Sears Model 580 VCR gear alignment marks/holes?
 

Sears Model 580.53483090

I own one of the subject VCRs. Until recently it had been performing just fine. Recently it failed to eject a tape (the first indication of a problem). I eventually got the tape out, chalked it up to a "fluke" and went on to play the next tape. It wouldn't play... so Itired fastforwarding the atpe. Again, nothing. I ejected the tape (that waorked!) and put a partailly played tape in to see if would rewind... it did. Upon watching a YouTube video on VCR repair, I began troubleshooting my unit.

Everything seemed to point to an "encoder" problem and proceeded accordingly. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after I had removed a couple of the gears that the video mentioned to be sure to mark the orientation of the gears to insure the alignment holes and marks were positioned properly when re-installing the gears. Is there a source to find out which gears need to be aligned in in a specific sequence? A diagram perhaps? One component inside the cabinet is marked Sony, but I'm not sure that means it was entirely manfactured by Sony... I was hoping I would be able to use one of the many Sony service manuals that seem to be online, but so far my search has gone nowhere.

Does anyone know how to align the gears or know where I can go to get that info?

Part number starting with 580 indicates it was build by Goldstar (now LG). It might not be worth fixing if service info and parts can't be found. Goldstar in the 1980s were low end decks.

Rats. I was in the process of reviewing a bunch of old VHS tapes to send to Legacybox to have them put on DVDs. after watching two of them the VCR started acting up and I thought I might be able to fix it. Oh well. I appreciate your comments and the knowledge you shared!

That's a one-size-fits-all (none) sloppy operation that's only existed for 3-4 years now. They use cheap blank media, lousy transfer hardware, etc. read about them several times as of late. Mixed reviews, and it's the neutral and negative comments that are worrying.

They marketed to mommy bloggers, ladies magazines, etc. They went for the female market.

Notice carefully how they never tell you anything about their setup, hardware, etc, as most video production companies do. They act as if they'll just wave a magic wand at the video, and "poof", new DVD appears. But anybody that visits this site, especially anybody who has seen what lousy conversions look like, will know better.

There are better services.