Did I ruin the video heads?
 

My NV-HS830 suddenly began showing a bit under half of the screen, like so:

https://i.imgur.com/ALoMhuU.jpeg

I felt brave and figured I would try what 12voltvids shows in one of his video, where he adjust the tracking while playing back a tape.

Some how I managed making everything worse to a degree where I cannot for the life of me adjust the tracking to bring back any sort of image. All I see is
https://i.imgur.com/P0e6L3a.mp4

In the process of all this I did also clean the heads and I'm unsure if I somehow damaged them in the process, but if my recollection of the events isn't completely off I'm pretty sure that this only-a-fuzzy-black-screen state wasn't introduced after me "cleaning" the heads.

So I'm curious - is this just how damaged heads typically look like and I'm SOL, or could there be something else?

Thanks.

Not sure why you jumped on adjusting the tape transport? if it was working 5 minutes prior to that, what made you think the transport is misadjusted?

Isn't it possible to edit threads after a while? Maybe I'm blind but I can't find the edit button.

Anyway, I've attached the initial image (and video for good measure) which seems to be a dead link.

Hm, I "adjusted" the tracking - almost half of the screen was fuzzy.

Was it fuzzy when you got the deck, or became fuzzy after you inserted a questionable tape?

You stated "My NV-HS830 suddenly began showing a bit under half of the screen" this does not require re-adjusting the transport, just troubleshoot the issue, which could be a tape with sticky shed syndrome, mold or physically damaged, therefore it will require a thorough cleaning of the heads and test with non problematic tapes to confirm the results. It is hard to get the factory adjustment back once messed with, this is why it is not recommended to screw with factory condition unless it is an absolute necessity.

But I don't know what you mean by adjusting tracking, is it a knob twist or a full tape transport alignment? Because it's hard to get a picture when the heads are dirty and you are mis adjusting the tape guides. It's like walking in a dark and getting guided by a blind person.

This can be risky. Just because an experienced tech on a YT channel can fix a problem in a certain way doesnt mean anybody watching can have the same success. And the problems may not be the same.

12voltvids has largely lost (if he ever had) the respect of professionals and serious users.

In recent years, almost all of his videos show him being rough with gear, throwing things around, forcing things. He's a "bull in China shop", and extremely unprofessional. Also a filthy work area. And he rants too much, sometimes proudly stated outright false information. (The he doubles down on his wrongheadedness in the comments.)

He's still fooling newbies, but a lot of us have called him out for his BS and behavior.

What I've never liked is that his information is often incomplete. He tends to gloss over important steps and facts. Or he doesn't know those himself. Either way, it's bad. (I see this with other topics, from other Youtubers, like car repair, where missing steps can be outright dangerous to you or the vehicle.)

Honestly, this is almost an oxymoron. Sadly, I'm not aware of actual professionals sharing all their deck repair knowledge online. In fact, very sadly, many have taken it to their grave.

You do see some good videos, but very infrequently. Most of what exists is newbies putting on their "big boy repairman pants". Also some pretenders -- Google "experts" with their Google "degrees", but zero real-life experience. Dunning-Kruger has never been more true.

Always be wary of VCR repair info on Youtube. Let's just be apprehensive of Youtube altogether! The chat AI bots (ChatGPT, etc) are even worse.

Damaged decks is the more common outcome when following that (mis)information.

Sure, but how else to learn? Definitely regret not posting in here from the beginning but I felt it was do-able. I don't know of anyone being able to repair machines like this, nearby, and it probably wouldn't be worth the cost anyway. It is what it is, I got another machine of the same model that works but I think it's a shame to just discard this one, if there's something to be done.

I used it some times last year, without issue and in the mean time it just was in my closet, dry and all. A while ago I wanted to play back a tape again and noticed the issue. Afair it was less than on the picture but I stoved it away for months without using it until recently deciding to have a look at the problem.

As for "adjusting tracking" I'm sorry for the gibberish, it was a bit early and my initial post yesterday was a bit late. What I meant was adjusting the tape path alignment as per this video which has shown to be a big mistake as per lordsmurfs post.

There is no logic in your actions. If the machine worked before, but no longer works as it should, the worst thing you can do is to start adjusting something. Because nothing, in most cases, can be out of adjustment by itself, and if it has happened, then it should be detected first and not start to adjust the potentiometers (or something else) like a monkey (sorry ;)) with a screwdriver.

- clean the heads again (paper with iso alcohol)
- make sure the tape run in the middle of the guide (not too low not too high)
- there shouldn't be curls and /or slack anywhere when the tape run (play mode): check there aren't any
- Good contact with the A/C head is criticial for a good decoding. No picture at all (your symptom) can happen if the contact is really off. Adjusting the height of the guide (exit guide/p3) will modify the contact surface/ angle with the A/C head.

I realize you correctly stated "in most cases", but to expand on what one such case could be, is the effect of gravity in alignment. But we're only talking mm here, not major adjustment. Just enough to play with bad tracking/alignment quality, but no unviewable/etc.

Gravity is a great force, I agree. One angry wife threw all her husband's equipment from the 9th floor and jumped after (she probably didn't want to experience a meeting with her husband). Nothing survived, except wife. She had very fat bottom and landed on bushes. But it's not big enough to misalign a VCR in a couple of days. But there is another thing - the 4th dimension, which we often neglect - Time. I finally found Michael Chambosse & Friends "The Timemachine" original CD rarer than a hen's tooth.