Is gray and black image head damage?

[mbassiouny]

Hi,

one of my VCRs has this issue (see attachments).
I never saw this before in my (short analog) life.

It is obviously a hardware issue, but any idea if the head needs replacement? or could it be something else?

Thanks

[mbassiouny]

Is this issue really unknown to other users around here ?

[lordsmurf]

I need to know more details.
Start here: What tapes are being put in? Those work fine in other decks?

[mbassiouny]

I have ruled out the possibility of a tape issue.

Tried several tapes. All these tapes work fine in other VCRs...

[lordsmurf]

Then caps, heads.
This assume no transport issues. Did you open it, watch the tape ingest, wrap around, play?

[mbassiouny]

>This assume no transport issues. Did you open it, watch the tape ingest, wrap around, play?
Yes, I opened and checked, I will give it another try and look closer, but I remember it even rewinded fine, which is why I ruled out transport and thought of head. I did not realize bad caps might give this, I expected bad caps to give some effect on color or at worst something glitchy, but not necessarily watchable like this (see attached)

On a side note, if this is French (PAL + SECAM compatible) model, and needs head replacement, can the head of a PAL only model be used? or does it have to be from another French device?

[latreche34]

Have you tried connecting the VCR directly to a TV, Capture cards are not the right tool to troublshoot VCR problems.

[mbassiouny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by latreche34

Have you tried connecting the VCR directly to a TV, Capture cards are not the right tool to troublshoot VCR problems.

That is actually a good point, I haven't thought about it... the only problem is I do not have a TV... so gotta have to rely on capture cards...

I will open it up later tomorrow and update the thread.