Having playback issues when recording for awhile, VCR brand JVC hr-S3900

I got this vcr some years ago, it was one of the most expensive in the store. I am a bit of a environmentalist too, so I would much rather fix then replace. Add to that the fact that even finding a VCR that records is in itself difficult now adays...

Anyway here is the problem.

If I have been recording for awhile(hour or so?), the VCR starts recording a strange kind of noise onto the tape. The picture shifts or jitters at spots like tiny hooks are pulling at the image misaligning it in spots horizontally. This happens only for a moment but at regular intervals every 4 seconds or so?(not sure of exact time) the sound is slightly distorted too at the exact same spot as the picture. As playback goes on, this effect gets stronger. It is not the tape.

When it is recording, at the point where it starts recording the noise onto the tape, I can hear a kind of squeaking rubbing sound that is difficult to explain at regular intervals equal to the noise/ distortion on the tape which just like the recording itself gets louder as it continues recording.

If I dont use the vcr for some time this effect goes away. But more then say a hour or two of nonuse is required before I can get a half hour/hour of record time relatively noise free.

Talking to repair shops, I get the old "Probably not worth the money to repair, but if you come in, we will do what ever, then charge you (lots of money)" chestnut. General opinion points to it possibly being the motor, and that buying a new motor would be prohibitively expensive.(for the value of the item in question)

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states that when a motor dies, it usually dies spectacularly. Does this apply to VCR motors too?

If it is the motor, Does the motor have to be exactly for that model? Or could a similar motor be made to work? Could I just open it up, find the motor,(not entirely sure what to look for) and clobber it with a bit of bike chain lub?

Another issue is that the VCR does not accept tapes feed into it well all the time. The solution usually to push it in lightly for a short bit of the distance.Otherwise the tape gets stuck at a spot three quarters back or so, as it struggles to pull it in for a time till it gives up and spits it back out. Sometimes it doesn't spit it back out all the way though, leaving me to actually have to tilt the vcr foreward to get the tap to come out via gravity (otherwise I can't push it in or eject it) The pushing it in a bit method works fine for now (if I remember) but I worry that it might get worse eventually.

Is the motor that is responsible for drawing in the tape different then the one responsible for playing and recording on tapes?

Reply to
truepurple
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Change the pinchwheel , or as a confirmation before getting one, try turning the pinchwheel upside down, if it is possible

-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on

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Reply to
N_Cook

I'd be looking at power supply caps.

Mark Z.

Reply to
Mark Zacharias

Your links don't work for me and am not sure how to get them to work. Are these emails I need to send to get some kind of automated message? BTW I use google groups to use this newsgroup.

Otherwise I don't know anything about pinch wheels or power supply caps, how to turn one upside down or "check it out"

Is it the case that VCR motors usually fail spectacularly like vaccuum motors or what ever else?

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Reply to
truepurple

Also, if there is a regular squeak, check that the guide rollers are free to rotate, and that the back-tension band is not worn out. The fact that you have this squeak that corresponds to the effect on the screen, is probably the key to the problem. However, that said, sometimes, symptoms such as this are caused by tape friction as a result of wear on the lower head drum. This is especially the case, on machines where the tape remains wrapped during wind / rewind operations. If it is that, then there's not a lot you are going to do about it. The cost of a lower head drum assembly, if you could even still get one, is likely to be prohibitive. Occasionally, if you've got nothing to lose, a degree of recovery can be achieved, by using metal polish to shine up the dull worn area on the lower drum. Note that this is the

*fixed* duralumin part of the drum, *not* the chrome rotating part

Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

Please, someone explain links like this "news:hjLXl.

18625$ snipped-for-privacy@flpi144.ffdc.sbc.com..." Everyone has so far used in there reply. I assume there is information in these links if I would be told how to use them. Without that, the replies I am getting are just not enough data to do anything at all with.

Each of you suggests different th>

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Reply to
truepurple

Dave, what usernet group web interface would you recommend?

What does a pinchwheel look like, how would I change it? How would I turn it upside down if possible? . How would I determine if power supply caps are responsible? . How do I check that the guide rollers are free to rotate?, . What does a "back-tension band" look like and how do I know if it is worn out? . " However, that said, sometimes, symptoms such as this are caused by tape friction as a result of wear on the lower head drum." . How do i check if this is the case? . " Occasionally, if you've got nothing to lose, a degree of recovery can be achieved, by using metal polish to shine up the dull worn area on the lower drum. Note that this is the

*fixed* duralumin part of the drum, *not* the chrome rotating part " . How would I do that? How would I tell the difference between those two parts of the drum? . Another thing is, the sound I hear is a slightly similar to the sound it sometimes makes when I insert a tape fully rewound or rewind it and it reaches the beginning, as it settles in to play.

Reply to
truepurple

The short answer to your question is that if you can't figure out how to do any of those things, you are probably too inexperienced to attempt the repair yourself.

--
    W
  . | ,. w ,   "Some people are alive only because
 Click to see the full signature
Reply to
Bob Larter

On 6/11/2009 6:50 PM truepurple spake thus:

None. Use a mail/news client (I use Thunderbird, available free; there are lots of others out there. Pick one you like. Just don't use Micro$oft's Outlook Express.)

And it's "usenet". Goes back to the first days of the internet way back when.

--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism
Reply to
David Nebenzahl

Just as a matter of interest David, what exactly do you see as being the problem with using OE's newsreader client ? I have been posting on usenet for many years, and have always used OE for posting to and reading from basic text groups like this one, although I do use xNews for some other groups, where its 'on-the-fly' decoding abilities are useful.

In all of the time that I have used OE, it has never caused me the slightest problem. I know people on usenet often say "don't use OE ...", with a dark sort of tone as though there may be some secret hit sqaud that's gonna come after you, but I have never managed to get anyone to specify exactly what dire consequences you are going to suffer by using it ??

Care to elaborate ... ? Just curious ... :-)

Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

In fact, Usenet actually predates the Internet. It used to be sent via UUCP.

--
    W
  . | ,. w ,   "Some people are alive only because
 Click to see the full signature
Reply to
Bob Larter

While the design of usenet is nice and using a news client confortable I find it much more practical nowadays to use a web based interface like google groups. While not the best it has many advantages like not depending anymore on unreliable news servers and can be accessed from everywhere without any special configuration or installation requeriment.

On the other hand I never had a problem with outlook express.

Reply to
Jeroni Paul

Maybe the news server thing depends on where in the world you are. Over the years, I have had several ISPs ranging from quite small outfits, up to big boys like Virgin Media (formerly NTL), whom I am with now, and I can honestly say that I have never had any issues with their news servers being unreliable or slow to keep up to date.

I can't really comment about web based newsgroup access, as I've never used it. I can see the possible advantage of being able to use it on any machine, anywhere you happen to be, in the same way that web based e-mail has this advantage. However, setting that one 'advantage' aside, it seems to me that access via a news client is a much more straightforward way to use what is after all, a very simply structured side to the net, going back to the days when it was all a lot simpler.

The only other comment I would make about being a web based newsgroup user, is that your posts may well not get seen by too many people as, due to the amount of spam and general poor usage that has beset a lot of groups lately, many long term users have blanket filters in place, to remove any post, legitimate or not, from web based sources, where most of this abuse comes from.

Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

On 6/12/2009 5:52 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

Well, I've personally not had any problems with OE either, but that's because I've never used it. But I have read enough horror stories (about viruses, trojan horses, etc., picked up through OE) to not want to even try it.

Besides, it does suffer from other well-known problems, like mangling long URLs by chopping them up. (This may have been fixed in a later release, but was still a problem, so far as I know, as late as last year's current version.)

--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism
Reply to
David Nebenzahl

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*-*-*+Out=lookExpress+OE.users+worth.every.penny
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*-*-*-real-news-reader+skip.leading.hard=.tabs+helping+Outlook.Express&fwc=3D2
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*-Express+uu+*-*-=the-only-known-app-with-this-*-*-flaw
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*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-worse-than-OE+zzz+*-*-*=-*-surprised-and-delighted-at-*-*-real-news-readers-*+broken.sig.dash+incap= able+Outlook.Express
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*-character+outlook.express+*-=*-*-before-*-quoted-text+default+Trim+*-a-test-post+move-*-cursor-to-*-bott= om-*-*-*-*+unable#ss3.1
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*-*-*-*-inferior+published+proper+do.not.properly.mark.quo=ted.text+top.post+Micro.oft.programs+QUILA+Outlook.Express+official+do-not-=*-use-Micro.oft-programs+average+Netiquette+Richard.Torrens+dry+top.posting= &strip=3D1#quila

Reply to
JeffM

On 6/13/2009 11:14 PM JeffM spake thus:

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*-*-*+OutlookExpress+OE.users+worth.every.penny

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*-*-*-real-news-reader+skip.leading.hard.tabs+helping+Outlook.Express&fwc=2

formatting link
*-Express+uu+*-*-the-only-known-app-with-this-*-*-flaw

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*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-worse-than-OE+zzz+*-*-*-*-surprised-and-delighted-at-*-*-real-news-readers-*+broken.sig.dash+incapable+Outlook.Express

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*-character+outlook.express+*-*-*-before-*-quoted-text+default+Trim+*-a-test-post+move-*-cursor-to-*-bottom-*-*-*-*+unable#ss3.1

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*-*-*-*-inferior+published+proper+do.not.properly.mark.quoted.text+top.post+Micro.oft.programs+QUILA+Outlook.Express+official+do-not-*-use-Micro.oft-programs+average+Netiquette+Richard.Torrens+dry+top.posting&strip=1#quila

Thanks for that. It's worth quoting a bit of some of those messages:

==================================================

And finally, if any was needed, further reasoned argument that top-posting and sloppy quoting SUCKS:

[*] QUILA = Quote and in-line answers
--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism
Reply to
David Nebenzahl

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*-*-*+OutlookExpress+OE.users+worth.every.penny

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*-*-*-real-news-reader+skip.leading.hard.tabs+helping+Outlook.Express&fwc=2

formatting link
*-Express+uu+*-*-the-only-known-app-with-this-*-*-flaw

formatting link
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-worse-than-OE+zzz+*-*-*-*-surprised-and-delighted-at-*-*-real-news-readers-*+broken.sig.dash+incapable+Outlook.Express

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*-character+outlook.express+*-*-*-before-*-quoted-text+default+Trim+*-a-test-post+move-*-cursor-to-*-bottom-*-*-*-*+unable#ss3.1

formatting link
*-*-*-*-inferior+published+proper+do.not.properly.mark.quoted.text+top.post+Micro.oft.programs+QUILA+Outlook.Express+official+do-not-*-use-Micro.oft-programs+average+Netiquette+Richard.Torrens+dry+top.posting&strip=1#quila

Well, I'm sure that all of those are very real 'problems' for the more pedantic users, but for the average user, who is used to using OE for doing his e-mailing, the main one that is going to cause any real issue, is top posting. Whilst I agree that top posting is a pain in the arse when applied to newsgroup posts, I really don't think that it is an issue for e-mail where, in general, it is two people 'talking', who already each know what they said, and what the reply is referring to. I actually think that in this case, it is more appropriate to have the reply on top of the original message.

I also think that a lot of fuss about the foibles of MS programs, is born out of Gates bashing ...

Still, I know that this is a contentious subject, and I don't want to get dragged into a drawn out argument about it. I was interested to see what the perceived problems were, and that has been answered for me. Thanks for that gentlemen.

Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

On 6/14/2009 5:22 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

One problem is obvious above: the fact that OE is too stupid to recognize a valid sig and strip it out of replies. (I know of no other mail/news client that does this.) That alone is enough to disqualify it in my view.

--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism
Reply to
David Nebenzahl

But I would guess that most users don't consider that to be worth getting upset about, it's so minor in the grand scheme of things. Although some people post with sigs that are full of nonsense, or pretentious twaddle, most don't bother with them at all. I usually just strip out all that rubbish with a couple of clicks, and if it is amusing or 'relevant' to the post's subject, then I might just leave it in anyway. Not really that much of a hardship that I would disregard a piece of software that in general works adequately otherwise.

Still, as I said, this could easily get long and drawn out, with people passionately trying to persuade me that I should ditch OE as a news client immediately, so thanks for the insights. It's interesting to know where these things spring from. :-)

Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

Back to the subject, would someone please help?

Do you guys think it might be the motor? repairfaq.org said motors usually go out in a more definite fashion, but it might have been just talking about vacuum motors, it is hard to be sure.

Would some> I got this vcr some years ago, it was one of the most expensive in the

Reply to
truepurple

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