Panasonic NV-SH830 noise lines in playback?

[sc3lj]

I've recently purchased a Panasonic NV-SH830 S-VHS player from Ebay. When I play a video, I get a band across the bottom of the screen. I've tried a few different tapes (including pre-recorded videos bought from new and ones recorded from TV) All of them have the same issue. I've cleaned the heads but there's no difference to the picture. I've attached a couple of images to show what the problem is.

Am I better just returning the player to the seller? Any advice is much appreciated

[themaster1]

strange band of noise to say the least, i don't think that's alignment issue but i could be wrong

[lordsmurf]

Either tape damage (scratches will be visible), or misalignment, are most likely here.

Head damage is also possible. How, exactly, did you clean the heads?

Most eBay decks -- literally 80-90%, it has been measured now by multiple people -- is complete trash. The eBay VCR sellers are idiots, with some not even knowing how VCRs function (too young). And yet, the lie of "tested" and "working" is on every listing. The way most are packed/shipped like trash should be an obvious tell. (In PAL, a few sellers like VCRShop use eBay, but those are the exception, not the rule.)

[sc3lj]

There is no tape damage on the any of the videos I tried and I used surgical spirits with a cotton bud to clean the heads. There was dirt removed but the picture didn't look noticably different afterwards and the band across the screen was the same as before.