VCR keeps shutting off when tape inserted?
 

My VCR powers down immediately when I put in a tape. I took the cover off and touched the insides a little and it did play then but the picture kept going out and then it ate the tape (I was able to recover it).

$15 can take care of the problem, Get another VCR.

That VCR is not worth repairing, and is probably not reparable anyway. At minimum, it has 2-3 issues, between shutting off and eating tapes. Odds are components inside have dried up, gotten brittle. Gravity has also taken a toll, severe alignment issues. Odds are it was never serviced, never cleaned, and now it's too late. (Don't be silly and try to "clean the heads", or some such nonsense. It will do nothing, bad overstated internet advice.)

Get a quality VCR from the recommended list: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vide...ing-guide.html

That's terrible advice, and you should know better. :ohmy:

If not using a recommended VCR, it's not even worth using a VCR at all.Using a cheap $15 used POS from Goodwill/eBay/etc is risking the tapes. And even if it "works" the quality will be lousy.

A tape can be DVD/digital type quality, and played safely, when using quality equipment.

It can't be worse than the one he has. Besides mechanism timing problems repairs are not worthy on that kind of VCR's anyway.

When your 20-year-old car has an oil leak, a cracked block, etc, you don't trade it in for another 20-year-old car that's only marginally better, and likely to succumb to the same issues within a short time. You get something that is actually better.

This unit can can go for anywhere from 50-300 dollars, Depending on condition and if it has the remote, manual, box, etc. Completed listings don't lie.

I have this very model sitting in my room that I just worked on among several others. These are newer style VCR's that were designed to be as cheap as possible to manufacture and never intended to be easy to repair or service, All the cables are hard soldered to the board/ Video Heads/ Audio Heads making it difficult to take apart and service.

That being said its not impossible to clean the mode switch which is usually the culprit for the problem you're having just a real pain in the ass if you're not experienced at doing it. Another common problem is the Mode Belt on the right side of the VCR chassis may be slipping, you can take a marker and mark the pulley and mark the belt in a few places and watch as you are loading a tape to see if the pulley is turning and the belt is not. You can find a replacement belt on amazon/ebay

Any other problems may not be repairable unless you are experienced with soldering. One such problem is the Playback photosensor has gone bad and needs to be replaced. Anyhow hope this may help, feel free to ask any questions.

When VCRs sold for $1000 they were designed to be maintainable and repairable.

By the time they dropped to under $150 (going as low as $39 or so) they were designed to be throw-aways.

Thanks for the responses to my question. I am the original owner of this VCR/DVD combo player. It's almost 20 years old, as I recall. And I did use head cleaners and laser lens cleaners on it.

I'm a historian and I bought this unit specifically to transfer some of my VHS tapes to DVD. I knew some of the documentaries I have would never be available on DVD. Some programs still aren't even on YouTube to this day. Also, I go to thrift stores a lot and occasionally I find out-of-production programs, like the Gettysburg documentary I found recently featuring Bruce Catton, who died in 1978.

Anyway, last night I bought another VCR/DVD combo- an INSIGNIA IS-DVD040924A- at the thrift store for $12.99 (it looks just like the one in the attached picture). There was no TV there at the store to hook it up to to check it out but I plugged it in and everything played. I got it home and everything works great.