Did I ruin my Hi8 cam video heads?
 

I picked up a Sony TRV-108 on craigslist locally to have a second player on hand for hi-8 tapes.

Popped a tape in and there appeared to be dirty heads (some white horizontal streaks.)

I cleaned the heads using swabs and 99% alcohol through links people have posted on this site.

I seem to have made the problem much much worse. Would you guys mind taking a look at this 8 second clip and tell me if it appears I am effed? Or did I possibly screw something up with the tape transport that is fixable?

In order to get out of the blue screen and capture something to show you, I had to fast-forward/rewind while playing -- so that's what you see here.

I will post some screenshots here from the capture video. I'm mostly looking for first-blush opinions from the pros whether these has the look of dirty heads, ruined heads, or possible problem with guides. I may have wasted money on the camera but just looking for a nudge whether to sell it for parts and move on or if further cleaning and tinkering might have any positive benefit. Thank you.

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Without a sample from playback not fast forwarding it's hard to tell, Probably your only option is to get another camcorder and move on.

Thanks. Is there any way on the sony hi8 cameras to disable the auto blue screen? That's all i get when playing back normally.

Lookup the manual for your model and try some options, The other thing is it could be your capture card inserting the blue screen.

Looks like you might have one head that is seriously clogged or trashed. If you have the time you could try additional, very careful cleaning, after close examination of the heads/cylinder for physical damage. The info at:
https://www.tgrantphoto.com/sales/in...ken-video-head
gives some information as to what the heads like although it may not exactly fit your camcorder. If selling "for parts" additional tinkering will not likely change the value.

Otherwise cut your losses and look for a replacement machine.

That TGrant link is very basic they even pointed to a D4A dual head system as a headgap which is totally wrong, Those are two heads 0.7mm a part, The actual headgap of each head is few micro meters and cannot be seen by a simple camera zoom, You will need a microscope, and there is no actual headgap, it's filled with glass.

I agree. Video heads and head gaps are unbelieveably small and the head pieces are fragile. To manually clean such heads without damage requires skill, patience, the right tools and a very steady hand. Then there's the rest of the tape path including capstan and pinch roller. With camcorders access can be difficult making damage even more likely. No wonder manufacturers didnt recommend the average Joe jump in and "have a go."

I managed these photos of the three heads using my Sony Handycam HDR-PJ380 with good macro and steadyshot. Take a look. I'll hang up and listen.

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Sorry for your loss buddy, One or more heads are snapped right off, I see one good head only. It maybe not your fault and the heads were actually broken to begin with.

To my eye, all three look smashed. Maybe the second is OK.

The second picture is perfectly fine.

In the second shot I can see the Ferrite pole piece but the coils behind it arent shown very clearly. I guess a continuity test would confirm one way or the other.

Those are excellent pictures. TGrant might be able to use them!
It would be interesting to see what the heads of your primary Hi8 playback devices heads look like.
Hope you can find another back-up player.

BW

Good idea, I will effort photos of my primary player’s heads. And to everyone else, thanks for your condolences! And for taking a look. Like many sub-pros, I know just enough to be dangerous. Likely at least one of these heads were damaged when I got it, and I probably made it lots worse.

Based on what I see in a Sony EV-A50 Video8 VCR: It look like your:
- photo 74 is problematic and looks to be broken.
- photo 75 and 77 might be ok, but hard to tell from the photo.

The EV-A50 has 3 heads on the cylinder used for normal record/playback, spaced 90 degrees apart
- Video Ch1
- Flying Erase head (located in the middle)
- Video Ch2
(there might be a 4th head slightly offset for some form of trick play)

The attached photos provides slightly different angle of view of the heads on a low hours machine.

Heads on my "good" Hi-8 player
 

Sorry for the delay. Here are some close-ups of the three heads on my Sony TRV460. This is a digital8 camcorder with TBC and DNR for analog. I use it as my primary player for capturing hi8 tapes.

Take a look at the photos and let me know if the heads look all right.

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The last picture is fine, the first two ones are too blurry to make out any details.

Apolgies for the photo quality before. I figured out a MUCH better angle and light here:

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Good photos. They look physically OK, but I cannot tell anything about the condition of the gap or the wiring.