Archiving VHS.... VCR problems

[Hi Ho]

I finally bought a DVD recorder, Pansonic DMR-ES15, so I can start archiving the hundreds of hours of home video I have on VHS tapes. I am very happy with the performance of the DVD recorder. I am having problems on the VCR side, however.

My VCR is a Sharp VC-H956, made in 1996. It was a higher end model. It has always worked perfectly and it has been used quite a lot over the past ten years. The problem I'm having is that some tapes are unwatchable on the Sharp, with noise and tracking problems, while in an old JCPenny "lo-fi" VCR plays them just fine. The problem is totally inconsistent.

I took it apart and cleaned the heads and found and removed the automatic head cleaner, a piece of foam, which had disentigrated to the point where it was making the heads more dirty by leaving particles of foam on the heads. After putting it back together, the tape played better, but still not perfect like it did in the Penny unit.

I put in an old commercial tape (SpaceBalls ) and it played fine in the Sharp. After putting the other tape back in, it too played fine. Again, totally inconsistent.

So, I start recording the two hour home video tape to a DVD. About a half hour in, the picture went bad again. Of course, it plays fine in the JCPenny VCR. I put SpaceBalls back in and now it won't play right!

To recap:

All tapes play fine in the JCPenny VCR.

The Sharp is totally inconsistent. One tape will play fine for a while then go south at random times. Another tape will play fine once and not again, etc.

The JCPenny VCR does not produce archive quality picture or sound. I really don't want to spend money on new VCR. Does anyone have any ideas on what could be wrong with my Sharp all of the sudden? When it does work, it produces an excellent picture and sound, as good as VHS can get.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I finally bought a DVD recorder, Pansonic DMR-ES15, so I can start archiving the hundreds of hours of home video I have on VHS tapes. I am very happy with the performance of the DVD recorder. I am having problems on the VCR side, however.

My VCR is a Sharp VC-H956, made in 1996. It was a higher end model. It has always worked perfectly and it has been used quite a lot over the past ten years. The problem I'm having is that some tapes are unwatchable on the Sharp, with noise and tracking problems, while in an old JCPenny "lo-fi" VCR plays them just fine. The problem is totally inconsistent.

I took it apart and cleaned the heads and found and removed the automatic head cleaner, a piece of foam, which had disentigrated to the point where it was making the heads more dirty by leaving particles of foam on the heads. After putting it back together, the tape played better, but still not perfect like it did in the Penny unit.

I put in an old commercial tape (SpaceBalls ) and it played fine in the Sharp. After putting the other tape back in, it too played fine. Again, totally inconsistent.

So, I start recording the two hour home video tape to a DVD. About a half hour in, the picture went bad again. Of course, it plays fine in the JCPenny VCR. I put SpaceBalls back in and now it won't play right!

To recap:

All tapes play fine in the JCPenny VCR.

The Sharp is totally inconsistent. One tape will play fine for a while then go south at random times. Another tape will play fine once and not again, etc.

The JCPenny VCR does not produce archive quality picture or sound. I really don't want to spend money on new VCR. Does anyone have any ideas on what could be wrong with my Sharp all of the sudden? When it does work, it produces an excellent picture and sound, as good as VHS can get.

Can you record from the JC Penny? You may not have a choice.

Which machine was it or the ones not playing recorded on? Or, I suppose from a camcorder? Does tracking adjustment help?
Try a Q-tip and alcohol to clean the head again.
It sounds like the head may be out just a bit, enough to mess up some tapes.

 

[Hi Ho]

Well the Sharp seems to have taken a turn for the worst. I cleaned the heads twice with Q-Tips and alcohol and it seemed to make it better for a minute or two.

Now it is completely screwed up. During playback, the sound speeds up and slows down at a regular interval and the picture is just a garbled mess, on all tapes. The display alternates between SP and EP, also at a regular interval. Watching the tape with the cover off, it doesn't appear to be changing speed at all.

This is extremely annoying. The Sharp was used almost daily until I got my Tivo a couple weeks ago and it never gave me ANY trouble. Now, when I finally get a DVD recorder to save all of my old tapes, it decides to crap out.

The JCPenny has atroucious sound. Even though most of the tapes were recorded with an RCA VHS camcorder from 1987, the sound from the JCPenny is terrible, not acceptable for my archiving purpose. That's not to mention the tapes that have HiFi sound.

I check the local second hand stores once in a while for any decent vintage gear and while I'm there I see if there are any decent VCR's. There NEVER are. They're always non-hi fi and they're always off brands. I don't have the money, after buying the DVD recorder, to buy another decent VCR.

Does anyone know if this would be a relatively simple repair or is the Sharp a lost cause? All I need is a 100 hours or so more service and it can rest peacefully.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Well the Sharp seems to have taken a turn for the worst. I cleaned the heads twice with Q-Tips and alcohol and it seemed to make it better for a minute or two.

Now it is completely screwed up. During playback, the sound speeds up and slows down at a regular interval and the picture is just a garbled mess, on all tapes. The display alternates between SP and EP, also at a regular interval. Watching the tape with the cover off, it doesn't appear to be changing speed at all.

This is extremely annoying. The Sharp was used almost daily until I got my Tivo a couple weeks ago and it never gave me ANY trouble. Now, when I finally get a DVD recorder to save all of my old tapes, it decides to crap out.

The JCPenny has atroucious sound. Even though most of the tapes were recorded with an RCA VHS camcorder from 1987, the sound from the JCPenny is terrible, not acceptable for my archiving purpose. That's not to mention the tapes that have HiFi sound.

I check the local second hand stores once in a while for any decent vintage gear and while I'm there I see if there are any decent VCR's. There NEVER are. They're always non-hi fi and they're always off brands. I don't have the money, after buying the DVD recorder, to buy another decent VCR.

Does anyone know if this would be a relatively simple repair or is the Sharp a lost cause? All I need is a 100 hours or so more service and it can rest peacefully.

No, it is not a simple problem anymore. It appears the heads may be floating, gets out of alignment on its own, not dirt caused problem.

Can you play it with cover off and see what is speeding up, the tape or the rotating head?
You may not have a choice but to replace it, or, have someone else record those tapes for you

 

[Hi Ho]

It seems to be working now. I don't know what I did but I copied a two hour tape with no issues. I'll see what happens.

 

[mtrycrafts]

It seems to be working now. I don't know what I did but I copied a two hour tape with no issues. I'll see what happens.

Maybe copying a program is not an issue. Then the head is not an issue but perhaps alignment is. Check some other prerecorded tapes that you haven't yet tried to copy.