color camcorder lost color recording capability JVC GR-C7U

[Arvis N.]

I am re-posting my question as noone has answered it yet.



I have aquired a late 80's JVC VHS-C camcorder. I did some test
recordings
on it and found that it records only in B&W. But the B&W picture is
clean
and sharp when played in the cam and through the line out on a color
monitor. I also played the C tape on my year old Sony VHS VCR and get
excellent results. Just no color. The line out from the cam directly
is in color. The CCD is nice and sharp for a cam from the late 80's.
My question: Is it somthing that can be fixed or is it some signal
processing
IC that is gone??
Where can I download a service manual for this model in .PDF format?

Arvis.

 

[JVC dude]

Almost certainly its the old/leaky electrolytic capacitors causing your
fault. almost all these oldies are now dead because of this.
They're all surface mount caps and the chances of acid having eaten the
copper print (or worse the plate through hole) is quite high.
Good luck if you try to fix it. start with the 4.7 and 10 mic caps on the
colour process pcb. I've never needed to change Ic's on these types of
camcorders, they never fail.!!

the manual was only ever issued on paper.
if you really need pages copied, then post me back and I can copy the needed
pages (tell me the board numbers)

AW

 

[Arvis N.]

Thanks for the info "JVC Dude". I don't think that I'll want to take
the cam apart. I'd rather have it working in B&W then not at all.
I am never going to use it for any serious recording anyway. I was
just curious as to what could be wrong.
Thanks again.

A.

 

[JVC dude]

If you run the camera for some hours the caps can often improve. and the
colour can return. Worth a try. Its usually since these units only get used
twice a year that the caps fail so often. Run them every 1-2 months and they
last longer If you can smell ammonia when its been running for some time
however its a sign of leaky ones.

AW

 

[James Sweet]

Thanks for the info "JVC Dude". I don't think that I'll want to take
the cam apart. I'd rather have it working in B&W then not at all.
I am never going to use it for any serious recording anyway. I was
just curious as to what could be wrong.
Thanks again.

If you don't replace the capacitors it'll soon cease to function at all and
the damage will likely leave it unrepairable if it's not already. The
malfunction is partially caused by leaked electrolyte corroding out the
traces on the circuit boards and it'll keep spreading and rotting like
cancer.