Digital8 Camera won't play digital 8 video tapes?

[DeeSeven]

I have a Sony TRV-140 and recently it started to act up with ONLY digital 8 tapes. it can play hi8 and video 8 no problem but for some reason it refuses to play digital 8 tapes. It just gives me a blue screen. Has anyone ran into this issue?

[volksjager]

give it a good manual cleaning.
just like with D-VHS the first thing to screw up is the digital recordings
the heads need to be super clean

[NJRoadfan]

It might not be dirty heads. Sometimes the reels like to stick and cause playback problems. My DCR-TRV840 acted up in this manner. Rewinding and fast forwarding fixed the problem. I almost had to resort to the infamous "whack-a-Sony" repair.

[DeeSeven]

haha thanks for the tips I'll give it a whirl hopefully it will work

update....

cleaned it manually
looked it over the best I could (as i'm no pro with these cameras) and can't see anything "wrong"
I popped in a tape
tape got stuck, finally got it out but now I'm nervous to put another tape back in there as I have none that are "worthless" if the heads are in fact bad....is it possible to fix or is it a lost cause?

[dpalomaki]

Maybe pick up a blank 8mm tape to use for testing.

If the playback of 8mm and Hi8 tapes is clean and crisp, it should do D8 as well.

How did you go about manually clean the TRV-140?
Does it stillplay 8mm and Hi8 taps OK?

Will it FF and REW the tapes?

[DeeSeven]

I used a non cotton swab and some "can-o-air" company made for electronics (so it doesn't squirt out any liquid)

it plays 8mm and hi8 ok but not clean and crisp just ok. it still rewinds and ff but not digital 8 the heads simply don't move even tho it says its rewinding/ff

Im beginning to think its dead

[dpalomaki]

Quote:

...the heads simply don't move even tho it says its rewinding/ff...

If I understand correctly, the tape is moving in FF and REW, but nothing is read from it.
Is the tape moving in PLAY?
Heads are on the drum, are you saying that the drum is not spinning?

If the head drum is spinning it maybe the signal read off the trpe is too weak for digital and you get the blue screen.

How old is the camcorder (it came out about 22 years ago)? If the analog tape signal is poor compared to what it should be perhaps some internal components have changed value over time to the point of head amp gain loss.

Generally the safest head cleaning method for home users is to use a dry cleaning tape recomemdned by the manufacturer. While careful manual wet cleaning, if properly done, is usually better it requires some skill. Many people try it and end up making things worse - which is why consumer gear manufactureres usually do not recommend wet cleaning.

[volksjager]

if the heads/rollers are moving with 8mm/Hi8 tapes, but not your D8 tapes, then your D8 tapes are stuck
these tapes can do this the tape gets stuck to the next layer.
use a pencil to depress the reel lock and a screwdriver to manually turn the reels
do this for several rotations in both directions, then try FF-ing and rewinding the tape all the way

[dpalomaki]

Quote:

How old is the camcorder (it came out about 22 years ago)?

Make that 12 years ago.

[DeeSeven]

Quote:

Originally Posted by volksjager

if the heads/rollers are moving with 8mm/Hi8 tapes, but not your D8 tapes, then your D8 tapes are stuck
these tapes can do this the tape gets stuck to the next layer.
use a pencil to depress the reel lock and a screwdriver to manually turn the reels
do this for several rotations in both directions, then try FF-ing and rewinding the tape all the way

that worked! thanks volksjager

no wonder people don't use these tapes anymore jeez!

[volksjager]

glad it worked
keep the tapes out of humidity - that is the biggest factor