Hi, I am having really bad VHS playback issues. I was transferring some old home videos. for one tape this damage where the image duplicated and moved up and down was present for the first half-hour then came back periodically throughout the tape. it was not laying flat inside the VHS tape, (there are example images I attached. they are not the same tapes but you will get the idea of what I am talking about when I say bumpy or flat.) then I thought to rewind and fast-forward through the tape 2 times. I thought that might fix it because the tape was laying bumpy like that. it worked. the odd damage was gone. but then there was another VHS tape I was ready to transfer but there was the same problem and rewinding and fast-forwarding the tape a couple of times did not help I still thought it might have something to do with it looking bumpy. I linked a video of the thing I am talking about.

https://youtu.be/uNWy7F_W4_I

I do not know what to do to fix this. just so you know I know that this was not there the last time the tapes played.

I have the same VHS tape you show in "flat" and intend to digitize it as well. :D

Ideally tapes should be look "flat" on the reels to protect the exposed winds from physical damage at the top and bottom edges. A poor wind is usually caused by very fast winding but it doesn't always damage the tape. The best wind for storage is after playing the tape to the very end rather than a fast wind.

thank you.

Tape packs don't always sit flush - it's a sign of a happy and healthy tape often but it's not always an indicator of anything especially untoward.

The machine gently guides the tape to sit properly around the head so unless you hear a characteristic "crinkling" sound of the top or the bottom of the tape being mashed during its trip around the mechanism I would suggest your issue may lie elsewhere.

My "finger the in air" diagnosis would point towards a tape tension issue, but it's a tricky internet diagnosis.