided the attached image in the listing noting that the image produced by the player was "snowy." I'm not sure how easy it would be to fix an issue of this magnitude, but this is the absolute cheapest I have found an AG-1970 as of yet.

You're looking at problems in the electronics there, so I would stay far away unless you know a lot about electronics repair. If you want to get some idea of the types of problems the AG-1970P can develop, the user 12voltvids on YouTube has several videos showing his repair attempts on that model. It ain't pretty.

While in general it was more reliable than the AG-19080P, the 1970P seems to be really overpriced in the marketplace, fetching prices that are way too much considering the age of the model and its weak TBC.

Repairing it including shipping and hope it doesn't need parts will cost right around $600 give or take, Sometimes selling it as is and buy another model with less features that are not needed for capturing is the wise decision. If you decide to sell it I can use it for parts, I have another unit that I hope I can make one functional unit out of the two.

If you want to send it out to me for an estimate the shipping round trip are non refundable regardless if the unit is repairable or not.

Open the unit, take a clear photo, attach it to a post here.

I'm not at home right now, when I get back I'll open the unit up and post what I find, It'll be a couple of hours.

I have arrived home and have taken off the top of the unit. Attached below are five pictures of the inside, lighted as best I could. If you require any more, I’ll be happy to supply.

That 1970 is a lost cause, stay far away from that. Full rebuild required there.

That exact JVC doesn't look as bad as some of the others to work on, but I see a few nuisance points. I would just deal with the slow ingest, unless it causes problems with "eating" tapes. Because it'll take lots of time, and you may need to get a donor deck for $$$ (not sure if that exact part, the loading motor, is still available anyway, but unlikely).

The grease is easier, but you need to try to find the squeal origin. I have a JVC PAL deck that's proving a PITA, I can't find the source of the squeal. It's further developed some REW issues, so I need time to take it apart. For now, I just bought another deck. I need to use VCRs, not always repair them. Also see what exact grease is needed at that location, refer to service manual. Lithium grease has been discussed on the site before, but I think other types of grease may be wiser for VCRs. Molykote (molybdenum, non-liquid), silicon, maybe some others. I've not had to re-grease many VCRs, and used silicon those few times. I only used that because I had a tiny tube already. Don't apply to much, it can make a mess that ruins deck internals as well as tapes. There's a lot of heated disagreement online on which grease is best, so don't get too buried in arguments and name-calling over it -- just as long as we're not talking about something stupid, like squirting in WD-40 or bacon fat.

How loud is the squeal? When does it squeal? That can determine how pressing it is to address.

The only real problem that the slow ingest has caused is one time I let a tape go for an extended period, just as a test run, and nothing was out of the ordinary. I stopped and rewound the tape and went to eject, but for some reason when I pressed the eject button, the tape would come up, then go back down. This has only happened once, and I solved it by simply unplugging the unit and letting it power cycle with tape inside, it ejected fine and there was no damage to either the tape or the unit, every time I have used it since this has not happened.

The squeal is another story, I'll probably upload a short video segment here in a little bit. It's intermittent, as I said, but you'll have to hear it to get the full effect, I can't describe it. If I catch the source of the squeal on camera, I'll be sure to ask what's up. I do have a small tube of silicon grease laying around somewhere.

The in-out-in-out is caused more often by pressure on the lid. Do you have other stuff on top of the deck?

Squeal can also be tapes, so remember that.

I meant to upload this video yesterday evening, but I was very tired. In any case, I managed to capture both the squeal AND the tape mechanism messing up in the same clip. The squeal was a bit quiet, but you can still hear it. I had the unit’s insides exposed, so there was nothing on top of it when the tape mech got caught, hopefully it’ll be clearer in the video.

The squeal sounds like something with the reels needs to be lubricated, doesn't sound to disconcerting. My unit makes a "brrt" noise every time the transport changes modes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LsFxs6FyPo

You can hear it around 5:30 in the video after I put a tape in.

The eject issues are common with JVC decks. The motors used don't seem to be the strongest.