Bad capacitor in a VCR?

[Tom41]

My VCR recently died - but in the few weeks leading up to complete failure, something very odd was happening. The VCR would power up, then about 1 second later shut off again. If I kept hitting Power when it powered off, it would eventually stay powered on. However, the picture coming through from the TV was badly distorted. It took about 8 minutes to 'warm up' before the picture and sound came on properly. (If I tried to play a tape during that time, it would snap!)
After that, it took a further 10 minutes before the RF-out would work.

Right now, it won't power up at all - not even for a split second. When I connect it to mains for the first time, I hear a small 'squeal' from the VCR but nothing else happens.

Opening it up, I found a capacitor that may possibly be domed, but I'm not sure. It certainly sounds like a capacitor problem - the squeal could be the capacitor trying to charge and not managing. When I get home, I'll edit this post with a picture of the suspect capacitor.

In the meantime, post your thoughts on this

[Rainbow]

Re: Bad capacitor in a VCR?

Check the caps in power supply. If it's old enough, some of them might be dried out without any change in appearance.

[Tom41]

Re: Bad capacitor in a VCR?

Here are a couple of pictures of the suspect cap. I would have edited my first post, but I didn't see an 'edit' button anywhere.

[willawake]

Re: Bad capacitor in a VCR?

looks like panasonic fc unless fake. a good cap. second photo, on the right, low fat cap. yes another panny fc.

[arneson]

Re: Bad capacitor in a VCR?

I would not suspect those caps in that VCR.
That machine would have other problems instead.

[cods69]

Re: Bad capacitor in a VCR?

Here are a couple of pictures of the suspect cap.

Is it my eyes, or is that cap bulging slightly at the top in the first pic?

[japlytic]

Re: Bad capacitor in a VCR?

Even the best quality electrolytics can fail from time to time, although this is fairly rare. In a post about a digital TV box I fixed for a friend, it took about 20 minutes to power on, which is apparantely a similar symptom to the VCR taking 8 minutes to power on in this thread.
A squealing sound from the power supply is usually caused by a component under stress, but this normally should be very quiet (or inaudible).

[Rainbow]

Re: Bad capacitor in a VCR?

Is it my eyes, or is that cap bulging slightly at the top in the first pic?

The top of the cap does look suspicious at least on the photos.

[Fomhoire]

Re: Bad capacitor in a VCR?

I just picked up a non-working JVC DR-MV1 DVD Player/VHS combo from a thrift store for S2.99 I plugged it in at the store, it lit up and shut off right away. I figured it was a power supply problem and the price was worth the gamble if I couldn't fix it. I took the cover off and plugged it in. I get almost the same symptoms Tom41, with the only difference being the squeal coming from the power supply board after I unplug the AC from the wall. After closer inspection I noticed a 1500uF electrolytic bulging. The brand of this particular capacitor is ELNA. Other brands on the power supply board are CapXon and Lelon. Both are brands known for making bad capacitors.

Also, the date of manufacture on this DVD player is July 2004. It didn't have a very long shelf life.

Hopefully the capacitors are the only problem with the power supply, and I'll have a $2.99 (plus the price of capacitors) DVD player after I repair it.

[japlytic]

Re: Bad capacitor in a VCR?

Also, the date of manufacture on this DVD player is July 2004. It didn't have a very long shelf life.

I still don't know why this is a throw-away society, where electronics don't last as long as they used to. A lot of the electronics from the 70s to the mid 80s were very reliable (and somewhat overdesigned), unlike today's electronics.

[Fomhoire]

Re: Bad capacitor in a VCR?

Because people would rather pay more money for a fancy looking piece of junk than they would for a quality product.

Anyway, I placed a new capacitor in place of the one that was bad. It works, except the power supply is overheating and the front panel display isn't working. I called JVC about the power supply, they said send it in for repairs at no charge. They had a bunch of these that have bad power supplies and are extending the warranty on this issue. I just may send it in since it is actually a nice DVD player.

[Buzzingblast333]

Re: Bad capacitor in a VCR?

From what the pics show , all of the bulging capacitors are due to be replaced specially the larger one , you can check it with an analog ohmmeter to be sure , start with the X1 and go higher on the scale if you don't see the capacitor charging accordingly ( Capacitance rating is relevant ) Some capacitors would take longer to charge . If they are bulging just a little . I would personally replace them . Cheers Ray

[smason]

Re: Bad capacitor in a VCR?

Wow, way to wake up a 5 year old thread.
I've done that before myself :oops:

[Dmanyc]

Re: Bad capacitor in a VCR?

Hi Tom - I am new to the forum but am having similar experiences in a Sony Betamovie camera. Would like to know the outcome of your situation. Did you replace the caps and was that the problem?