Panasonic NV-J45 has sound only?

[JensBV9]

Hello,

New user, please don't kill me if this is not the proper subforum. :-)

I'm super stoked that I found this forum while googling around for some info on this VCR/VHS player I got gifted to me the other day. I know for sure it's not particularly valuable or anything, but would still love to be able to get it to run properly again if possible.

The player starts up without any fuss. Takes and ejects cassettes without a problem. All the basic functionality play/rewind/fast forward/pause and so on is in working order. Mechanically it feels sound.

However, and this is of course a big however, it produces no or very crappy picture with lots of distortion. The sound, though, is clear as crystal. I did some initial googling and found out that sound and picture isn't by default connected. One could work without the other.

I tried to clean the head drum with a small piece of white paper and some 99% iso. Though some dirt came off, it wasn't that bad to be honest. And made no difference what so ever.

There's a local guy here, an old school Tv repairman, who's helped me in the past with HIFI equipment such as old Tvs and an 80s Bang & Olufsen stereo set. He's no dud and could probably get the thing working if possible.

My question is: In your opinion, is it worth it or should I just try and find a working unit? (Time and money wise)

My main focus is playback. Can I use it to transfer some old family VHS cassettes - perfect. If not, no biggie.

Thanks in advance,
Jens
Sweden

[themaster1]

crappy video output = dirty video heads 8 times out 10, Clean with alcohol + paper (no qtip, chamois)...and clean again. When you think it's cleaned enough, clean some more.. .
Skills required: delicacy / Investment: minimal / Time: 5 to 10 min

Could also be other things like bad grounding of the drum. But first things things>> the heads

[JensBV9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by themaster1

crappy video output = dirty video heads 8 times out 10, Clean with alcohol + paper (no qtip, chamois)...and clean again. When you think it's cleaned enough, clean some more.. .
Skills required: delicacy / Investment: minimal / Time: 5 to 10 min

Could also be other things like bad grounding of the drum. But first things things>> the heads

Thanks for your quick reply!

I thought I did pretty much what you suggested. Maybe apart from the "...clean some more" part.

I'll give it a go.

-- merged --

Quick follow-up!
Should I see a gradual improvement when cleaning or will it go from "no picture" to "perfect picture"?

// Jens

-- merged --

So, I've done some more cleaning (MUCH more) and the results aren't happening to be honest.

What I did discover, though, is that when I play the tape and alternating between holding REW or FF there are flashes in between where the image appears. Maybe as if the tape is going too fast or too slow when playing the cassette. I've tried 5-6 different cassettes, and they are all show the same behaviour. They are all pre-recorded movies, if that makes a difference.

I recorded a video with my phone to show it, but I'm not sure if I can upload it here?

Any ideas?

// Jens

[themaster1]

kinda strange you say the sound is clear (so the A/C head ( by the right side of the drum) might be well positioned) and yet no image except in FF or RW. Just like i have on my philips actually.

The infos for the tape speed is read by the AC Head (the bottom edge), you may want to tweak it.
For the record i tweaked mine on the philips with little to no progress in playback mode as far pictures (even swapped the AC head).

Clean that head to begin with

[JensBV9]

I'm not sure I follow.

I have included an image of my player in action. Could you try to point out what my plan of attack should be using that?

-- merged --

Partly success!

By pure luck I pressed down on manual tracking on the control deck on the vhs player and got a constant picture. Fine-tuned the tracking and tried the guide rollers as well. Found a good middle ground. Really fuzzy interferred picture still, but definately watchable.

This was all with the lid off. When I put the lid back I got - nothing. Back to just sound. As I type this the picture came back out of nowhere, but still with some interference. What could cause this intermittence in playback? Any interferring electrical units around it? Tv? Computers? Bad cables?

// Jens

-- merged --

Wellwaddayaknow!

It all seems to be working now. A little cleaning and a little tracking and just running the unit seems to have gotten it back in working shape.

Thanks for the valuable feedback themaster1!

Going to celebrate by watching Joel Schumacher's Tigerland on - yup - VHS.

// Jens

[themaster1]

The lid provides protection against EMI it's like a faraday cage. The bottom+ chassis+ lid are all connected.
Vhs signal is all tiny on the scale, the slightest noise will weaken the signal/noise ratio (SNR).
I'm glad you could make it work.

Also check the long metal piece that touch the centre of the drum.
It must touch the drum (bend it if it don't) this provides grounding of the drum ( no grounding = noisy pictures/ sound)
Check that no screws are missing on the chassis