AG-1980P plays audio fine, but the video is shot

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Lordsmurf,

I'm new to the forum...

You seem to know a bit about the AG-1980P. I just bought several of them in a package deal and they all have the same problem. They all play audio fine, but the video is shot. They have blue and red banding over the entire picture. They also won't show any video unless the TBC is switched on. I've cleaned all the machines and used different tapes with the same results. One of the machines made it to fairly clean black and white video with hints of color with TBC off. When I went to check it again a couple of days later it was back to the red and blue streaking.

I read up on the capacitor plague and opened up one of the machines. I couldn't find a visibly "bad cap" to save my life. I used the service manual to dismantle the machine. One of the things I noticed is that the machine didn't have a Video Control C.B.A. on the underside of the chassis. I was concerned that someone had removed the card, but I noticed that the screw posts were clean (never had a screw in them) and there was no evidence that there had ever been a card there. There were no empty sockets on the other boards or disconnected wires. I checked the other machines, and none of them have this card. Did they revise the machine over time and integrate the video control function into the other cards without changing the tooling for the chassis to get rid of the mount for the card?

Do you have any recommendations for how I can bring the video back on these machines? BTW they were from a production studio so I'm sure they were rode hard and put away wet.

Thank you,
John
NonsuchVideo

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[lordsmurf]

I don't have access to an AG-1980P right now to check on the Video Control C.B.A. Mine is being repaired, too.

The machine was revised multiple times through the years, and there are several sub-models for sure.

Capacitors don't always bulge or leak -- sometimes they just dry up. In the case of the JVC DVD recorders, Panasonic DVD recorders, AMD motherboards, etc, it was cheap Chinese knock-off capacitors that bulged and leaked, and that was easy to see. In the case of the 1980 VCRs, the capacitors dry up or drift out of proper value, so there's nothing to see.

You'll need to test each capacitor. I don't have the tools, knowledge or experience to do this, therefore everything is sent to a shop that does have expertise at it. And specifically a trust shop that also knows the AG-1980P quite well.

That shop is Jots Electronics in Arlington, Texas. If you're close, drive there. If you're not close, mail it there. It may run $200 total to fix them, but it's worth it. A restored unit should last many years.