JVC SR-VS30 no audio unless the tape touched?

[videoSam]

I have a tape that I think was recorded poorly? The audio only w
Saved this tape for last, along with a bunch that have slight mold on the tops of the tape.
So I have run about 80 tapes through this vhs player already.

If I touch the tape with a q tip the audio will begin to play.
shortly after the audio will stop playing.

Do I need to adjust the tape head? Is there a guide for doing that on a JVC SR-VS30.

Example video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHjzdfHtA4s

Later on the tape, it plays audio that was recorded by a vhs player rather than a camcorder.

[timtape]

Hi and welcome.

Normally pushing the tape away from the audio head as in your video would make the audio worse, not better. Is the audio head clean? The audio section is at the very top section of the head.

Alternatively the head may be slightly above or below where the audio is and missing it. In that case the head may need to be slightly raised or lowered to catch the wanted audio. Unfortunately performing this adjustment can be difficult unless we know what we are doing. It can be even more difficult returning the adjustment back to standard factory setting.

Also unless you are experienced, be careful working on an opened VCR with the lid off. There can be some very dangerous voltages in there which can give a nasty shock. Any cleaning or other work should be done with the mains cord disconnected. Even then sometimes the VCR can still have dangerous high voltage stored in the main capacitor. Be very careful.

[videoSam]

@timtape
Thanks for viewing.

Several other tapes work with audio, just not this tape.
I tried cleaning the heads with q-tip and isopropyl alcohol.

I'm getting my oscilloscope back over the holiday break. Been trying to find the alignment guide for this vcr.

I have another Daewoo DVK87N that was able to play the tape with audio.

Its only this tape that wont play audio, and only the camcorder recorded section of the tape that has this issue.

[timtape]

Understood. The other problem is we dont know which VCR is aligned to factory specs. We also dont know if the particular tape was recorded to specs. You could align both decks to factory specs and then there may be no audio on either deck, or at least worse than on the Daewoo.

The camera angle of the video would be better closer and from the side so that we can see more clearly what the tape is doing in relation to the audio head.

[videoSam]

Full size VHS sized tape with 2 separate recordings on it.
Recording #1 Most likely shot on consumer grade quality not pro. Audio does not play on jvc, audio plays on Daewoo.
Recording #2 TV Broadcast most likely recorded from a unknown VCR. Audio plays on JVC and Daewoo.

My guess is the tape was not recorded to specs on recording #1. Im digitizing for a friend for free and i dont think they are super picky about the quality so I might just go with daewoo.