JVC SR-VS30U video tracking issue?
 

I've spent considerable time converting VHS-C and Hi8/Video8 tapes the past few years and I'm now moving onto a few regular VHS home video tapes.

For Hi8/Video8, I'm using Sony TVR-128 > Panasonic DMR-ES15 > Radeon 9600XT AGP on WinXP w/VirtualDub 1.9.11 I'm rather happy with the outcome

For my VHS tapes, I have a JVC SR-VS30U directly into the Radeon 9600XT. Does it make any sense to have the VHS player go into the DMR-ES15?

More importantly, the JVC deck has some issues and I'm not sure if its worth repairing. When I pause or move frame by frame, the playback looks good. When I play normal, its distorted. All tapes are doing this.

Sample:
Attachment 18857 This video is on pause and when I move frame by frame
Attachment 18858 This video is on pause and then I hit play.

In the second video you can see coming out of play, the picture goes crazy and then when it actually plays, its snowy and shaking. It looks like a tracking issue.

I did read that during pause FF/RW, less heads are used, so is it possible the heads being used for normal playback are damaged?

Is there something I can do and/or is this unit worth getting repaired?

That looks like head damage.

Where did it come from?
-- If eBay, realize that the site is a dumping ground, not the venue to acquire properly functioning video gear. Yes, that includes all the "tested" and "working" gear (all BS/bogus descriptions). It's just a gaggle of recyclers and pure resellers these days, no clue on how VCRs/TBCs should function.

It may not be reparable, as there are no replacement heads out there. It's now a parts deck itself, to fix non-heads issues.

I doubt this is mere dirty heads. I really don't think it's anything else here.

Thanks, I won't sink money into repairs then.

Not ebay but close. Facebook marketplace a few years ago, I bought it to use once I was done the small tapes. Now I'm ready for VHS.

I suppose the market is dried up and I should just monitor this forum for someone wanting to sell a trusted unit?

Do I even need a high quality s-vhs vcr, or is there a decent, more common regular vcr that will do the job with my ES15 in-line?

The play problem may or may not be expensive to repair depending on the cause of the problem. As a tech the first thing I would do is clean and inspect the separate audio/control track head. Then I'd watch the tape in play to check that it runs across said A/C head correctly. For a tech this test only takes a few minutes and doesnt involve replacing parts.

Looks like tracking issues, clean the entire tape path, check the pinch roller, check the tape while it's playing, It should look like stationary, if it is waiving or lifting up or pushing down you know you have a transport problem.

If you can't figure it out, depending on what you want to put into it, I have a complete spare mechanism from a low hours VS30U and could probably get it going assuming it is something mechanical or head related. If it's a fried IC somewhere, that I probably won't be able to fix as it was the motherboard that went bad on the unit that came from. If unsuccessful, I'd either keep the unit for parts and charge nothing, or charge return shipping plus $50 for the repair attempt. PM me if interested.

I haven't refurbed as many VS30U's as I have AG1980s, but I have done at least 5 of them, so I'd say I'm relatively familiar.

Situations like this need a reality check. :hmm:

It really comes down to this:
A- Do you really want to keep screwing around with a likely hopelessly broken VCR?
B- Or would you like to start capturing your VHS tapes now, finish that project, and then move on with your life, on to the next project?

For 90%+ of people, I think that that choosing A is just insanity, glutton for punishment. B is to source a known-working quality deck from a reputable source (and yes, I am one, but there are some others too).

This person has already invested time and funds into a non-working VCR. This situation reminds of the stock market, and the "sunk cost fallacy". We humans have a bad habit of pissing away more time and money into an obvious loser, due to the misplaced hope that it regains value. That almost never works -- but even when it does "work", then you run into lost opportunity costs. In video, the lost opportunity cost is time. And time is more valuable than money, something you especially realize as you grow older in life.

(See also: many females, and "I can change him!", or "I still love him" when he abuses her.)

So:
- Can this VCR be fixed? Maybe, maybe not.
- Will it be fast? No.
- Will it be easy? No.
- Will it be cheap? No.

That answers the thread question of "What's wrong, can it be fixed?".

But the unasked question is "Should I bother?", and the answer is "No, move on".

NOTE: Don't junk the deck. It's good for parts. Either sell if "for parts" on eBay/Facebook/wherever, if you think you can extract value from it. Just be warned, that often doesn't end well. Better is to find a buyer here, or just donate it to somebody here (because, again, time to move on).

Did anyone figure out a resolution for this issue? I’m having the same problem

Bad control head maybe, just clean it and check/redo the solder joints for a start

I would highly suspect dirty or bad normal speed heads, since it appears the heads that are used for frame by frame playback seem to be working.