VCR turns off after few seconds?
 

Hello. I just had a tape stuck in my VCR and I got it out. It was jammed in there good so I had to use a screwdriver to wedge it out.

I moved the tape off of the rollers and I couldn’t find any mechanism inside to get it out.

but now whenever I try to turn it on, it just shuts off after a few seconds. And this is a great premium quality VCR too (Insignia IS-DVD100121). Is there any way I can fix it?

Here is an image of the inside of the VCR for reference. It appears the loading mechanism is stuck in the down position:

Attachment 16579

That's not a premium quality VCR, just a standard low-end consumer VHS combo deck.

Insignia is a Best Buy house brand, using rebadges. Probably Funai here, so lowest quality that exists.

Okay. Thanks for letting me know. The person who recommended this VCR to me must have been misinformed.

I don’t believe it’s Funai. Don’t Funai VCRs have the word “PLAY” with a play symbol next to it?

But regardless, you said it’s not premium quality so I believe you.

Would Panasonic be better?

I’m looking for one that won’t have color distortion on top when I record copy protected tapes.

When you forced the tape out which you should never do, you probably forced the VCR out of modes alignement, So the mode switch detects wrong position of different parts and shutts down the VCR to prevent further damage to the parts, Always eject the tape by turing the motor manualy or by using a battery if it's accessible after disconnecting from the main power.