Hello, I am having problems with my AG1980, I found it at a thrift store in perfect working order (around start of 2023) and its been in my basement for a little while, I powered it back on, cleaning the heads and sensor, but the picture is very dark with TBC on (my go-to with 80s tapes) and without TBC the picture is still very dark compared to my other Panasonic PV-4651. And whenever I play a pre-recorded tape the screen is unbearable
Panasonic AG1980 Video Feed
Jun 29, 2023
Last reply: 2 years ago
3 Replies
One site I ran across recently (a video-equipment repair and sales site, don't remember the URL unfortunately) said that the AG1980 has a fairly common age-related problem: bad capacitors. There are a bunch of surface-mount electrolytic capacitors (many on the "color board") which fail, and need to be replaced. Some realignment was also recommended after the caps are replaced.
Given the age of the AG1980 it seems possible that the caps in question might be some of those affected by the notorious stolen-electrolyte- formula "capacitor plague". Or, they might be good caps which have simply gotten old and reached the end of their useful lifetime (suffering from increased ESR and reduced capacitance).
Check the electrocaps in the power supply with an ESR meter. They can cause all kinds of video issues. Also, make sure the mechanism is well lubed. The worm gear on the mode motor has a tendency to crack if anything binds. The mode switch also corrodes and causes mechanism problems.
I might just use an external TBC like a Panasonic DMR-ES20
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