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-   -   Panasonic AG-1980, when to repair? (https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vcr-repair/9726-panasonic-ag-1980-a.html)

bigkazzyry 05-16-2019 05:24 PM

Panasonic AG-1980, when to repair?
 
Hello,
I've seen a lot of questions in the forum regarding the capacitors on the AG-1980's going bad and needing to be replaced. When is it time to repair the AG-1980's? Is it better to repair before issues surface or is it an "If it isn't broke don't fix it" scenario? My experience with capacitors goes back to an old Eagle Talon I had that had a "Ticking Time Bomb" ecu which is why I'm concerned. I stumbled upon 2 x AG-1980's for $150 plus shipping. They are arriving tomorrow so I wanted to find out the expert opinions on this before I start using them on my project. Thanks.

sevarre 05-21-2019 03:06 PM

I am not an expert, but it seems that the Y/C board on the AG-1980 is known to be problematic. I recently recapped the Y/C board and Timer board on my AG-1980 and picture quality is greatly improved after the Y/C board recap (used to have this terrible barber pole/rainbow diagonal pattern). The Timer board recap took care of dim LCD display on the front of the machine.

For $75 a piece on the 1980's who knows what issues they might have. If all that needed to be done was the Y/C board, that would be a pretty good scenario.

As far as when to repair the machine, I am not sure what the "best practices" are in the repair industry, but I've always subscribed to the "If it isn't broken don't fix it" mantra, just out of sheer economy. I imagine if someone was doing this professionally, they would probably just do the recap right away as they know they will have to do so at some point. But I am very much a hobbyist.

In either case, these machines are gettin' OLD and they use sad aluminum electrolytic capacitors, so you will likely have to do some work. Have you tested either of the machines yet?

bigkazzyry 05-21-2019 05:15 PM

I have tested them both and they appear to struggle with scenes that have darker colors but in other scenes they look great. I also have a hd2000u that is working fantastic so what I'll probably do is use the Mitsu VCR until I can afford to have one of the AG-1980's repaired properly. Thanks for your input, it's greatly appreciated.

lordsmurf 05-21-2019 07:33 PM

My advice = Ain't broke, don't fix it.

You'll know problems exist earliest when (1) display dim, (2) TBC on/off makes picture brighter/darker.
The next stage is heavy picture noise.


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