Different AG1980 issues on two VCRs
 

I have different issues with 2 Panasonic AG1980, and I was hoping somebody could maybe identify the problems and tell me if it's something that's fixable.

On the first unit, tapes play perfectly at first, then after 45 minutes or so of continuous playing, the video starts to get fuzzier and fuzzier until it goes out completely. I was capturing a tape the last time it happened, and I put the last 10 seconds before the video went out on youtube :
Video issue AG1980

The unit doesn't seem to run hot. If I eject the tape and put it right in, the problem returns. But if I wait a little (say 30 minutes) most of the time the video is back to normal. One time, I captured a 3 hours event without watching it, and looking at the capture after I noticed that the video went out after an hour, but then went back to normal at the 2 hours mark...

I tried another power cord (I have other AG1980 VCRs) and I can rule that out. The problem is not coming from the tape itself, as I tried a few and the issue keeps occuring regardless.

Any idea what could be wrong ?

On the 2nd unit, the problem is much less severe. When the TBC is set to on, it introduce artifacts in the form of greenish or pinkish lines that are streaking thru the video at random intervals. Those lines do not appear when the TBC is off. If it wasn't for the lines, the TBC seems to do its job correctly, as it stabilizes the video (less jitter).

Ps.: I tried to contact JOTS Electronics using their contact form, but never got any response. Are they still in business ? I think Deter was also offering his services for AG1980 repair, but he has not logged to DigitalFAQ since February...anybody knows if he is still taking on repairs ?

Looks like a PSU problem.

the 1st one sound like the power supply.
2nd one is probably caps

i was told Jots VCR tech retired
try Stanton TV repair - in Elmsford NY- their guy is good and they give free estimates

Thanks for the feedback !

I thought about the PSU too, but it it was indeed the PSU wouldn't I have noticed something wrong with the sound too ? Right now, only the video goes out, the audio continue to play OK.

ive never had an audio issue on any AG-1980 and ive had many of them.

biggest issues i usually find:
diagonal red/blue lines in picture - (bad caps on Y/C card)
dark picture - (bad caps on Y/C card)
no video - (bad caps)
dim display - (bad display)
machine takes tape and immediately spits it out
lube dries up on pinch roller assembly and then breaks the plastic dink off where it engages cam

these are great decks when 100%, but they are still very much built like a 1980's era deck - very over complicated with a great many parts/electronics to fail.