So I am trying to put all my home video onto my computer. my expensive vcr has the upper half of the videos all distorted. I think I may know the problem. when I rewound the tape in this vcr, the spools were uneven. and the only two sites I could find that address this issue recommended hitting the tape on a flat surface and then rewinding. It worked to a degree, but when I put the tape in a cheaper vcr that I took fresh out of the box today after it had sat in my attic for 16 years unopened, it doesn't have that problem. Then I tried cleaning the heads, and when I was trying the tape again, I noticed the winding problem.

if one vcr is not having a problem winding the tape, it must be this vcr that is causing the spool to have the "bumpy" appearance rather than the tape. what would cause it to do that. Can I fix it. and would that uneven winding cause the distortion that I am experiencing with the video?

and the cheaper vcr doesn't have the distortion either. it reads the tape perfectly.

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I was told that
if that is true, what would cause the problem I having with the picture?

The cause is uneven tape flow, as explained above. A bad capstan, capstan motor and capstan belt are only part of the problem. but is likely the main cause. The head cylinder is turning at one speed, but the capstan feeding the tape is moving at a different speed.

Any website that tells you to smack a cassette against a flat surface to even the tape windings is full of beans. You smooth the tape windings by fast-forwarding the tape from start to finish (without pause and without playing), then repeat in the opposite direction. But if feed speed is erratic and takeup speed differs widely from it, you can't get a smooth winding into either reel.

Welcome to the forum. Glad to try answering your question, but the answer has to be a generalization that's common to almost all VCRs. I tried to guess which of several thousands of models of VCR's yours could be, but had to give up after a while. But I'd say chances are pretty high that you won't be able to replace or adjust a capstan unit yourself, or to find the parts. Besides that, you'd need electronic instruments and an alignment tape to adjust tension guides through the tape path. It's also possible that the capstan is okay but the controlling circuitry has aging and/or bad capacitors, resistors, or other components. The causes could also be a combination of the two.

If your cheap VCR that plays OK is really 16 years old and almost like new out of the box, keep it. It's probably better than the junk being sold today. If it was made before 2000, you're probably better off.

i guess there is no hope then. thanks.

as for the vcr, I'm sorry, i' didnt realize how long ago 15 years would put it. definitely purchased before Katrina hit. I just remember it was around the time when DVDs were beginning take off for us common people(as far as i knew being a small boy), and it was a black friday sale (which in my adult experience, most of the cheap stuff at Black Friday sales are... cheap.) But my dad bought like 6 vcrs and put them away in the attic. Some brand that I never heard of. Don't know why he wanted 6 vcrs. maybe he was afraid he wouldnt be able to find them in the future...