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VCR problem, advice please. (1 Viewer)

Matt_Smi

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Today I was watching a tape and the picture started to go black and white fuzzy (just like a TV station that does not come in at all) and then it went away and the picture was fine, then it came back again and so forth, it comes and goes. It was not the tape because I tried a few more and they did it as well. The VCR is a three-year-old Sony that cost me $100. Does anyone know what could be the problem here? Could it be as simple as the heads needing cleaning? Or is the player junk? I really don’t feel like buying a new VCR as I don’t own too many VHS tapes, but on the other hand I would still like to have one for the rare times when I want to watch them, so it would piss me off the player was junk. Thanks for any advice.
 

ChuckSolo

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It does sound like your tape heads need cleaning. I had an old 10 year old Sony Hi-Fi VCR that did the exact thing that you are describing. I tried the commercial cleaning tapes but they did not work. After I took it in to a TV repair shop and had it professionally cleaned and adjusted, the problem went away and the VCR is still in service at my brother's house.
 

Steven_Lazarus

Stunt Coordinator
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Maybe your DVD player is dressed up as a VCR and thus the fuzzy picture when you tried feeding it a tape!!! :) :)
Happy Halloween !!!!!!
 

Matt_Smi

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It works fine when you watch TV though its tuner. I will look into getting the heads cleaned. Do you remember how much it cost you?
 

Steve Berger

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Head cleaning should be a minimum charge repair. If it is dirty heads it will not be the video heads but the control track head. This one is stationary (not spinning) and a cleaning tape will usually NOT clean it , requiring disassembly to get at it. This is unfortunately not one of the good transport mechanisms so a major repair would be a poor idea. Depending on the model number , this may be one of their VCRs that were exchange models - no parts or manuals available at all.
 

Matt_Smi

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Well oddly enough it is working fine today, I watched 10 minutes or so of a tape and it did not do it. Wonder what it was? And I hope it does not come back...
 

william_h

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Oct 27, 2004
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oh my god i wouldnt charge anyone over 10 bucks to clean their vcr.

anyone can do i clean my heads all the time and never have ran into a problem.

get some decent q-tips and alcohol above 60 percent in volume rub clean everything a tape touch and when cleaning the heads dont rub up and down as it cant damage it.instead spin the wheel with the Q-tip rubbing it easy and gently let it dry.

and now you have a clean vcr without paying anyone to clean your vcr.
 

Matt_Smi

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Thanks will, if it happens again I will looks into doing that, sounds easy enough.
 

ChuckSolo

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To be perfectly honest though, the money I paid the guy was not just for cleaning the heads, he replaced the drive belts/gears and did some adjustments on it too. I paid over 200 bucks for the Sony when I bought it back in 1992 and had some advanced features so I really didn't mind paying the money to keep it in shape.
 

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