HELP: Symphonic VCR will not take tape

[brav...@my-deja.com]

First of all, I realize these VCRs are crap, from what I read on here.
I was asked to try and repair the VCR of a friend, he can't afford a
new one, although it'd probably be cheaper than any service repair.

Here is the problem, the VCR will not take any tapes. I took the top
panel off, saw how cheaply these things are made, and examined it
further. The cassette loading mechanism is clearly down in the
posistion it would be, had a tape been put inside and loaded to play.
The cassette tray seems to be stuck there, and shouldn't it be raised
up ready to take the tape? Naturally there are parts of the VCR
mechanically posistioned to not allow another tape easily inserted.

When you plug the VCR in, you may get the power LED and another LED
responding, but you immediately get the "Tape In" LED blinking. It
continues in this fashion for the rest of the time power is applied to
it. If you tell the VCR to turn on, it only does so electronically but
does then go back into standby.

This is a Symphonic VHS 4-head HI-FI VCR Model: SL2860 S/N: U18821447

If anyone has any ideas for repair, please email me privately, and if
you think it would help others in this newsgroup, you can just reply
here.

I really appreciate any help that is given.
Thank You,
Mark R.
ma...@magiccablepc.com

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

[sam]

THROW IT AWAY

<brav...@my-deja.com> wrote in message news:8epgav$5je$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...

[sam]

the unit needs aligning and prob a prism kit
under 60 bucks to fix if shop is sympathatic to the cost of a new one
( but baby needs a new pair of shoes )
good luck
"sam" <col...@capecod.net> wrote in message
news:_T5Q4.1356$ie3.5...@news-east.usenetserver.com...

[Michael Parker]

uhh yep. Don't know what that other reply was about. Prism? VCR? H'mmm.

Now. About that loading thing. Tried finding the eject motor and manually
spinning it up? No? Well, try it. Next, put a tape in. Does it go in? Yes?
No?

Well, basically, what your VCR is trying to tell you by flashing the TAPE IN
led, is that it doesn't know if the tape is in or not. It thinks it's stuck
in the middle somewhere (maybe it is). After it thinks about the situation a
bit, it decides it has no recourse other than to switch back to standby,
which it promptly does.

Now. Why does see the tape loading thing as if it's stuck in the middle? One
of two reasons: 1) it is, or 2) the vcr is blind. Now now, stop laughing at
my idiotic statement. It's blind, as in the microcontroller is being fed
erroneous information. How's that happen? Well, when the sensors get gooed
up or misaligned, they tend not to work properly.

When a VCR senses a "jammed" tape, it usually tries to either pull it in or
push it out. If it is trying but it's not being successful (you'd be able to
hear the motor trying), it may be stuck. If it isn't even trying, you may
have a bad connection to the motor, the motor may be dysfunctional, or the
component the motor is attached to may not be functioning properly.

Now, there's two types of people who repair VCRs -- those who have service
manuals, and those who don't. The ones who do know where to find the
sensors, and how everything in there is supposed to work. The ones who don't
have to figure it out first (or get lucky). Unfortunately, I'm one of the
latter, and VCR designs are so numerous, I can't begin to guess where the
sensor or sensors is or are.

What you need to do, therefore, is give that eject motor a spin manually,
see if it's really stuck. Spin it all the way to the "out" position and try
it. If it still doesn't work, find the sensors and check them. How to find
them? Well, remember, there's almost always an optical sensor on one or both
sides, with an IR LED in the center. Additionally, there's often a
springy-metal switch on one of the loading gears that reports either "out",
"in", or "neither". Check that one out. Make sure that when it's in, the
switch is pressed so that it contacts in one direction, and when it's out,
the switch is pressed to contact the other direction.

There's all kinds of concoctions that these companies call sensors, so if
the abovementioned ones don't do it for you, reverse-engineer the eject
mechanism and you'll find 'em.

If the VCR never even tries to spin the motor, disconnect the motor wires
and attach them to a battery. AA's work good for CD players, but a
half-run-down 9V usually does it for VCRs.

brav...@my-deja.com wrote in message <8epgav$5je$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...

-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----