help - loading trouble on video recorder

"bugbear" wrote in message
...
Two nights ago my VCR refused to play a tape;
the tape was already in, and had been recorded
on timer. The display showed 80 minutes
of recording.

On pressing "play", the head whirred up for
around 20 seconds, an then the VCR when into
"standby" mode.

A little experimentation revealed that this is what
happened regardless of key presses.

In particular, eject didn't work :-(

I removed the case, and noticed that a cam-cog, driven
by a worm gear, appeared to be jamming in some way.

A hefty prod with a finger managed to get it
to travel "fully", and I managed to eject the tape.

Trying to load a (old, unwanted...) tape was futile,
with loading failing with the same jam of the cam-cog,
sometimes accompanied by clicking noises that sounded
like a cog slipping a tooth. The cassette case loaded OK,
and the tape threds over the head OK, but "something"
that the cam-cog does ... doesn't.

The local TV shop has quoted a MINIMUM repair fee of 100 quid,
and VCR's aren't really available on the market right now.

In a bid to save money, and defer the inevitable
(eventual) purchase of a HDD/DVD or PVR box,
I would like to try to get my VCR going again.

It's a five year old Panasonic NV-HS830B, and I've put a wide shot
of the internals, and a close up of the "cam-cog" he

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...830b/video.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...hs830b/cog.jpg

If anyone has tips, advice or experience, I'd be a happy man :-)


The common fault with that particular model (Z deck) is teeth stripping on
the tu loading arm.

The parts are relatively cheap (under a fiver) and pretty easy to replace, I
used to do them trade for about £18.00.. however as others have pointed out,
although they are a very nice vcr when one considers what a DVD recorder or
lower end PVR can now be purchased for, even if you could find someone to
repair it for around £30.00 it wouldn't nowadays be considered to be a
worthwhile proposition.



BugBear

Ivan wrote:

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...830b/video.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...hs830b/cog.jpg

If anyone has tips, advice or experience, I'd be a happy man :-)


The common fault with that particular model (Z deck) is teeth stripping
on the tu loading arm.

The parts are relatively cheap (under a fiver) and pretty easy to
replace, I used to do them trade for about £18.00.. however as others
have pointed out, although they are a very nice vcr when one considers
what a DVD recorder or lower end PVR can now be purchased for, even if
you could find someone to repair it for around £30.00 it wouldn't
nowadays be considered to be a worthwhile proposition.

Since I'd like to defer the PVR/HDD/DVD decision for a bit
(AV is still an expensive minefield), would you care to point me
at a parts source and/or manual ?

I mean, the broken VCR is currently worthless,
so I can't reduce it's value by trying to repair
(and failing) to repair it!

BugBear

"bugbear" wrote in message
...

Since I'd like to defer the PVR/HDD/DVD decision for a bit
(AV is still an expensive minefield), would you care to point me
at a parts source and/or manual ?

I mean, the broken VCR is currently worthless,
so I can't reduce it's value by trying to repair
(and failing) to repair it!


Whilst I can't say with absolute certainty that this is the problem with
your VCR, in my experience it's by far and away the most likely cause of the
problems you describe.
Unfortunately I no longer have any trade contacts as (due to illness) I'm
now retired however I've supplied a link where the part can be obtained, oh
and make sure you get the teeth located correctly first time, otherwise
you're likely to end up with even more grief!


http://tinyurl.com/2f5zqc


BugBear

Ivan wrote:

"bugbear" wrote in message
...

Since I'd like to defer the PVR/HDD/DVD decision for a bit
(AV is still an expensive minefield), would you care to point me
at a parts source and/or manual ?

I mean, the broken VCR is currently worthless,
so I can't reduce it's value by trying to repair
(and failing) to repair it!


Whilst I can't say with absolute certainty that this is the problem with
your VCR, in my experience it's by far and away the most likely cause of
the problems you describe.
Unfortunately I no longer have any trade contacts as (due to illness)
I'm now retired however I've supplied a link where the part can be
obtained, oh and make sure you get the teeth located correctly first
time, otherwise you're likely to end up with even more grief!


http://tinyurl.com/2f5zqc

Thanks; I can't see that part on my picture (handy having a hi-res
picture at work!)

Somewhere near here?

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...hs830b/cog.jpg

(overall picture...
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...830b/video.jpg
)

BugBear

"bugbear" wrote in message
...
Ivan wrote:

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...830b/video.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...hs830b/cog.jpg

If anyone has tips, advice or experience, I'd be a happy man :-)


The common fault with that particular model (Z deck) is teeth stripping
on the tu loading arm.

The parts are relatively cheap (under a fiver) and pretty easy to
replace, I used to do them trade for about £18.00.. however as others
have pointed out, although they are a very nice vcr when one considers
what a DVD recorder or lower end PVR can now be purchased for, even if
you could find someone to repair it for around £30.00 it wouldn't
nowadays be considered to be a worthwhile proposition.

Since I'd like to defer the PVR/HDD/DVD decision for a bit
(AV is still an expensive minefield), would you care to point me
at a parts source and/or manual ?

I mean, the broken VCR is currently worthless,
so I can't reduce it's value by trying to repair
(and failing) to repair it!



Apologies 'forget' my previous posts, I've just had a look at the photos you
provided and unfortunately had a different deck (Z) associated with the
model number that you provided.

Some common problems on the deck in your photographs is the small plastic
coupling device on the loading motor spindle which fits inside the worm
gear, reasonably simple to replace including replacing the mode switch
(which is essential to line up correctly) whilst you've got it all apart.

A rarer occurrence can be the teeth stripping on the plastic sliding rack,
which to replace could be somewhat difficult and would be best not to become
involved with.

The main cam (visible in the right hand top of the photo) can also become
broken underneath and may need replacing.

All of these problems aren't too bad once you've done a few and you have the
proper Panasonic repair manuals however for the uninitiated it would
probably be best to follow the herd and relegate it to the nearest landfill.



HTH Ivan


BugBear

Ivan wrote:

"bugbear" wrote in message
...
Ivan wrote:

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...830b/video.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...hs830b/cog.jpg

If anyone has tips, advice or experience, I'd be a happy man :-)


The common fault with that particular model (Z deck) is teeth
stripping on the tu loading arm.

The parts are relatively cheap (under a fiver) and pretty easy to
replace, I used to do them trade for about £18.00.. however as others
have pointed out, although they are a very nice vcr when one
considers what a DVD recorder or lower end PVR can now be purchased
for, even if you could find someone to repair it for around £30.00 it
wouldn't nowadays be considered to be a worthwhile proposition.

Since I'd like to defer the PVR/HDD/DVD decision for a bit
(AV is still an expensive minefield), would you care to point me
at a parts source and/or manual ?

I mean, the broken VCR is currently worthless,
so I can't reduce it's value by trying to repair
(and failing) to repair it!



Apologies 'forget' my previous posts, I've just had a look at the photos
you provided and unfortunately had a different deck (Z) associated with
the model number that you provided.

Some common problems on the deck in your photographs is the small
plastic coupling device on the loading motor spindle which fits inside
the worm gear, reasonably simple to replace including replacing the
mode switch (which is essential to line up correctly) whilst you've got
it all apart.

A rarer occurrence can be the teeth stripping on the plastic sliding
rack, which to replace could be somewhat difficult and would be best not
to become involved with.

The main cam (visible in the right hand top of the photo) can also
become broken underneath and may need replacing.

All of these problems aren't too bad once you've done a few and you have
the proper Panasonic repair manuals however for the uninitiated it would
probably be best to follow the herd and relegate it to the nearest
landfill.

When I dumped my 20 year old portable tv I bought an even older one on
EBay for £2, which I suppose saves one unit from landfill.

bugbear wrote:
Two nights ago my VCR refused to play a tape;
the tape was already in, and had been recorded
Its last century's electro-mechanical technology. Dump it and get
something modern.
Skip DVD recorders which are last year's gadgets and get a harddisk
recorder. You'll be amazed at the difference in functionality.
Can you still get VHS tapes anywhere except charity shops?
In fact I still have VCR which cost £400 in 1997 but I haven't used it
for 2 years as the quality is no longer acceptable.

In message , OldBill
writes
bugbear wrote:
Two nights ago my VCR refused to play a tape;
the tape was already in, and had been recorded
Its last century's electro-mechanical technology. Dump it and get
something modern.
Skip DVD recorders which are last year's gadgets and get a harddisk
recorder.

So what do you record to then ?

HDD/DVD

You'll be amazed at the difference in functionality.
Can you still get VHS tapes anywhere except charity shops?

Yeah - me I have thousands

In fact I still have VCR which cost £400 in 1997 but I haven't used it
for 2 years as the quality is no longer acceptable.

--
geoff

On Thu, 06 Sep 2007 21:23:37 +0100, OldBill
wrote:

bugbear wrote:
Two nights ago my VCR refused to play a tape;
the tape was already in, and had been recorded
Its last century's electro-mechanical technology. Dump it and get
something modern.
Skip DVD recorders which are last year's gadgets and get a harddisk
recorder. You'll be amazed at the difference in functionality.
Can you still get VHS tapes anywhere except charity shops?
In fact I still have VCR which cost £400 in 1997 but I haven't used it
for 2 years as the quality is no longer acceptable.

I remember when my parents bought their first VCR in 1987. I had
never seen a VCR picture before close up (saw 'em at school, but TV
was a good 20 foot away) and I was surprised at how bad the picturte
quality was. I was expecting close to broadcast quality, but I was
only 15 at the time.

Marky P.

On Sep 5, 9:01 am, bugbear wrote:
and VCR's aren't really available on the market right now.

Don't be silly!

MBQ