this old RCA VR688HF VCR has been a good one over many years but i have had to clean the 4 heads and all tape contact surfaces a number of times. also had to adjust the tension a few years ago (had to loosen it, rather than tighten it, opposite of what i expected). had a number of problems lately with the only belt slipping off but i have been able to keep it usable by applying belt dressing. i was in the process of trying to find a reasonably priced replacement belt when it developed the present problem. it has now damaged two tapes and am now experimenting on the third tape after splicing it. the present problem is that it winds multiple loops around the pinch roller, when it loads a tape. i've removed the glaze from the pinch roller with a pencil eraser and vacuumed the abraded material. nontheless, it still wraps multiple loops around the pinch roller, when loading a tape.
i am trying to salvage this VCR because it has a highly desirable feature of "commercial advance".
should i invest in a new belt and a new pinch roller for such an old VCR, or should i give it up???
Are you certain that the problem is not with the takeup reel? Also, did you clean the capstan as well? It's fairly unusual for the tape to wrap around the pinch roller, it's more likely in most cases for it to wrap around the capstan.
'Commercial advance' is the reason for a VCR? Check out PC based DVRs. The computer I'm writing this on records about 15 hours a week in HD while also surfing the web or watching other HD video. Our VCRs are now paperweights. But if you insist on the VCR, William's and Brenda's comments are right on.
Depending on the actual calendar age of the VCR (not how much it's been used), there may be a rubber(y) tire on a plastic hub, in the center of the mechanism below the cassette, which drives the reels.
The worn and aged belt may be the root of the problem.
I suspect that an aging tire may be the problem, and the reason the tension needed to be reduced. Replacing the tire and belt (and pinch roller) may be complicated. Finding the correct replacement parts may be time consuming. The widely used term is idler tire, although you may need the actual physical size of the parts, to order new ones, which would likely require removal of the existing tire.
If the VCR is a later version, it may not have an idler tire.
A test jig is typically used to check the available torque that the reels can deliver. A modified empty cassette case can provide the same function, with a piece of heatshrink slipped over the center IR emitter.
thanks for all the replies. problem appears to be belt related. trying to get a new belt but encompassparts.com says belt is "no longer available". anybody have a source for old VCR parts?
You haven't mentioned where you are, in the U.S.A. maybe?
A search engine will give results for VCR BELTS
I haven't bought any belts recently, and there have been a lot of changes in the parts and service/repair industries in the last decade (most of 'em not good for repair folks).
When VCRs were most popular (and replacement parts were in demand) there were an abundant number of suppliers of belts and various other VCR parts.
Belt distributors printed cross-reference manuals with VCR models (also audio tape and various other units) and the specific size/type of belt for each function.. loading, capstan etc. Some of the early VCRs had lots of belts inside them, the latest models may have one, or none.
What I mentioned earlier about needing to measure tires also applies to belts, since the lookup-by-brand/model listings are most likely obsolete, and many rubber parts will likely have been discontinued, due to lack of demand. You will likely need to know the cross-sectional (thickness) and circumference of the belt, assuming it is square, also the width if is a flat type (decimal inches or mm).
One method for approximately measuring the circumference was to place 2 pencils inside the belt, and spread them apart until the belt just formed around them. Old belts are typically loose, so ordering a belt of the same type and size with a slightly smaller circumference was a regular practice.
You can download a 2006 cross-reference manual here, although I don't know if Adams Radio or any other seller still offer these products (some web pages are left in place as an archival reference display of sorts).
It looks like they have the belt & pinch roller you need. Your VCR is old enough to use their make/model index.
Mike WB2MEP
Such supplies are likely to be contemporaneous with your VCR and so unlikely to have much life in them either. Consider cutting your own as they tend to be quite large cross-section, square for round cross-section replacement does not usually matter.
Every time I passed bike / motorcycle/ car / lorry facility that changed tyres I asked for any scrap inner tubes. Cut a working band from each a dumped the rest in the garden shed. I now have a range of diameters from about 1 inch to 10 inch. Often a slightly diagonal cut is possible for intermediary diameters. Details of "bean slicer" etc on my tips files off below, for reducing thickness for flat bands etc. No wasting time now on fruitless www hunts
-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
I found the tips on cutting belts from old inner tube material here.. at about 75% of the length of the page..
formatting link
Cheap and cheerful rubber drive belts How to split rubber drive belts that are too wide or thick
Some folks say - to each his own.
The only reason I can think of that would persuade me to go find some used inner tube material, then try to cut the rubber into a thin drive belt, would be if I were stranded somewhere where there is no phone service.. although other matters may take precedence, such as water and food. Such a place might be a small remote village a fairly great distance from things like towing service or search and rescue services.
Cutting thin rubber sheet precisely isn't as easy as cutting paper, even for something like a simple small gasket.
The only times I've cut rubber drive belts, were a couple of times where I had ones that were the proper cross section, but the circumference was too large (needed shortened).. and those cut belts (superglued) were temporary, for testing, until a proper replacement arrived. Other times I've used industrial urethane belting that's intended to be cut to length, then the ends are welded together with a special hot blade.
Making a pinch roller or drive tire isn't going to be easy, even if you had liquid nitrogen and a toolpost grinder-type setup on a lathe, or some other specialized equipment. Nigel and maybe a few others could possibly make a similar serviceable part, but experience doesn't come cheap, or quickly.
Most anyone that can read newsgroups, buy a money order and mail it to a parts dealer, can have new parts that fit within about 10 days. With PayPal, or other service account, it's even easier and faster. Anyone trying to cut thin drive belts from inner tubes will likely sooner discover after numerous attempts of trial and error, that they need real replacement belts, tires and pinch rollers to fully restore proper operation.
I realize that shipping charges look bad when ordering small items.. but I usually don't have a problem finding other supplies or parts to order, to make the shipping (or minimum order) seem reasonable. Almost any repair parts/supplies dealer will have items that I can't buy locally, so I'll end up ordering them from somewhere, eventually, anyway.
If a piece of equipment is worth saving due to faults from some aged, worn consumable parts, one should be able to realize that new parts which fit properly are a bargain.
Quality high-end or high reliability equipment is nearly always worth spending some money on to restore it's operation. In other cases such as well made consumer goods, many times it's more beneficial to buy new repair parts while they're still available, since some types of equipment may continue to work well for a considerably longer time than a lot of the new stuff being thrown together today (for which there won't likely be any replacement parts for repairs).
Magnetic tape equipment will still be around for a while, and nearly all of it requires a couple of rubber parts, and won't operate properly without those parts being in good condition.
AFAIK stockists of flat belts etc for tape systems, R-t-R and cassette ,use the word new in the sense of unused as in NOS= new old stock , ie 15 or more years old with very little life left in them. Many of my customer are quite happy keeping there old decks going with sliced inner tubes and neoprene O rings as pulley tyres, (sometimes one will do but usually 2 or 3 to get the right sort of packing )- I'm quite upfront with them. I have a method that will last me out, can you say the same about your sources ? Even one of those awkward thin tyres on a 45/33rpm speed change jockey assembly of an ancient record deck is going still with modern material, NOS of those ? don't make me laugh
Your assumption that new rubber parts haven't been produced in 15 years may be correct.
NOS is a term that I've been familiar with for decades.
As I suggested, experience is the key. The OP's recent fixes by abrading the pinch roller and applying a miracle-in-a-bottle compound to the belt, didn't express to me that he was experienced in repairs. I did fail to detect the tighter than a frog's ass (cheap) pitch in his voice, though.. otherwise I wouldn't have bothered offering any suggestions, backed by actual experience (twice).
Considering the vast number of magnetic tape transports (and other small machines) that are likely to exist presently, my guess is that many spare, replacement rubber parts are still being produced (expensive photocopy and various other machines). A new, $80 fabric reinforced photocopy machine belt probably won't fit a dumpster VCR though.
Excluding cheap throw-away products, there is a lot of commercial grade equipment wordwide, that's still being supported. I would expect that much of it was manufactured in Japan, not China.
The last new replacement belts, idlers, tires and pinch rollers I purchased, were packaged in sealed plastic bags. I wouldn't hesitate to use the unopened ones that I still have for a repair of something worthwhile.
I've seen new mono, portable, audio cassette (and mini cassette) recorder/players in stores for less than $25 (maybe $19.99 I forget exactly), but I wouldn't spend my time to repair one. If you want me to, I'll buy one just to take apart, to see how many rubber parts are in it, in addition to the pinch roller.. if you want me to. That's just the nice kind of guy I am (and I don't know if stores have a problem with picture-taking on their premises).
When my cheap portable, frequently used, audio cassette failed again, after replacing the belts several years earlier, I bought some used Marantz PMD units which utilize belts, which work fine. The PMD 670 I have, doesn't use belts since it uses a CF card for storage, and the counter isn't mechanical (or is it?, heh).
If I were doing repairs for others today, I'd buy replacement rubber parts in plastic bags. It's not as if the belts I noticed recently were expensive.. many, at a glance, are less than $1. If I needed to cut a rubber part (not a belt probably), I know where to buy new rubber sheet stock (plumbing supplies), and if that wasn't adequate, I might even purchase a new innertube or other item made from rubber, and save the effort/time of cleaning the material before I cut it.
I don't care to research the matter, but I wouldn't be surprised that servicers of vintage equipment would know where to get new, not old, replacement parts.
One can still purchase new vacuum tubes if they know the proper sources, just as one can buy newly manufactured pistons for antique engines. Russian tubes might not be authentic for a vintage amp, but if the amp isn't a museum piece, it really doesn't matter.
That little tumble I took from the turnip truck, took place long ago. All the rest of us aren't young inexperienced dopes stumbling around in the dark.
I would expect the strength and durability of a new, even 10 year old belt sealed in a bag to be slightly greater than a piece of age-unknown, innertube material that as been flexed constantly, severely abraded from under-inflation, contaminated with oil from air compressor air, exposed to extreme heat and cold, etc. Mudflap, yes.. belt in a commercial ENG camcorder, no. I could, of course, be very, very wrong.
Whats this with plastic bags for preservation. First you get brown oiliness of the plasticiser? (from the plastic or the band?) in the bag after some years and then they perish as "in the field". I store salvaged bands in open cardboard boxes with a good sprinkling of talcum powder, or over suspended cardboard cones that then show automatically the sizes, again dusted with talc. Every now and then a rogue one goes gooey but it does not set the remainder off like an infection.
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