RESTORATION of Expensive S-VHS VCR | Retro Repair Guy Episode 38

[@nigelpottinger901]

This is my first time viewing your channel and I'm totally blown away very impressed with your professionalism clean in how you work going the extra mile in replacing those bad capacitors being honest with what really wrong in the system you're repairing and teaching me so much

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Hi Nigel! First welcome to the channel! I really appreciate reading these comments. If you check out some of my other videos like the one of the destroyed tape deck kzbin.info/www/bejne/pF7Gm2mviZqUldU you'll see I can get a little crazy. 😂 Thank you so much for watching!

[@juliancurtis4071]

Mr's RG is both very tolerant of your collections.. & quite a looker. hope you guys have a long & happy marriage

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Hi Julian! Yes to both counts, she's the best! After all this time and kids it feels like it's already been forever but I certainly hope it will be. Thanks for watching!

[@joshuapowell1868]

Great video people like myself are buying vhs movies offline for 10 dollars everything proven vhs tapes are not hard finding online it's the people who is hard finding out where they are at now days everything proven people don't have to get out of there house now days people like myself are buying VCR players cleaning tapes vhs movies offline now days

[@johnnyrotit844]

I second that! She's very beautiful and you are a lucky man! Great restoration and channel! Love it!

[@michaell2120]

Nice work on the restoration! Brings back memories for me of a previous career though where I'm from JVC were considered very reliable but niche' whereas National/Panasonic were the dominant brand in that era. The S-VHS models were the ones we always lusted after. Beautiful machines.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Thank you very much! I absolutely love this unit. The quality is amazing and it's a unit I could have only dreamed of owning back in the day. If you're gonna watch a VHS tape, it has to be on a unit like this. Thanks for watching!

[@Enigma758]

Nice! "If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing."

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Thank you I appreciate it!

[@sparxies]

I don't know how or why, but this video played at 144p for me by default. It took me a good 5 minutes before I realised it wasn't part of your aesthetic for the intro of the video! I kept thinking, OK nice retro vibe, but can we just have the video in 1080p now. I didn't even realise KZbin had 144p as an option. Anyway, nice video, enjoyed the tinkering.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Hi! Yes I realized that also; if for whatever reason it happened to play a video at a lower resolution, it sometimes defaults to that resolution for a future video. I don't know why. But yes, I offer all my videos in 1080p, whenever there is a segment for a retro vibe, it's normally pretty obvious. I have a few I even offered in 4K but realized it wasn't really necessary and YT takes forever to process them so I stuck to 1080P. Thanks for watching!

[@LosmundosdeENORM]

Awesome job !! It can be seen the love you use with this device !!

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Thank you! I appreciate it and thanks for watching!

[@nigelpottinger901]

Congratulations on your wedding both you guys seem happy and look good together

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Well one looks better than the other (won't say which one) but thank you!

[@hal-rekabi6724]

a fast blowing fuse on a similar VCR power supply saved my life after I was electrocuted. the power supply was in my hand and my arm slammed the power supply into my chest. i still have faint marks after 18 years of the incident on my chest of a Panasonic VCR power supply soldering joints diagram. the fuse saved my life.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

True! I mentioned saving the equipment but can do more than that! You are very lucky to be here to talk about it. We always tell people to be careful, but sometimes we obviously have to work with power on and once I got such a bad shock from one of those wood cabinet TV that sit on the floor. Anyway, my arm went flying into the drywall so hard that my elbow made a hole. I swear I'm still feeling it thirty years later!

[@mingusmofaz5898]

I have a couple of VCRs I picked up and one of them is this exact model! It was a pretty great player while it was still working. Your video has inspired me to open it up and do some repairs myself, this will be a great guideline to follow.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Hi! That's awesome! I'm happy the video served as inspiration and thanks for watching!

[@kjellnilsson1615]

A real professional restore 😊👍👍👍

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Thank you I work hard on them! Thanks for watching!

[@speed_rider362]

This is an excellent repair! I would also remove the green battery shown at 14:30 just to be safe. You do not need memory backup nowadays and these batteries tend to leak when this old.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Absolutely! I should have changed it. I like restoring things so I would not just remove it, however not changing was an oversight and it could leak and cause damage. I've added it to my list. Besides I intend to replace the flywheel as I'm not 100% happy with it. Thanks for watching!

[@philcarter9738]

Love the Initech mug! Is that Milton's stapler up on the shelf as well? Of course the question has to be "did you get the memo about the TPS reports" 😄 Great job on the restore, turned into a really nice deck and that pause is very impressive for VHS!

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Hi! Finally someone notices! 😊 Yes it's Milton's stapler as well and I actually have a real TPS report in my stuff also! Thank you so much! Yes I was impressed myself with the quality. I'm not kidding when I say this unit was like watching a regular DVD. After all this unit was capable of over 400 lines of resolution and a DVD was 480. I think it's a keeper. Thanks for watching!

[@andreasbartel3449]

If I would wash parts of a VCR housing my wife would organize „professional help“

[@RetroRepairGuy]

My wife was about to make an "intervention" for me LOL Well I also throw boards in the dishwasher. When I restore something, it's got to be done top to bottom! Thanks for watching!

[@RudysRetroIntel]

Fantastic work!! You are an extremely talented man!! Thanks for sharing, and once again, congratulations on your wedding!

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Hi Rudy! Thank you & thank you. You're pretty talented yourself, I'm just nuts! 😂

[@RudysRetroIntel]

@@RetroRepairGuy Hey, I'm nuts too 🤣

[@jkmac625]

I had the slightly earlier model in 1989 the JVC HR-S5000. Almost identical to this one but it had a lot more switches and no menu button on the fold down panel, so maybe this HR-S5500 was one of the earliest VCRs to feature on-screen display and menu driven settings.

[@giuseppelavecchia775]

Ottimo video,quel modello e' molto buono,hai fatto bene a comprarlo e sistemarlo,quel videoregistratore e' di fascia alta insieme al modello HR-S5000,apparecchiature eccellenti.sei in gamba!

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Grazie! E grazie per la visione!

[@TheMediaHoarder]

How do you keep track of how to put everything back together when taking that much of it apart? That’s the main thing that scares me when I take things apart, that I won’t remember how to put it back together right.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Hi there! Well a few things. First of course there is the fact that I've been doing this for 30 years and made my share of mistakes over the years. In general it's like a puzzle and pieces can only fit one way and screws each have a purpose. If you're not sure or not used to it, just take a picture on your phone. Back in the day we didn't have that and could only refer to a service manual so I learned the hard way but today it's easy for that. If ever there is something very intricate or special you can always refer to it later. Or film it and explain to yourself where it goes pointing at it. At one point it's like a mechanic working on a car you just know how to do brakes but if there is something special you refer to the manual. Thanks for watching!

[@gyulaszabo6750]

It would have been worthwhile to replace the "backup capacitor" on the display panel. Unlike the non low ESR capacitors in the power supply, this can cause problems when it starts leaking soon.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Hi! Yes you are absolutely correct just like in the Xbox they leaked. I remember looking at it and thinking I should but then forgot to order it and had to finish the video. But since I am keeping the unit, I will order it and change it. Thanks for watching!

[@azshaw123]

Imagine how much that restoration would have cost.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Hi. It's mostly time consuming, not the parts. But many ask me and I tell them it's worth it if you have something of sentimental value or collector's item but for me it's just a passion and I love fixing old stuff and unfortunately I never count my valuable time in this. Thanks for watching!

[@wallyf7020]

RRG, CONGRATS again. Mrs. RRG is getting younger and younger everytime we see her on your videos. That store you purchased the roller, is it 20 mins South, North, East or west from your place LOL.....get video and excellent repair like usual..

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Hi Wally. You realize I have to heart the comment just because you complemented Mrs. RRG. 😂 Mrs. RRG always looked younger; one day if we meet I'll tell you a story that happened years ago that ended up with someone telling me "you're robbing the cradle aren't you." 😂 The person refused to believe her age. I thought you already knew everything since I "slipped up" last time! As usual, great to hear from you and thank you!

[@wallyf7020]

@RetroRepairGuy hope to meet up one day, prob at inter marche or milano bar lol

[@RetroRepairGuy]

@@wallyf7020 Maybe also in a Walmart or Costco. Who knows! lol

[@wallyf7020]

@@RetroRepairGuy wherrrrrrrre...........

[@masoudmontazery907]

Good luck sir 🎉

[@olepigeon]

Hmm. I have an HR-S8000U that looks to have an identical mechanism. I recapped my power supply and I also applied rubber rejuvenator to the idle and pinch roller, but no luck. It has trouble playing on the first try. It also won't rewind, but it will fast forward. I found a company in Canada that has replacement pinch rollers, so I'm going to order one.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Yes I found my parts right here in Montreal. Don't forget there is also two little rubber tires underneath from what I remember. And while this VCR is of great quality it also comes with a bunch of alignments since you can adjust almost everything on it. Better to get the service manual for it if you can. Thanks for watching!

[@olepigeon]

@@RetroRepairGuy I ordered and replaced the pinch roller (as well as oiled the takeup reels), but the problem persists. However, I haven't cleaned off all the old glue from the PCBs. I had heard that it can become conductive (both the glue on the PCBs and the epoxy used for the capacitors.) I also plan to shotgun repair all the capacitors on one of the daughterboards. Really want to get this thing working. It's so nice when it does.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

@@olepigeon As I said in the video I love this unit it almost looks as good as DVD. I was truly amazed. Yes changing all the caps would definitely help as well. Besides you can't get quite a perfect adjustment if you are adjusting the unit for sound or video with bad caps.

[@bsanchez3563]

I like the jvc dr-m150b, Subbed btw.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Thanks for the sub and for watching! I appreciate it!

[@bsanchez3563]

@@RetroRepairGuy Yeah np.

[@solojinglesradio1]

JVC Super VHS are the best, I really like their series, but it's very strange their B.E.S.T. function

[@bobsbits5357]

hi like betacam sp my self because there alot of deck i can use as parts now yes i have done re cap work i changed over 1000's of them get something like a brenel mini 8 there's alot to change and tascam da88 da38 that has to be worked on i will say adat recorders are well made just moving parts some times

[@bobsbits5357]

$25 usa that is very good there is alot of gear around at this price because fixing put alot of i picked up betacam decks for the same price a time picked up unit this week for silly money new sealed came from a studio sony a510p £20 just little work on it some don't list on ebay alot of the time DANGER it's so easy to get racks of gear so fast i have cats not ladys to worry about

[@RetroRepairGuy]

It was even better as it was $25 Canadian! Which as I always say is $2 USD! Thanks for watching!

[@RandomRetr0]

I'm going to record this to S-VHS for sh*ts and grins

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Haha! Would look great to see that playback on an old tv and VCR.

[@RandomRetr0]

@@RetroRepairGuy sadly, I don’t have a CRT TV anymore, except a 1946 Motorola VT-71 I keep meaning to either restore or repurpose the cabinet, but somehow never seen to get around to it

[@RetroRepairGuy]

@@RandomRetr0 Wow that's a nice unit I would say fix don't repurpose!

[@stefanegger]

maybe not a bad repair or video, sometimes its also a risk to take those things apart but well done mostly. Just why did you not change the supercap, prob wont hold the memory for long. I have a similar one in the harman kardon radio, it will work for some days but I guess it is not that great any longer. They cost a lot to replace, but when you do such a big job and then cheap out makes it a strange descision. You swap fuses that dont break but dont swap parts that break. Changing the rubber idler tyre is not always possible, as they are not available any longer for every model. Interesting that it wears down, I did not expect that.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Well first you are correct that Supercap (clock capacitor) should have been changed. However it really is not expensive at all, Digi-Key has them for a couple dollars. If you watch my videos you will see that first I really don't "cheap out" and spend all this money because I mostly keep this stuff and want to keep it for a long time so I spend a lot of money buying the best capacitors like Nichicon. In this case I truly forgot the supercap. Filming, editing, working and trying to get a video out and I saw it after and was upset at myself. But either way I will do more work on it and change a couple more parts so I will get to it. As for the idler tires, pinch rollers and belts. Yes of course they all need changing as they are made of rubber. Just like your car tires they wear out, the rubber dries and cracks and belts melt. This is why I always use Rubber Renew first and if it fails, I look very hard to find the parts. On popular or more expensive models like this one, it's a little easier that I found the pinch roller the same day in stock locally believe it or not. And because of its age, I still used Rubber Renew on it to make sure it stays "fresh". Fuses also have a lifespan and are made in different quality. I linked to a fuse guide in the description, it's worth a read. Thanks for watching.

[@ugurylmaz7666]

👏👏👏👏

[@makeitstop8306]

what grease do you recommend for the guide rails

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Hi! Well believe it or not for many years I found that some of the best grease has been Lucas Multi Purpose White Lithium Grease it's great for so many things and a tube lasts me forever. I find it sticks well, does not leak and works well. I use it mainly for anything that has gears but here I used it on the rails as well. But make sure to clean the old one with alcohol and don't get any on the heads. Thanks for watching.

[@thebusycrab4887]

I have Old VCRS... 6 Of them with Dead SMPS cause someone didn't pay attention and the capacitors leaked.. Destroying the SMPS

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Yup I tell people all the time to change the caps and that they only have a certain lifespan but I always get the "if it ain't broke don't touch it" arguments. This is why I am able to keep my stuff for years and years to come. Thanks for watching!

[@plexnbrown760]

Really likes the music you selected for this one, nice job on this sir reminds me when I tried to open laser disc player to repair it quickly closed it with so many boards.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Hi Plex. Haven't hear from you in a bit. Happy to hear you liked it and that you're still here; one of my very early subs! I try to mix it up sometimes but it takes forever to go through all the tracks. Yeah sometimes I open up stuff and feel like running away. lol

[@plexnbrown760]

@@RetroRepairGuy yeah it been a busy transition for the summer. I have been building a dry creek bed for water runoff for my hill.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

@@plexnbrown760 Sounds like fun actually!

[@ASMRPeople]

15 or 20 years ago I had the white whale, a svhs jvc with a built in tbc. It quit working so I discarded it. I wish I held onto it. If you can even find those units today they're close to a thousand bucks.

[@Capturing-Memories]

Nice introduction, I dug it. Also congrats on your wedding.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Thank you the research at the beginning is what often takes a lot of time im the videos. Thanks for watching!

[@gerryroberts662]

I have an old GE vhs 3 spped vcr.. thought the front panel is cracked on the circuit board on the front near buttons..was looking for another board of the same type ?? so i could get it back working 100 %..

[@천진규-n8t]

와우! 정말 멋진 수리 였습니다.

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Thank you!

[@firenado4295]

man, watching all of this makes me feel bad for my Trinitron sat in the corner with the blown out flyback and the Panasonic g40 on top of it with the dead psu. I got a newer crappy Daewoo hifi vcr for cheaper than it would be to fix the Panasonic and I connected it to the much worse Panasonic tv we have that seems to be like a cockroach since it was used daily since the 80s till 2010 when analogue was killed. I would put more time into it but having to order parts and wait for them just kills my enthusiasm so I never get into these things. I already replaced the rifa caps on the trinatron but it just died one day, complete loss of picture and the psu just goes into standby from the 135v being shorted. I think its the flyback but i have no real idea and no way to test it either. that and Id have to get a replacement shipped over from the us for 3x its actual price.

[@plexnbrown760]

Man last action hero that brings back memories. My son and I trade Arnie one liners all the time. One of our things

[@RetroRepairGuy]

That movie was seriously underrated. I enjoy it so much because not only did it make fun of itself but when I was younger I use to skip school and hide in movie theaters all day like the kid in the movie. And, like him, the movie theater was completely empty and I use to watch all the Arnie and Stallone films and had a very similar life. So, for me it's kinda special. Also why it was important for me to build my Home Theater. Make sure you keep making your son watch all those 80s films. You're lucky to have someone to watch them with.

[@CantankerousDave]

Excellent soundtrack, too. I’ve had the CD since the 90s.

[@RicardoSantos-hw8io]

Vhs 360i S vhs 400i D vhs 1080i

[@RetroRepairGuy]

Hi. As opposed to what? I clearly stated the S-VHS was 400 lines and that D-VHS was 1080i. Also, as a side note VHS tapes were equivalent to 250 lines in SP (Standard Play) mode, not 360 and dropped lower when using the LP and EP modes. Thanks for watching.

[@TomCastellani]

I picked up a Proscan PSVR81 recently and a belt replacement / clean got it loading and working again but the picture just isn't 100%. Some slight dark streaks / ghosting trailing off of lettering against a black background and general noise. I don't know if this is just what to expect or if it could be improved but I counted 138 electrolytic caps in the entire unit. Really debating whether I have the energy to do anything but figure out and recap the video section.