A big part of maintenance is simply cleaning.
And a big part of cleaning is not being stupid/stubborn and/or ignorant assumption.
Don't trust anybody with cleaning. Most people do it wrong, using everything from Q-tips to cheap fibrous paper. Lints and fiber massively damage heads, often entirely ruining the VCR. And FYI, that's why eBay has so many bad decks now. Too many clueless newbies followed horrible advice on Youtube/blogs/forums from equally clueless people.
For example, Bammel. Verify how they clean. Specifics, not generics.
There are forum-posted guides on cleaning here, but the shortcut is this:
(1) chamois or foam swabs
(2) BE GENTLE!
A big question is often "when" should you clean. The answer is just before it's needed. Yes, that does seem facetious, but it's really not. The catch is this: You don't want to cause wear from overcleaning. Yet you want it to be cleaned before it has problems. VCRs are like cats, and hide their problems. And by the time you find out about it, see problems, it's too late. Hence the need to continually inspect and test your gear -- at least if you want it to last.
You want to gather a group of test tapes, only used for testing (so the testing isn't invalid due to tape wear), and then closely see if it has changes. Look at the timing (tell-tale transport error), the tracking (alignment), and presence of any video/audio imperfections (head wear). Also open the unit, visually inspect it. Consider even using a magnifying glass to view the heads. And listen; a good tube of silicon grease may come in handy for noisy transport parts.
Aside from cleaning, you live on Earth, and we have the pesky problem called gravity. Over time, it causes alignments to shift, meaning bad tracking. Head wear also eventually causes tracking issues. Realignment is best done with oscilloscopes by a trained professional repairman, but most JVC S-VHS decks are eyeball-able and adjustable with a small flat head screwdriver (while watching the tape play).
Panasonic decks are essentially completely unserviceable to users, and repairs/maintenance can be expensive. Hence another reason that your first line VCR should be JVC, and Panasonic only used when JVCs fail to play the source tapes adequately.
D-VHS decks, especially that Mitsubishi model, have about B-/B+ tracking quality, sometimes even C grade..
See also:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/news...g-grading.html
Did I miss anything?
