Best player for cheap tapes?
 

I'm trying to back up a series of educational tapes. One tape series from a different vendor is eaten by both of my vcr's (JVC SR-V10U and JVC SR-W5U). I've transferred 20 tapes from different vendors and periods on both in the past month.

I've tried two tapes in a 20 tape educational series on both machines and both have trouble playing them and rewind them. I've had issues with the tape getting chewed up and shutting down the vcr on both machines.

The tapes are no name non branded.

I suspected a damaged or broken locking mechanism in the tapes, so I removed it from one tape. The issue with chewed up tapes persists after the locking mechanism removal.

Is there a player that can play troubled tapes like these? I do not believe it is the players. They've both done a good job with no eaten tapes before this set.

The best player for cheap tapes would be, as you know, prosumer or pro players with Svideo out, tbc built in, and heavy duty, robust tracking mechanisms.

At the risk of offending JVC lovers, my own experience with my 3 JVC's and with others I know about was that they refuse to stay in alignment for extended periods and require frequent pro-level adjustment. I had three JVCs and ended up with three damaged tapes. Trying to get them repaired makes a root canal seem like entertainment. You can try TGrantPhoto for JVC repairs, as he has handled the SR-V series. If you ask T. Grant for advice, though, he'd probably tell you to get a Panasonic 1980 or 1970 if you want more rugged tracking with crummy tapes.

Repairing the tape path on a JVC is excerbated by the fact that any older JVC you find today, unless it has been maintained in a pro shop, will have been run into the ground to the point where most of their parts aren't salvageable for use on other JVC's.. JVC part support ended many years ago, which makes the situation worse. The SR-V series are later models, cheaper than the big boys like the 8000 and 9000 series, and are less rugged that their older cousins were. The Panasonics mentioned were more costly than the JVC prosumer units, and thus fewer were sold over the years. The again, JVC was the fad for several years until the market ran dry. Now the same market situation is starting to happen with the Pannies.

Try TGrantPhoto and see if the repair might be worth it.

I gave a Panasonic 1980 a try to. Still no go.

I'm fairly certain the tapes are faulty. The tapes have a problem with the left hand side. It will just stop turning. It stops turning in play back and stop turning on rewind. You could hear the Panasonic strain trying to turn it. All of the tapes in this set have this trouble.

Is it possible to put the tape on a better made tape? These tapes are cheap no name tapes from 84.

*double post*

Replacing broken VHS cassettes isn't the easiest trick in the world. There are many vids and articles on the web telling how to do it. Examples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54ZywRLM41A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU8ICnNFAjU
If you don't have that much time or patience, the services dept. at digitalfaq can either do it for you or recommend a shop that can.