Maintenance, parts for Panasonic AG-1980P/AG-5710?
 

(NOTE: I uploaded the Service Manual for the AG-5710 about 1 1/2 yr ago. Turns out, it has a newer version of the K Mechanism service manual at the end, as well as newer versions of other sections. All of that applies to the 1980P ;) )

As I'm heading in to service my AG-5710 I found that "Regular Maintenance" table in the Service Manual (SM). I've duplicated it below, in a slightly nicer format (left out the three types of lube/grease)


I did a bit of searching and learned that:

• Quite a few parts don't appear to be available anymore
• Some are far more $$$ than I would have imagined (eg supposedly we replace the Upper Cylinder every 1000 hours... at a cost of $300?!! That's by far the costliest ongoing aspect of these boxes.)

I have a few questions for those with service/maintenance experience on these Panasonic S-VHS boxes...


* Which of the Maintenance Parts actually DO need to be replaced regularly?
* Any substitute part workarounds that are acceptable?
* Have you found any workarounds to keep them in working order w/o replacing?
* Any hints on sourcing the ones that appear to be no longer available?


I could easily see this as the challenge that some day will bring a complete stop to S-VHS capture/play.

Panasonic Regular Maintenance Items. Clean/Lube/Replace numbers are the interval in hours.

Generally new VCR replacement parts availability has been a problem for years and will probably only get worse. Those hourly figures are probably only nominal.

These days the demand for spare parts is just not there so the likelihood precision made parts like video heads and drums will be remanufactured from scratch seems remote. In that light I take steps to reduce wear to a minimum by not rewinding tapes after digitising, and if possible only fast wind tapes in a machine which bypasses the rotating head drum.

Hmm. I've refurbished probably 15 AG1980/5710's and the lists there as others have mentioned either have parts that aren't available or don't actually ever seem to go bad - at least not to the point where it affects function.

The upper drum is basically the actual video heads and it is possible for those to wear out, though in all of the units I've seen, I've never found one with with worn down heads to the point where it affected playback, though could just be I've gotten lucky maybe.

The other issue is that there's really no "hours counter" to know how many hours the unit has had, so I'd find it very hard to justify replacing parts that work and look fine.

The loading motor is an interesting one - I've never seen a motor go bad, but the motor coupler that goes between the motor and the worm gear is almost always bad by now.

The last thing that is kind of suspect on that list is the timing belt - these were extremely durable and I've never seen one break or show evidence of wear - wish all VCR belts were as durable haha.


The only real mechanical items that I think are reasonable to replace these days are the loading motor coupler (even if the original hasn't broken yet) and the pinch roller (if you see cracking, or the rubber is hard). I've come up with something that works perfectly for the rollers that I've been meaning to list on ebay, but the originals do also come up for sale from time to time as well.