SL-HF900 ejects tape right after insert

[emamid]

I recently got my late uncle's SL-HF900 player out of storage in order to digitize his family recordings, but I'm running into a problem. Whenever I insert a tape into the player, it seems to seat, then is ejected after 4-5 seconds. I've tried this with multiple tapes. I don't see any damage to the tapes, or to the player, and everything *sounds* like it's working smoothly -- no motor straining or gear clicking. Looking in through the tape slot, I don't see any damage or excessive dust.

Any suggestions? Note that this is not the same as the 2013 ejection problem thread for this model (ejecting properly on one side of the tape but not the other). I'm reluctant to open it up myself, as it's been ages since I've done hardware work, and I don't want to break what's sort of an heirloom.

[latreche34]

You will have to open the top cover and see what's doing and post pictures, We can give you a hundred guesses and no one will be your problem.

[emamid]

I'll do that this evening, then. And yeah, I know it's vague, was hoping it might be something common and well-known.

[latreche34]

Even the most common problems are several, Like video head not spinning or froze up, broken plastic gears, parts out of alignment, Broken or perished belts, just to name few.

[NJRoadfan]

Broken gears on the front loader will cause problems like the tape loading crooked and not dropping completely down onto the reels. On the left side of the front loader, check the gears carefully for missing teeth on the gears. Also the capstan motor assembly almost certainly needs to be re-capped as it has a surface mount cap that fails and leaks.

Mr. Betamax has more info here about common faults: http://www.mrbetamax.com/ShoppingBeta.htm

He has a repair service as well. Worth it if you plan on transferring a lot of tapes and need a reliable deck.

[emamid]

Here are the photos. Sorry for the delay, needed to contact my aunt to be sure she was OK with opening my uncle's machine up.






Edit: "Open image in new tab" works on the links, but no thumbnails are showing for me.

[dpalomaki]

No images to see, just references to "lost" in hot links.

[emamid]

Beta-1.jpg

You must be logged in to view this content; either login or register for the forum. The attached screen shots, before/after images, photos and graphics are created/posted for the benefit of site members. And you are invited to join our digital media community.

Beta-2.jpg

You must be logged in to view this content; either login or register for the forum. The attached screen shots, before/after images, photos and graphics are created/posted for the benefit of site members. And you are invited to join our digital media community.

(Should have switched to Advanced and seen the Attach icon)

[dpalomaki]

VCR's have timing sensors that determine whether or not a tape and the mechanism is in the expected state and the mechanism is doing what it is expected to be doing at that time. If the expected state is not reached it will usually eject the tape. The sensor system generally includes switches and photo cells. As noted the cause of the failure could be almost anything anything; e.g., a gear jumping a cog, a worn belt, slipping clutch, dried out lubricant, dirty contact in a position switch, etc.

I can't tell anything from the stills, I don;t know the machine you have. A short video of the loading process showing the cassette loading, opening, and tape threading then ejecting would be better than the stills, but still not likely topinpoint the issue.

Have you checked the service manual for the VCR? It might have some self-diagnostic capability that could help pinpoint the issue if you are technically inclined.

[latreche34]

Yeah, It could be anything, Mechanical, electrical... Unfortunately failures like this cannot be diagnosed thru the forum, See if you have a vintage gear technician in your area who can fix it or sell it as is.