AG1980 Ejects tapes in a few seconds every once in a while

[RS456]

Another issue I am facing with my Panasonic AG1980. Now it ejects tapes almost immediately after it loads but the next minute it works without an issue. What could be the issue and how do I fix it? This issue just started about a week ago. I read another post here with a similar issue but I doubt I need to replace anything as this unit was playing without an issue for 2 years straight. I am not saying the part does not need to be replaced but would like to try the conservative approach before I have to strip it down. Maybe it is something as simple as a grease issue?

[dpalomaki]

There is no one answer but several possibilities discussed in several different threads. The possible issues range from dried lube to a split coupling on a motor shaft to intermittent contacts in the position sensor and a few others.. Search on "AG-1980 loading" and variation on that string read through them. Many include photos and video as well.

Parts wear and lube dries over time, so while not working two years ago is a good predictor of not working today, working 2 years ago is no assurance it will work today, especially with a 20+ year old VCR..

[RS456]

I actually meant it was working two years straight using every now and then till just about a week ago. Well anyway I noticed something wrong with the rewind causing the tape to get stuck giving F-04 error. Do you happen to know what might be wrong for this issue to occur and how to possibly fix it? I am suspecting the eject issue is something related to this problem as the the problem started with rewind and the tape seems to play fine as long as I don't touch the rewind and another minute it seems to eject in a few seconds.

[dpalomaki]

Per the Service manual F04 indication likely cause is: Mechanism locks during tape unloading.

Remedy/check:
1. Check the loading motor drive circuit.
2. Check mechanism phase alignment.

Working sometimes implies the phase alignment is correct, at least when it works.

Again, review the older posts related to tape unloading F04, etc. Search is your friend.

[RS456]

What about the rewind issue causing the VCR to eat the tape?