Hi8 Tape stays on reel while ejecting?
 

Hello,

I’m currently in the process of digitising some old Hi8 tapes. I’ve done a couple successfully, but for some unknown reason, this one tape is being stubborn by giving an error during playback telling me to eject, then when I do the tape is still out on the reel. Already fixed it once, rather not have to do it again.

I think it has to be the tape at fault, rather than the camcorder (even though it’s a bit beat up from my brother using it for when he used to skateboard) but I tried other tapes afterwards and they play fine.

I would test on our other Hi8 camcorder, but we seem to be missing the other half of the power lead if you can believe it!

Please could I get some help?

Thanks
Leon

PS I’ve attached an image of the tape tray of the camcorder in case there is something drastically wrong (still learning the ropes a bit)

EDIT After some investigation, it seems that the reels do not lock in place as I can rotate the reel for the beginning of the tape. Could this be what is causing the tape to not return to whence it came from, and if so, how would one go about fixing it?

Apologies if bumping isn’t allowed but been a good few months and still no reply :)

Stop messing with it and transplant the tape into a new cassette housing. It's a 1 minute job with the appropriate screwdriver. If you keep trying you will likely break some gear inside your camcorder.

Literally haven’t touched the tape since I knew the tape was faulty.

Thanks for the advice though, I was curious if that would be the case but wanted to double check to make sure :)

This has happened to me hundreds of times, with almost every format. Sometimes these cassette shells came bad from factory (especially the cheap ones). They can mess with the loading mechanism. It's always good to have spare parts around. Be careful with tape lids too. Check them first before putting a tape into your vcr. They can sometimes get stuck during the loading process and fuck up your vcr.