VCR/TBC Long-term Maintenance/Upkeep
 

Hi everyone,
Would really like some professional advice on how best to preserve VCR/TBCs that are not in regular use, because my situation is that my precious (PAL) VHS tapes are overseas(in China, with my parents' relatives, 3000km away). But the pandemic has prevented any of my family from returning to fetch them back for digitisation(probably until next year? hopefully?) so I will likely be purchasing my VCR/TBC gear way before I get the tapes so I can get some quality decks before they're gone :laugh:
I know that these electronics are really ancient by now and even quality units are degrading, especially if not maintained well, so how best should I preserve these decks without the tapes I'll be digitising? For context, Singapore is summer all year round and very humid(rains almost every day of the year, it's tropical after all) so I've already seen my fair share of mould and rust in electronics in my home. Thanks to lordsmurf I'm reassured that mould won't likely be a problem, but not sure if the weather will easily cause rust or other kinds of nasty rot. I haven't bought any VCR/TBCs yet, but I've done my research and would like to obtain this crucial bit of information before I buy so that I don't have to deal with degraded decks when I finally get to digitising, and also can keep them in good condition after I'm done with my digitising while waiting to sell them off. Should I get some random VHS movie tapes from a local thrift store(really cheap, it's like $5-$10 each) to test/play so as to keep the electronics moving? Heard my father always said electronics that are left powered off for long just die on their own, occasional light usage will keep them alive longer, is that true for VCRs/TBCs? I don't know anything about these kinds of hardware so I won't be able to perform tape head cleaning etc myself(scared I'll break something) By the way, I'm considering a JVC HR-S9600EU from vcrshop.nl and a (PAL) TBC from lordsmurf(so sorry sir! finally confirmed the format of my VHS tapes, now I'm just really paranoid that I'll destroy your precious decks before I even get to digitising due to poor maintenance, so I'm asking this before arranging a purchase from you).
Thanks so much to all for this amazing forum :D Learnt so much about stuff that stopped existing after I was born lol