JVC SR-V101US: Tape Fibers in Player
 

Hey Now,

I own a JVC SR-V101US, which I bought YEARS ago when I was doing some VHS to DVD converting. I did not use it much, and the machine worked great, but have not used the player since.

I just recently had the need to do some more conversions to DVD. I dug the player out of the box, and hooked it up, the tapes play, but I noticed the picture quality was significantly snowy / grainy, no matter what tape was played (commercial or non commercial).

I assumed it may need a cleaning since it had been collecting dust for years, but I opened the top to find a pile of strands or fibers from what appear to have come from the VHS tapes around the area of the capstan and pinch roller, and residual strands all throughout the machine.

I guess my questions are:

Is this normal?

If not, anyone seen this type of behavior before? Diagnosis of the issue?

Thanks!

What colour are the fibres? I have seen all sorts of grot in VHS decks - white tape mould powder, greasy residue, hairs etc. Really you should have serviced the deck prior to retiring it and again before using it after its dust gathering period. If the deck has been used in a place where smoking took place that can make bits of tape stick and leave fine black whiskers here and there.

The fibers are black, they are clearly little "whiskers" of tape. There was a whole pile of them around the capstan, and some other residual ones floating around the unit, they are pretty sticky, some of them are difficult to pick up off the metal.

No smoking at all in the house, so not sure what else could have caused it. I bought the unit refurbished years ago, so maybe they have been in there since I bought the unit? I cleaned most of them up, gave the heads and parts that contact tape a cleaning, and the unit plays tapes just as good as it always has. The cleaning seem to help the picture quality, and it was playing videos crisp with no issues.

I was just concerned if this kind of thing was normal. It doesn't appear to be eating away at any of the tapes I have played, as they all seem to play great. Dunno....

A tape shed oxide in the player. That's not good at all.

The tape was bad, and it can be detrimental to the player. I have a SR-V10 VCR that only plays with a garbled signal because of oxide shedding.

Any tapes played in this unit, after the shedding, not have oxide leavings on them. Also not good.

It needs a proper cleaning. As you see, not an easy mess to clean.