Today, I was transferring a bunch of old VHS tapes to DVD using this VCR and a DVD recorder. Unfortunately, one of the tapes had clearly snapped in the past and been stuck back together with sticky tape. Usually this doesn't cause too much of a problem, but I think the adhesive on the sticky tape had degenerated over the years. Looking at the splice later on, I noticed a little bit of powder that may either be loose oxide on the tape, or the remains of the adhesive.
When the splice passed the heads, the picture and sound completely disappeared. Not having a usable head cleaning tape, I decided to run some fairly new, 'clean' tapes (no splices or dirty bits) back and forth for a while until eventually the picture came back.
However, the VCR is not picking up the Hi-Fi Stereo signal on any of my tapes now, and the mono sound I get is slightly wobbly. In addition, the picture quality is not quite as good as it was before. I've ran tapes to the end and back to see if I can dislodge any dirt on the heads, but it's pretty much the same no matter what I do now.
I've tried both tapes originally recorded with this VCR, and store-bought movie tapes. Both produce a slightly poorer picture, and no stereo Hi-Fi sound.
Do you think that the VCR just needs a good clean (perhaps opening it up and cleaning the heads manually), or has the Hi-Fi stereo head been damaged beyond repair? There is no Hi-Fi sound at all, not even intermittently, and that may be a bad sign. Should I see if I can get hold of a new head cleaning cassette? If so, should I go for the wet or dry type?
When the splice passed the heads, the picture and sound completely disappeared. Not having a usable head cleaning tape, I decided to run some fairly new, 'clean' tapes (no splices or dirty bits) back and forth for a while until eventually the picture came back.
However, the VCR is not picking up the Hi-Fi Stereo signal on any of my tapes now, and the mono sound I get is slightly wobbly. In addition, the picture quality is not quite as good as it was before. I've ran tapes to the end and back to see if I can dislodge any dirt on the heads, but it's pretty much the same no matter what I do now.
I've tried both tapes originally recorded with this VCR, and store-bought movie tapes. Both produce a slightly poorer picture, and no stereo Hi-Fi sound.
Do you think that the VCR just needs a good clean (perhaps opening it up and cleaning the heads manually), or has the Hi-Fi stereo head been damaged beyond repair? There is no Hi-Fi sound at all, not even intermittently, and that may be a bad sign. Should I see if I can get hold of a new head cleaning cassette? If so, should I go for the wet or dry type?
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