JVC HR-S9911U dead after power surge?
 

We recently had a massive power surge caused by a squirrel chewing through our ground wire. Now it won't turn on (no lights). Is this possibly repairable for a reasonable amount, or at all? The last time I used it, it worked fine. I've got 20 tapes with lots of old movies I haven't watched. Very sad! :depressed:

This is why ALL computer/video equipment should be on a good UPS.

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP...8b852f23de7377

Consider it insurance for your pricey hardware.

TVs should be on one, too!

The board may be zapped hard, or it may just be a capacitor (resistor?) that committed suicide to save the rest of the board. I'd send it to TGrant Photo, maybe forum member deter.

Whatever you do, don't trash it. Somebody somewhere may want to fix it.

My:2cents:

Your JVC does not use a three pronged power plug ie it uses the hot wire (narrow blade on the plug) and Neutral ( wide blade on the plug) only. So what I am saying is that your chassis is not grounded the ground your unit sees is felt through the neutral wire back at the breaker box.

There is a 1.25 amp fuse in series just where the hot wire of the plug enters the unit. This fuse is to protect the unit for such situations. Additionally just past the fuse across the output of the fuse and the neutral buss is a varister also know as a voltage dependant resister which is supposed to sense a spike in voltage and shunt it back to neutral sometimes sacrificing itself to protect the sensitive electronics. You can usually see if a fuse is "blown". sometimes you will be able to see a burnt varister after it has sacrificed itself.

This scheme does not protect your electronics always. Only if you are lucky. Is it repairable for a reasonable amount who knows?

ESD electro static discharge/electro static damage is a horrible enemy of electronics and deserves respect.
ESD is such a big deal in industry today that many techs are required to be certified and yearly re certified in ESD to remove and replace or repair equipment which contains ESD components (pretty much anything nowdays)

Hello, lordsmurf:

Thanks for your reply. I have never seen anything like the UPS you recommend. I'll certainly look into it. But I have a space problem. The equipment, including the VCR, Blu Ray player, Cable Box, TV and Chromebox, is plugged into a high quality surge supressor, which sits next to the TV in an antique armoire. I'm not sure I have room for the one you suggest. And the plugs need to be accessible for cable reboots, etc. The surge also killed the Blu Ray player and Cable Box, which wasn't a problem, because the Blu Ray is an inexpensive model, easily replaced, and the Cable Box was replaced for free by my cable company. Oddly, though, the surge supressor, TV and Chromebox were all ok. We have installed a new ground rod and a whole-house surge protector, so we should be better protected in the future.

I will call T.Grant and email deter. Although it may be more economical to sell my defective VCR and start over.

I probably won't be doing any additional taping, but I have a supply of old movies I'd like to watch on my S-VHS tapes. I don't need to save them to DVDs, I just want to watch them. I've read your really helpful buying guide, and I've been pretty happy with my 9911, but if I just want to watch my existing tapes, would one of the lower model JVCs be sufficient to my needs? There are quite a few on ebay right now. In addition, someone is selling a Mitsubishi HS-HD2000U for $129, so that is an option as well. I want to spend most of my money on a used HDD DVR, so I can get better quality with my recordings. I am rather spoiled with the length of S-VHS tapes, so the capacity of a DVD is definitely a drawback. For this reason I probably won't get a DVD recorder. I am hesitant to rent the DVR from my cable company, because I know it has a really small hard drive, and I don't want to continue to pay for something I don't own. I also don't want something like a TIVO that charges a monthly subscription fee. I love my Chromebox, which turns my TV into a computer, and gives me access to any apps I want, but it has no recording capabilities. I certainly record less than I used to with access to Netflix, and TCM.com gives me access to a film for a week, but I don't want to not have the option to record if I want to.

Thanks for your help,

jazzbaby

Hello, bever:

Thanks for the electronics explanation. Because of ESD, it sounds like I should not be the one to try and see if the fuse is blown. I wouldn't know what to do anyway. Lordsmurf suggested contacting T.Grant and dever, which I will do. I am also considering selling my defective unit and buying another, perhaps on ebay.

jazzbaby

"Surge" strips/suppressors do nothing whatsoever. Plug your stuff into 1-2 strips, and plug the strips in the UPS. The rating of the UPS should match the rating of the hardware. Start with a single 1500 unit. Get another if you need to run a computer, HDTV, and multiple other items on it. You lost a lot of hardware, and it will happen again and again during the life of your equipment. Next time, it could take out the HDTV or computer (also destroying the hard drive).

You ignore this advice at your own peril.

If you just want to view a tape, I have several options for it.

Selling the old, and trying to buy anew for viewing only is an acceptable plan. Just DO NOT try to turn the watching workflow into a recording/capture workflow.

The only Mitsubishi I see on eBay has noise. You need to really be careful with eBay these days. Lots of "working" and "tested" equipment mysteriously shows up broken. Then UPS/USPS/Fedex is blamed, you get your money back, and the shipper pays the seller's claim. The seller knew it never worked, and you were a mule that wasted time for their fraud. I've been testing hardware this year, and buying some things I'd never used in years past. I've had this happen with VCRs 2 out of 4 times so far! The damage was NOT caused by a shipper!

About time:
- An SP mode T120 VHS tape is 2 hours. LP and EP are longer (4 or 6), but often look worse. And you have T160, T180, T200, but quality of those is usually REALLY bad.
- A quality DVD recorder can give you 3-4 hours on a single DVD.

It really depends on setting.

Capture cards are better about allowing longer, and less compressed, recording options.

My a/v components are on precision surge protectors that cost a pretty penny (2 of them). These work by shutting down entirely if a surge occurs, because it's usually the on-again surge that does the damage. When a surge occurs they have to be re-set before they're turned back on. I threw away my expensive Monster Cable junk years ago -- they just didn't work, period, and are little more than $200 AC extension cords. My PC and peripherals are on 1-hour UPS units. Long ago I had the usual discount store "surge protectors" that allowed a surge to destroy a motherboard and a PCI hard drive controller card (thank goodness I had exact copies of those components, as they were out of production when the surge occurred).

A cheap UPS unit can't handle the power draw of many a/v components. I don't recall what the number limits are, but TV's and amplified receivers draw a lot of power and are poorly protected internally. There are UPS units specifically recommended for various electronics.

The 1500 can take it. Others, not so much. Maybe a 650-800 range, if you go light on the load. No computer, just the a/v gear. HDTVs don't take much power at all these days. The AG-1980P is a real vampire.

Hi, lordsmurf:

You solved the space problem by saying I should plug my strip into the UPS. That can sit behind the TV, but I still have access to the plugs on the strip for cable reboots, etc. I'm onboard with this plan, but I'm having a hard time convincing the husband. Is there anything you can say that will convince my skeptical husband? He's a retired Patent Attorney and ex-chemical engineer, so he does have a technical background. He doesn't think a backup battery will save equipment. I will need two of these because my mac is not anywhere near my big screen TV and video equipment. I was initially looking at APC's 600, which was on Amazon's compare list, but a lot cheaper. Now I know why. It's less than half the power.

As to the VCR, the Mitsubishi I was considering was located in Pasadena, so I was going to drive over and pick it up so it didn't have to be shipped. Unfortunately, I didn't jump fast enough and it sold. However, my electrician and I looked at my VCR this morning and found a blown fuse and bad capacitor. He thinks he can fix it. Amazon has a Panasonic capacitor that is the right size, as well as the correct fuse. So it is possible my VCR is repairable for next to nothing.

My tapes are professional JVC S-VHS tapes I bought from Total Media. I have a couple of T-120s, but most of them are T-210s. I liked being able to get the all-night movie marathons. I did usually record in EP to maximize the length of the tape. I don't record for posterity; I just like to see something once. I have to say, though, now that I've gotten spoiled on HD quality, the last time I looked at one of my tapes I was disappointed in the quality of my recording. If I get the machine fixed, I'll have to do something in SP and see how that compares, not to HD, but I believe it might be about the same as a 480p DVD, which is fine for an old black and white film. What is a capture card? And what type of machine uses one?

Thanks very much!

My spiel above after a seccond look appears a bit officious.
Its only meant as a reminder that some componets in your vcr can be damaged if you are working on it and subject ic's, transistors etc to a static discharge (as well as lightening strikes and power surges).In most cases due to manufacturing design simply removing the cover and changing a fuse does not put your elctronics at risk of electro static damage. Of course unplug your machine and remove batteries before any work.

Hi, bever:

Absolutely no offense taken. I appreciate the warning. Believe me, after the electrical occurrences in this house over the past few months, I am exceedingly cautious around anything electrical!