I've got a JVC SR-V101US that I got here off lordsmurf several months back. I was capturing a tape today, and heard a horrible noise that sounded like gears grinding when the tape was auto rewinding after the end of the tape was reached. This noise is now constant on all tapes when I try to rewind or fast forward. It rewinds fine in a slower mode to begin with, but when it kicks into the fast rewind mode, that noise happens. I captured some photos inside the unit, along with a video with the rewind happening with the cover off in case that offers any clues.
Just call it a loss and move on, Unless you can find parts for it and feel comfortable in doing it yourself otherwise I don't see how a forum thread can fix such a problem?
Just call it a loss and move on, Unless you can find parts for it and feel comfortable in doing it yourself otherwise I don't see how a forum thread can fix such a problem?
I'm hoping to get advice about if it's at risk of further damage if I use it to play tapes. And if so, if it's possible to be repaired. It would seem a waste to just call it a loss after a short time of usage, especially as everything else works great--not like they make these anymore after all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cbehr91
I use dedicated rewinders for VHS and Hi8...might be a worthy investment.
Not a bad idea! I wish there was a way to turn off the auto-rewind feature in the JVC, then I wouldn't be so concerned and would just use it for playback only (and use a rewinder or a spare VCR to rewind tapes).
One of the reasons I called it a loss is because you tempered with its factory tape transport alignment when it was not an alignment problem most likely. Aligning it again requires having an oscilloscope and knowledge of the RF waveform. But first you have to address the mechanism gear problem, that grinding noise meaning gears have been damaged or broken, So you would need to take the mechanism apart, find the broken parts, replace them and re-align the mechanism, Once you do that you move on to aligning the tape path with a factory alignment tape (or at least a good commercial tape) and an oscilloscope.
One of the reasons I called it a loss is because you tempered with its factory tape transport alignment when it was not an alignment problem most likely. Aligning it again requires having an oscilloscope and knowledge of the RF waveform. But first you have to address the mechanism gear problem, that grinding noise meaning gears have been damaged or broken, So you would need to take the mechanism apart, find the broken parts, replace them and re-align the mechanism, Once you do that you move on to aligning the tape path with a factory alignment tape (or at least a good commercial tape) and an oscilloscope.
All I did was remove the cover to take a look at it. I didn't make any adjustments or fiddle around with anything.
I suppose I'll just use it to play tapes then and avoid rewinding, unless there are any reputable repair shops still around in the USA that can be trusted with a repair?
Tapes can ruin VCRs. I've had this happen at least once per decade. I've lost some of my favorite decks over the years. This is yet another reason why I always monitor closely, try to avoid REW tapes in the deck. I'm always nearby, and stop a deck when it hits the end. In most cases, the tape end never happens, as the content stopped well before the tape ended.
In this exact case, something has likely caused a rewind spool to not make good contact with the tape. It's missing, like a motor missing a cyclinder. Hopefully not stripped. The gears for this are on the reverse side of the board, and it will take a full dismantle to access.
The SR-V101 has more plastic, and looser tolerances, which can result in kooky things happening. (Other decks have other issues, so don't feel as if it's a bad deck. It's not. Not better, not worse, just different.)
One possible issue is that a tape was stubborn, which happens a lot, refused to spin easily, and the VCR labored. The plastic transport didn't like this. Something went awry.
Probably fixable, especially with the right parts (donor deck), but very time consuming.
If it makes you feel any better, I'm having a similar problem with my favorite HR-S7865EK deck. In my case, it's more likely a lube or band issue. I've not always been the best with my own PAL deck upkeep. It's long overdue. It works perfectly for playing, just hiccups on REW, so I avoid REW. And thus avoid repairing the deck for now. Not something I have time for, or even bench space for.
@latreche34: BTW, I don't use scopes for realigning. But it's not a task for newbies -- unless the deck was meant for misaligning to a tape. Certain JVCs are easy to mess with, and this is one of them. But you're mostly attuning it to your tapes, not a spec. I can only get away with a no-scope because I have a large library of test tapes. I've also found that scoped alignments can still be off -- which makes little sense, but happens.
Yes, test tapes are not as reliable as they use to be, they are old, stretched or shrunk, have drop outs ...etc and since no test tapes are made anymore the best way is to use pre recorded tapes from the last years of VHS life. One of the reasons that I don't mess with the factory alignment unless I know someone has tempered with it before or I see the red seals have been broken.
Tapes can ruin VCRs. I've had this happen at least once per decade. I've lost some of my favorite decks over the years. This is yet another reason why I always monitor closely, try to avoid REW tapes in the deck. I'm always nearby, and stop a deck when it hits the end. In most cases, the tape end never happens, as the content stopped well before the tape ended.
Yep, lesson learned. This was the first time I let it play unsupervised (and just set a time limit to VirtualDub and let it go). At least it can still play, I'll use a cheap VHS rewinder from now to rewind.
I know this is a year old and maybe you got rid of the deck already, but in case it is still helpful to someone in the future, I also have a JVC SR-V101US with the same problem. I took it apart and found there was small spring missing that is important to assist in pushing up the high speed winding gears into the tape winder notches. I have another non TBC S-VHS VCR with the same layout as the JVC SR-V101US and the spring is right there in place it fast forwards/rewinds perfectly. I'll probably swap it out so that the SR-V101US has the spring in it. If you look at the second picture of the OP's first post, the spring is located just above and behind the two white cog wheels. It appears to be missing in the picture as well. I'll have to follow up later to tell you the model of my donor VCR in case someone wants to get suitable donor for their JVC SR-V101US. I can't remember the model off the top of my head.
Still have the deck--it works fine for my purpose of capturing so it's a nuisance but still very useful. While moving the VCR I heard what sounded like loose bits roaming around the case, which might be remnants of a broken gear or something like that, but I didn't open it up again to check what's up. If it's just a spring then I'd love to try and fix this up!
So I was a bit mistaken. You can't visibly see the spring in the same location as the pictures you originally posted, but the spring is close to that area or behind it. You would have to take the machine apart to find where the spring is, if it's still inside your deck. It may not be worth it to you if you use it as your primary deck, it might still be easier just to use another deck to rewind since playback is not affected. I've attached a picture of an equivalent donor model you can use to replace parts on your JVC SR-V101US. The donor model is a: JVC HR-S2902U. Good luck, and if I ever make the repair myself, I'll let you know the details of how it went.
