Help with JVC HR-S8000U SuperVHS VCR

[Mark D. Zacharias]

Just tried fastening the two screws on the green pcb on the right hand side
of the idler motor and it didn't make a difference. So VCR's are pretty
standard in mechanisms used except the PCB circuitry in each one will be
different?

Mechanisms vary quite a bit but all have to do the same things - so
naturally there are many similarities as well. Some parts are made by the
same manufacturer - TDK for example made most of the full-erase heads and
audio / control heads used by the majority of manufacturers.

Mark Z.

mz

 

[Vincent Poy]

Does it have "search" buttons as distinguished from a plain "Fast
Forward" button? Some JVC's do.

mz

Yes, it has the variable search buttons which is exactly when it works
normally when you hit them, it will turn the digital light on and show the
play + FFW as well. I noticed if I hit rew while on play, it will rewind
for 1/2 a second and then show pause and then back to play + ffw again.

Cheers,
Vince

 

[Vincent Poy]

They definitely had some problems with bad grounding on this chassis,
the small screws on the bottom PC board(s). This would usually do
things like trying to activate the tape loading when no tape was in
the carriage, and make the "Tape In" indicator light up in the
display, and initiate Rewind if there was a tape in the mech.

Mark Z.

Got a question... After getting the metal cover off the bottom, how does
one get the black plastic that is part of the chassis as it seems to cover
a lot of the parts.

Cheers,
Vince

 

[Vincent Poy]

Mechanisms vary quite a bit but all have to do the same things - so
naturally there are many similarities as well. Some parts are made by the
same manufacturer - TDK for example made most of the full-erase heads and
audio / control heads used by the majority of manufacturers.

Mark Z.

mz

Interesting. I never knew TDK actually made parts. I thought they were
more of a company that makes media. I guess it's really the electronics
that differ between units as the mechanical parts seems easier to spot.

Cheers,
Vince

 

[Mark D. Zacharias]

Got a question... After getting the metal cover off the bottom, how does
one get the black plastic that is part of the chassis as it seems to cover
a lot of the parts.

Cheers,
Vince

As I recall, the entire deck is loosened from the top side and tilted up and
out a bit. No fun. 4 or 5 large screws hold the deck in place.

mz

 

[Vincent Poy]

As I recall, the entire deck is loosened from the top side and tilted
up and out a bit. No fun. 4 or 5 large screws hold the deck in place.

That makes sense. I thought the bottom cover was supposed to expose a lot
of the bottom but it doesn't.

Cheers,
Vince

 

[Vincent Poy]

Does it have "search" buttons as distinguished from a plain "Fast
Forward" button? Some JVC's do.

After getting some sleep, I decided to try the remote as the guy at
studiosoundelectronics said it might be a bad switch in the front panel and
to try the remote which I did and the VCR is doing a Play Pause and then
Play Rewind mode from the front panel now and not the Play FFW anymore.
This was probably what you were saying earlier as well.

So here's a summary:

Now it's acting in a different way. From the actual VCR, when I press
Play, it'll do Play Pause and then Play Rewind. Even hitting Pause during
Play will do Play Pause then Play Rewind. Hitting Forward during Play will
do Play Pause and the Play Rewind. Ofcourse, the unit stays in Stop mode.
But from the remote, Play does work and all other functions does too. The
only thing is once I hit either Play, Pause, Rew/FFW on the actual unit
after having it in Play mode from the Remote, it will do the Play Pause and
then Play Rewind and then the VCR won't respond to the remote until I hit
the TV/Video button on the VCR. How do I get to the front panel and do I
need to replace the switch or do I just have to clean it?

Cheers,
Vince

 

[ric]

:

[...snip]

As I recall, the entire deck is loosened from the top side and tilted up and
out a bit. No fun. 4 or 5 large screws hold the deck in place.

C'mon. 200 lines of quotes for a two line reply? Try snipping your quotes.

 

[ric]

Vincent Poy wrote:

[...big snip]

That makes sense. I thought the bottom cover was supposed to expose a lot
of the bottom but it doesn't.

216 lines of quotes for a two line response! Bravo!

 

[Mark D. Zacharias]

:

[...snip]

As I recall, the entire deck is loosened from the top side and tilted up
and
out a bit. No fun. 4 or 5 large screws hold the deck in place.

C'mon. 200 lines of quotes for a two line reply? Try snipping your quotes.

Boy. Nobody's happy around here.

Try using the "end" button.

mz

 

[Mark D. Zacharias]

.. How do I get to the front panel and do I

need to replace the switch or do I just have to clean it?

Cheers,
Vince

I think I'd remove the front panel, and unplug the fold-down panel with the
buttons (if I recall correctly). If the remote functions normally at that
time, I think the problem has been narrowed down quite a bit.

Mark Z.

 

[Vincent Poy]

. How do I get to the front panel and do I


I think I'd remove the front panel, and unplug the fold-down panel
with the buttons (if I recall correctly). If the remote functions
normally at that time, I think the problem has been narrowed down
quite a bit.

Mark Z.

The remote does function normally except that things seem to mess up only
when you press the Play button on the fold-down panel and even the two -+
tracking buttons next to the Play buttons will cause the Play + Pause and
then Play + Rew. Somehow when I posted originally, it was doing Play + FFW
in play mode only when you use the actual deck but now it's doing Play +
Rew instead after doing a 1/2 second Play + Pause. What I was trying to
ask was how do I get to accessing the internals of the fold-down panel
after removing the top cover?

Thanks,
Vince

 

[William R. Walsh]

Hi!

Interesting. I never knew TDK actually made parts. I thought they were
more of a company that makes media. I guess it's really the electronics
that differ between units as the mechanical parts seems easier to spot.

Yep, TDK does make some parts. I don't think they make anything particularly
complex, but I've seen a lot of "simple" electronic parts that bear the TDK
name.

William

 

[GMAN]

Interesting... I couldn't get to the screw above the capstan or the mode
switch since after taking the bottom metal cover off, the plastic housing
is covering a lot of the bottom still and I have no idea how to get it off
without doing some physical damage probably.

Cheers,
Vince

Unfortunately if you keep digging in farther into the mech no service center
is going to want to touch the thing.

 

[Vincent Poy]

[email protected] (GMAN) wrote in

Unfortunately if you keep digging in farther into the mech no service
center is going to want to touch the thing.

Yeah, this unit seems to be easier to mess up that Mitsubishi units since
taking it apart seems to be a lot harder.

Cheers,
Vince

 

[Mark D. Zacharias]

Yeah, this unit seems to be easier to mess up that Mitsubishi units since
taking it apart seems to be a lot harder.

Cheers,
Vince

It's been so long since I've been into one of these, I don't think I have
any more specific advice on disassembly.

Mark Z.

 

[Vincent Poy]

It's been so long since I've been into one of these, I don't think I
have any more specific advice on disassembly.

Thanks for your effort as well as AW's. Got a question though. I noticed
the remote will power on the VCR but after it's on, it will not respond to
the remote unless I hit the TV/Video button or the channel up/down keys on
the VCR itself then it will respond. But if I used either the Play, Stop,
Pause, Rew/FFW, tracking +/- keys on the VCR which with the exception of
Stop, will all do a Play + Pause and then Play + Rew, I will need to hit
the TV/Video button or the channel up/down keys on the VCR itself before
the remote signals are understood by the VCR. If I take this in, do I need
to bring in the remote or can they service it by making it work again from
the buttons on the VCR?

Cheers,
Vince

 

[Mark D. Zacharias]

do I need

to bring in the remote or can they service it by making it work again from
the buttons on the VCR?

Cheers,
Vince

Should be enough just to take in the vcr. Seems as if the remote signal is
passing through the key matrix. Unusual, but I've seen it before. Wouldn't
hurt to bring the remote in with it for testing, though.

Mark Z.

 

[Vincent Poy]

do I need


Should be enough just to take in the vcr. Seems as if the remote
signal is passing through the key matrix. Unusual, but I've seen it
before. Wouldn't hurt to bring the remote in with it for testing,
though.

Mark Z.

Today, I lifted the VCR and now it's back to doing Play + FFW again. I was
wrong about hitting channel +/- before the remote can talk to the VCR but
rather it's the TV/Video button. It seems like if I press the TV/Video
button a few times while the VCR is on or off then I can turn the VCR on
with the remote and then it'll respond fine. The TV/Video and Eject
buttons are not part of the fold down panel. On another subject, if the
Audio Control Head on another VCR is not aligned correctly, could that
prevent this VCR from even erasing and re-recording over a tape that was
recorded on another VCR?

Cheers,
Vince

 

[Vincent Poy]

. How do I get to the front panel and do I


I think I'd remove the front panel, and unplug the fold-down panel
with the buttons (if I recall correctly). If the remote functions
normally at that time, I think the problem has been narrowed down
quite a bit.

Mark Z.

Okay, I was able to remove the front panel and then took the three screws
off the circuit board that was behind the front power, tv/video, eject
buttons just so if there was anything stuck between the physical button and
the circuit board, it'll fall out. I put the three screws back on and now
when I power the VCR with the remote, it no longer requires pressing
tv/video before the vcr will respond to the remote. One thing I'm trying
to figure out is while I found out how to unplug the fold-down panel with
the buttons, how do detach the fold-down panel from the front panel so I
can get to the buttons of the fold-down panel? Thanks.

Cheers,
Vince