Any ideas on how/where to repair a broken VHS since the DVD won't hit till October 5? (1 Viewer)

[Jake Lipson]

My VHS tape copy of Aladdin has been broken since New Year's Eve 2002, and on top of that, Aladdin is my single favorite movie of all time.

Disney won't replace my VHS because it's out of print. If I wanted them to they'd probably send me a copy of it on VHS when it's reissued in October, and I might take them up on that just for the sake of having all of the VHS releases of my favorite movie (even if I'd never watch it, as a collector's item of sorts.) But I don't have much use for a replacement VHS in October when I'll be going goo-goo-ga-ga over the DVD.

And ebay isn't an option since Dad won't do it, for whatever reason, and I obviously don't have a credit card so I can't. And even though I could, I don't really want to be illegal about it and download a bootleg copy off Kazaa because...well...that's illegal.

So in the back of my head for the last year has been the question, "Is there anywhere where I can take my Aladdin VHS and have it be repaired inexpensively? There's not too much wrong with it. The bar protecting the tape (that says "Insert this side into recorder. Do not touch the tape inside") broke off and the VCR just spits the tcasette back out if I try to push it in. So in theroy all I need to do is have that somehow reattached or replaced (or the tape spliced onto another casette, but prefrably the former) and it should play again.

I'd be very willing to pay for it to be repared, but on the other hand it has to be within reason because I've got new movies to buy, too.

Any ideas on where to take it to be fixed? Any and all help is very much appriciated!

(Apologies if this is in the wrong forum.)

 

[Brian E]

I've had something similar happen to me and was able to use parts from another tape to fix it.

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

Try either a VCR repair shop or the engineer at a TV station. Either one will have experience working with mechanisms far more complicated than the door flap on a VHS tape.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

You might even want to check with a video rental outlet and find out who they would get to repair a tape, since they would undoubtedly have experienced similar circumstances.

 

[Ray H]

I guess you could try reattaching it yourself. Just use the ol' screwdriver to open up the cassette and try reattaching it. It may be good to open up another cassette for reference to make sure you're doing it right.

Or maybe just switch the black filmy stuff into another cassette thingy. Or maybe just take it to some repair shop or something.

 

[Paul D G]

You should be able to fix it yourself. Just take an old tape and swap out the insides. I've done it in the past with cassettes and other videos. Just get a good look at the way it all goes together, or take a digital photo for reference.

-paul

 

[JonSpice]

Ah the old days splicing tape with signle edge razor blade then putting a small piece of scotch tape on to hold them together or in your case if you cant get it to fit take another unusable case and fit it in and close it up.

 

[obscurelabel]

I've been able to transfer a tape with a broken housing to another housing from a cheap blank cassette, and I'm not a mechanical genius, so it can't be too hard. I'd recommend that you try to disassemble a blank tape and put it back together a few times to make sure you have the pieces in the right place first. You have to pop the inserts in the tape spindles out to put the new tape in place, that took me a little time to figure out.

Also, Google is your freind ... I can't post links yet, but searching for "vhs tape repair" brought up at least one site with some suggestions.

 

[Peter Overduin]

I'm sorry...you'll have to do the same thing I did to get this film and the original SW trilogy - BUY A LD PLAYER!!!