Newbie question about VCR head cleaning

[Tom Cumming]

(Apologies for the multi-posting - I've had no replies at alt.video.vcr
so am trying here.)

About 2 years ago I bought a Philips DVP620VR DVD player & VHS recorder
combi machine. The VHS side of things has only been quite lightly used,
and playback quality was always good, until about 2 months ago, when one
day I went to use it and found it was playing "slow" - snow all over the
video image and the sound playing back wobbly at half speed and pitch, as
though the machine thought I'd given it a tape recorded in Long Play when
I had not. This affected both pre-recorded tapes and stuff I recorded
myself, but only when actually playing - the snow goes away when the tape
is paused or ff/rw.

I bought an extended warantee, so I took it back to the shop (Richer
Sounds, UK) for repair. When it came back, the paperwork said all they had
done was cleaned the heads, but sure enough it was now working fine.

I then did not use it for about a month, and found after this time the
problem has returned. Not wishing to cart it back to the shop
unnecessarily, I tried a head cleaning tape, which helped, but the next
morning the problem was back again.

Now I understand that heads need to be cleaned but this is a bit
ridiculous. If I take it back to the shop again I'd imagine they'll just
clean the heads again. With every other VHS machine I have used, dirty
heads have caused a slow, gradual degradation of playback over time, not a
sudden change from excellent to unwatchable overnight.

Does anyone have any experience with this machine? Is this a known issue
with it, and does it have a fix? Or can anyone suggest anything else I
might try, apart from hassling the shop and trying to get a refund /
replacement model?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Art]

In actuality, if the product is not being used the heads should not be
clogging up, necessatitating a cleaning. That is unless the device is
located in a very dirty location having many atmospheric contaminants.
Generally the action of the spinning heads against the video tapes tend to
keep the heads clean unless a noted damaged tape has been run through the
machine. A tape that has been used multiple times may begin depositing
pieces of it's coating within the machine, inclusive of the heads. Use of
good quality medium should mitigate that problem.
Generally an inactive vcr will not simply produce a coating of material on
the heads that require cleaning to make the product usable.

 

[Homer J Simpson]

Does anyone have any experience with this machine? Is this a known issue
with it, and does it have a fix? Or can anyone suggest anything else I
might try, apart from hassling the shop and trying to get a refund /
replacement model?

If you want to try to clean the heads yourself, be careful. You can damage
the heads if you are careless.

Google for how to instructions.

 

[Charles]

(Apologies for the multi-posting - I've had no replies at alt.video.vcr
so am trying here.)

About 2 years ago I bought a Philips DVP620VR DVD player & VHS recorder
combi machine. The VHS side of things has only been quite lightly used,
and playback quality was always good, until about 2 months ago, when one
day I went to use it and found it was playing "slow" - snow all over the
video image and the sound playing back wobbly at half speed and pitch, as
though the machine thought I'd given it a tape recorded in Long Play when
I had not. This affected both pre-recorded tapes and stuff I recorded
myself, but only when actually playing - the snow goes away when the tape
is paused or ff/rw.

I bought an extended warantee, so I took it back to the shop (Richer
Sounds, UK) for repair. When it came back, the paperwork said all they had
done was cleaned the heads, but sure enough it was now working fine.

I then did not use it for about a month, and found after this time the
problem has returned. Not wishing to cart it back to the shop
unnecessarily, I tried a head cleaning tape, which helped, but the next
morning the problem was back again.

Now I understand that heads need to be cleaned but this is a bit
ridiculous. If I take it back to the shop again I'd imagine they'll just
clean the heads again. With every other VHS machine I have used, dirty
heads have caused a slow, gradual degradation of playback over time, not a
sudden change from excellent to unwatchable overnight.

I wonder if the head/cylinder assembly is scratched? That might cause a
rapid buildup of the tape coating? Just a wild guess.

 

[N Cook]

(Apologies for the multi-posting - I've had no replies at alt.video.vcr
so am trying here.)

About 2 years ago I bought a Philips DVP620VR DVD player & VHS recorder
combi machine. The VHS side of things has only been quite lightly used,
and playback quality was always good, until about 2 months ago, when one
day I went to use it and found it was playing "slow" - snow all over the
video image and the sound playing back wobbly at half speed and pitch, as
though the machine thought I'd given it a tape recorded in Long Play when
I had not. This affected both pre-recorded tapes and stuff I recorded
myself, but only when actually playing - the snow goes away when the tape
is paused or ff/rw.

I bought an extended warantee, so I took it back to the shop (Richer
Sounds, UK) for repair. When it came back, the paperwork said all they had
done was cleaned the heads, but sure enough it was now working fine.

I then did not use it for about a month, and found after this time the
problem has returned. Not wishing to cart it back to the shop
unnecessarily, I tried a head cleaning tape, which helped, but the next
morning the problem was back again.

Now I understand that heads need to be cleaned but this is a bit
ridiculous. If I take it back to the shop again I'd imagine they'll just
clean the heads again. With every other VHS machine I have used, dirty
heads have caused a slow, gradual degradation of playback over time, not a
sudden change from excellent to unwatchable overnight.

Does anyone have any experience with this machine? Is this a known issue
with it, and does it have a fix? Or can anyone suggest anything else I
might try, apart from hassling the shop and trying to get a refund /
replacement model?

Thanks in advance for any help.

If there is a silly lump of foam on an arm that moves to "clean" the head
then remove that totally , arm and foam.

 

[b]

If there is a silly lump of foam on an arm that moves to "clean" the head
then remove that totally , arm and foam.

Agree wholeheartedly -this is called the 'auto head cleaner', which
to the non-technical sounds great but in reality it is the mechanial
equivalent of using one q-tip to clean your ears for the rest of your
life! it ends up redepositing dirt back onto the drum.

Assuming you have checked the cassette you've been using for wear or
spillages and it/they are ok, this is the only probable cause of
spontaneous clogging. Get rid of it - carefully.

-B.

 

[Jeroni Paul]

By your description I would guess your video heads are not getting
clogged, but maybe your audio/control head. It could be the tape path
might be a bit off or unstable and it is not getting properly to the
control section.
If you are out of warranty you should open the unit and look for the
audio/control head alignment or head status. This head is usually not
properly cleaned by head cleaning tapes and requires a manual
cleaning.

 

[Arfa Daily]

By your description I would guess your video heads are not getting
clogged, but maybe your audio/control head. It could be the tape path
might be a bit off or unstable and it is not getting properly to the
control section.
If you are out of warranty you should open the unit and look for the
audio/control head alignment or head status. This head is usually not
properly cleaned by head cleaning tapes and requires a manual
cleaning.

The quickest way to clog heads repeatedly like this, is to put a cold or
damp tape in the machine. It used to be a regular thing in the days of tape
rental stores. People would pop out in their lunch hour in the winter to
pick up a tape, then leave it in their car all afternoon to get nice and
cold, at the end of the day, they drive the few miles home, then leave the
car outside to get cold again. At 8pm, they remember that they've got a tape
to watch, rush out to the car to get it, and then shove it straight in the
nice warm machine in the nice warm house. Result? Instantly clogged heads.
So before suspecting such things as head damage and scratched drums, you
might just stop and think a moment if you've done anything that has
subjected the tape to a large and rapid temperature change, just before
playing it ...

Arfa

 

[Ron(UK)]

The quickest way to clog heads repeatedly like this, is to put a cold or
damp tape in the machine. It used to be a regular thing in the days of tape
rental stores. People would pop out in their lunch hour in the winter to
pick up a tape, then leave it in their car all afternoon to get nice and
cold, at the end of the day, they drive the few miles home, then leave the
car outside to get cold again. At 8pm, they remember that they've got a tape
to watch, rush out to the car to get it, and then shove it straight in the
nice warm machine in the nice warm house. Result? Instantly clogged heads.
So before suspecting such things as head damage and scratched drums, you
might just stop and think a moment if you've done anything that has
subjected the tape to a large and rapid temperature change, just before
playing it ...

Arfa

It could be that the heads are just very very worn to the point where
their natural self cleaning action has ceased. If it has an extended
warranty, take it back to the shop.

Ron(UK)

 

[b]

It could be that the heads are just very very worn to the point where
their natural self cleaning action has ceased. If it has an extended
warranty, take it back to the shop.

given the fact the OP says the unit is new and it has had light use
only I think that is very unlikely.
-B.

 

[Ron(UK)]

given the fact the OP says the unit is new and it has had light use
only I think that is very unlikely.
-B.

Well he said he bought it 2 years ago, one mans light use is another
mans hammering - the quality of tapes has an effect on head life, and
the 'automatic cleaners' take their toll. I don't know about the newer
machines, but Phillips vcrs used to have a bad rep for head life (the
ones with the split rotary transformer), and the worn head symptoms I
remember were very much what the OP mentioned.

If I were him, I would only use it with brand new tapes for a while to
see if the problem recurs, if it doesn`t, he might be able to narrow it
down to one or two old tapes

Anyhoo, he`s paid for an extended warranty, he needs to take it back and
complain till they sort it out.

Ron(UK)

 

[Tom Cumming]

If I were him, I would only use it with brand new tapes for a while to
see if the problem recurs, if it doesn`t, he might be able to narrow it
down to one or two old tapes

Anyhoo, he`s paid for an extended warranty, he needs to take it back and
complain till they sort it out.

Yes, I'm going to, but was interested to find out if anyone could suggest
anything. (I'm just suspicious that without some pestering, they'll just
clean the heads again like they did last time, and it will fix it only
temporarily.)

Regarding the quality of tapes, I do have a number of rather old pre-
recorded tapes I've bought in charity shops, who's image quality seems OK
but obviously I don't know how they've been treated. But since the whole
reason I'm still using VHS and not something more modern is to be able to
play these old tapes, I guess I'll just have to live with it if that's
what's wearing it out.

 

[b]

Regarding the quality of tapes, I do have a number of rather old pre-
recorded tapes I've bought in charity shops, who's image quality seems OK
but obviously I don't know how they've been treated. But since the whole
reason I'm still using VHS and not something more modern is to be able to
play these old tapes, I guess I'll just have to live with it if that's
what's wearing it out.

Avoid the start of the tapes, as that is where they generally suffer
most heavy use and wear, what with loading and unloading cycles.
Also if they are left lying about that is wher contaminants may enter.

I second the idea of using only new tapes for a week and see what
happens. Given that you have used charity shop tapes of dubious origin
it seems to suggest here may lie the problem.
you might want to try and get hold of a vcr off your local freecycle
to experiment with old tapes on, then you can filter out any duds
before playing them in your new unit.

-B.

 

[Tom Cumming]

I second the idea of using only new tapes for a week and see what
happens. Given that you have used charity shop tapes of dubious origin
it seems to suggest here may lie the problem. you might want to try and
get hold of a vcr off your local freecycle to experiment with old tapes
on, then you can filter out any duds before playing them in your new
unit.

Silly question but they all appear to play fine, so what would I be
looking for? If they did not play well enough to watch then I'd have
binned them by now.

Thanks

TOm

 

[[email protected]]

The prob could be in the pinch roller worn, glazed or dirty and
needs replacing, a lot of repair shops don't replace them these days
and can cause probs as the newer models use smaller dia rollers and
cause more probs. Try taking it back as the tech should look at it
more carefully and diagnose it better.
Justy.
--

 

[Ron(UK)]

Silly question but they all appear to play fine, so what would I be
looking for? If they did not play well enough to watch then I'd have
binned them by now.

Thanks

TOm

It only takes one sticky or oily fingerprint on a tape to clog up the
heads, or a crumpled or stretched section of tape where the oxide is
shedding.

Ron(UK)

 

[Arfa Daily]

Silly question but they all appear to play fine, so what would I be
looking for? If they did not play well enough to watch then I'd have
binned them by now.

Thanks

TOm

You may not even be able to see a problem if a tape is shedding oxide. Those
heads are rotating mighty fast, and the actual head ferrite tips press into
the tape surface like knife edges. The head gaps are more tiny than you can
imagine, so the tape doesn't need to drop a lot of oxide to clog the heads.
If it's losing tiny amounts all the time, you probably won't even notice
anything wrong with the picture, but when a slightly bigger bit comes away,
you will likely clog the heads. If you look very carefully, you might just
see tiny pinprick dropouts on the picture from a bad tape, but even that is
by no means certain, as the dropout compensator circuits are pretty good on
most machines. All you are looking for really, is which tape causes the
problem.

Arfa

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

You may not even be able to see a problem if a tape is shedding oxide. Those
heads are rotating mighty fast, and the actual head ferrite tips press into
the tape surface like knife edges. The head gaps are more tiny than you can
imagine, so the tape doesn't need to drop a lot of oxide to clog the heads.
If it's losing tiny amounts all the time, you probably won't even notice
anything wrong with the picture, but when a slightly bigger bit comes away,
you will likely clog the heads. If you look very carefully, you might just
see tiny pinprick dropouts on the picture from a bad tape, but even that is
by no means certain, as the dropout compensator circuits are pretty good on
most machines. All you are looking for really, is which tape causes the
problem.

Here's a suggestion: Once you have it working, whether by having it cleaned
by the shop or whatever, ONLY test it with a few tapes you know to be
good. Brand new out of the wrapping if need be. If it behaves, then
you know that your tape collection - or even a single tape - is to blame
and not the VCR.

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Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
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[Tom Cumming]

Here's a suggestion: Once you have it working, whether by having it
cleaned by the shop or whatever, ONLY test it with a few tapes you know
to be good. Brand new out of the wrapping if need be. If it behaves,
then you know that your tape collection - or even a single tape - is to
blame and not the VCR.

Ok I think you've convinced me now
I'm going to take it in for repair again on Saturday, so we'll see what
happens.