noisy Hitachi camcorder

TIA

Does it still make this noise if you select Pause? If so, it is probably the head drum motor assembly which has noisy bearings. There is no economical cure for that usually.

Regards,

Col> I have a Hitachi VM-H640A 8mm video camcorder. The motor makes a loud

No. You really can't hear the noise except when you play back the tape on TV.

If the noise is being picked up through the on camera microphone, you may be able to use an external mike, if the camcorder has provision to plug one in.

Russell

I really want to fix it without using external parts. Is it possible that all it needs is a good cleaning and lubrication? If so, how do you do that?

With the complexity of camcorders, even lubricating it can take several hours of precision labor. But... Motors are sealed and cannot be lubed. If it always did this, then it is a bad design - a combination of a badly isolated mic and a noisy motor. Just tracking down exactly where the noise is coming from - being transmitted through many routes via physical contact between parts - may be nearly impossible!

Even if it just started, it may be too difficult to track down to be worth the time and effort. If you are qualified it may take days or weeks of disassembly, moving things, and reassembly to track down. If you need to have someone else do the work, it may cost more in labor than the camcorder is worth. That is why the only ECONOMICAL solution may be to use an external microphone - if there is an input jack for one. Anything can be repaired - even if it's been run over by a truck - but the time and effort involved may not be worth the money you may be willing to spend. Just my 2 cents. MS

IF it is the bearing then that's true, there's no way of lubricating them and replacement isn't economical. But I've had various Sony camcorders in the past with noisy motors caused by the electrolytics in the motor drive circuit ageing and losing capacitance. Replacement cured the faults.