Technicolor CVC VCR Repair Attempt - 1980's Video Format

[@KentuckyRanger]

The 80s was a blizzard of tech toys! This is one I missed seeing... Thanks for sharing!

[@MrGeoffHilton]

Don't get disheartened,the video is great and I like the fact that you're doing it and not me, I've wasted week's of time on similar things in the past. See you soon.

[@KentuckyRanger]

After getting to the end of the video, all I can say is, WOW! What a technical and mechanical NIGHTMARE! Lord, the things that come from the 80s... What a wild ride it was!

[@jomjom1207]

Have you cleaned the switches shown at 10:12? You probably have but if not dirty switches can cause erratic behaviour like what you are experiencing.

[@zockfreund]

Hi, if I see it right, one of your belts is wrong. The belt is running on the wrong side. The roller at 10:15 must be tensioned exactly from the other side.

[@DanafoxyVixen]

I have an old (1977) Phillips N1700 VCR format recorder myself that is riddled with faults that I hope to repair one day.. so trust me I feel your pain.. Good luck fixing your machine!

[@crashbandicoot4everr]

VCR/VCR-LP and V2000 machines are a pain in the butt to work on.

[@frankowalker4662]

It's 2 years later, any luck ? Mine in the 80's took 6 months to get it to work right.

[@t0nito]

Do these have a rotary mode switch/encoder like VHS VCRs? It may need attention.

[@jacobyalfa]

god bless you @databits take care of your health

[@databits]

Thank you Jacoby, I'm taking some good allergy meds now.

[@MA-51785]

I have the same kind of rekorder. What I see at your unit is that the counter doesn´t work. There is a belt from the right band plate to the counter. At the counter there is a magnetic ring which sends impulses if the band plate is rotating.

[@pjbth]

The caps on the back of the board by where you replaced the transistors look like they leaked pretty bad and ate the PCB, even replacing the one it may have taken out the traces inside the board.

[@mistermatix8241]

Pat Booth I thought exactly the same, the board looks absolutely covered in electrolyte where those 2 caps are. In most electronics, examining and/or replacing the bad or dodgy caps is the FIRST thing you do

[@donpalmera]

>taken out the traces inside the board. Everything looks double sided.. i.e. no internal layers.

[@pjbth]

donpalmera true i worded that poorly

[@crashbandicoot4everr]

I think it's just that stupid glue that they used back in the day to secure components for shipping. When this glue dryies out over the years, it becomes conductive and causes shorts on the PCB.

[@databits]

Several people have mentioned this. I had no idea! I've been working on electronics my entire life and hadn't heard of it. Thanks for sharing the info!

[@ed10523]

Welcome Back! Allergies kick butt i know that's for sure.

[@databits]

Thanks!

[@Priyodarsono]

The auto stop work likes a cassette player. If there's no movements, the stop rocking arm will poke the button lock so the button release automatically & stop the player. Just try to play it without cassette. If the reel spinner spin when you press the play, it's normal (try another cassette), but if it's not, check the belt and/or the pulleys

[@renegonzalez6755]

Just purchased one from ebay for $98 along with the original power supply/video out brick for $130 from another seller. It had a loose belt which i placed back. It is now playing a video tape perfectly. It is amazing that all the capacitors and the roller are in good shape. The only issue is that i have to keep the play button down the whole time or else it pops back up.

[@peopyt]

Hi. I have the same problem. Where did you get the belt replacement and was the Job complicated?

[@renegonzalez6755]

@@peopyt If you know how to repair a VHS videotape machine then this repair will not be complicated. Back in the late 70s and early 80s there was a hotglue that was used to hold capacitors and resistors in place. This hotglue is known to be hygro-scopic and become semi-conductive after 10 years. I always remove all of this hotglue on all my consumer CVC Microvideo cassette machines. The military grade machines do not have this hotglue. Thank goodness. The amount of hotglue as well as where it was used varies because these machines were partially assembled by hand. By removing this hotglue you will fix about 90 percent of problems (play/rewind/FFWD buttons won't stay down, playback stops randomly, picture quality looks bad, tracking dial is unresponsive...etc.) Most professional repair services refuse to talk openly about this hotglue for obvious reasons. I myself am not a professional.

[@peopyt]

@@renegonzalez6755 Thank you for the reply. Well I am not that expert in fixing much Electronics but I have succeeded a few times with older betamax and vhs recorders. You don't have a functional spare cvc tape recorder for sale do you? 😉 I need a few tape digitized

[@renegonzalez6755]

@@peopyt BEST CASE SCENARIO If all goes well this will be a $9 repair with an approximate 4 hour repair time. This repair time includes the removal of the longest square belt. Cleaning the sticky brass pulleys. Cleaning functional belts with soap and water (flat belt in charge of capstain and square belt in charge of the timer.) Removal of all semi-conductive hotglue (1 hour process alone.) Re-lubrication of all bearings including motor bearings and capstain bearing with full synthetic oil. Maintenance of all switches, dials and potentiometers (tracking potentiometer included) with De-Oxit Fader F5 cleaning/lubricating/protecting spray. Re-greasing all guides and (metal to metal) and (metal to plastic) movement parts with full synthetic grease. Cleaning the rubber roller with water (3 passes should be enough.) Cleaning the two video heads, audio head and erase head and steel tape guides with 90 percent or higher content alcohol (I use 99.9 percent here.) Believe it or not the videotape never touched the spinning videodrum which is a huge design flaw. This setup is very similar to the 1973 Cartrivision video head setup. Please send me an email for more details.

[@renegonzalez6755]

@@peopyt WORST CASE SCENARIO You spend $9 in belts and 4 hours of your time and you still do not have a working machine due to but not limited to: dry or cracked rubber roller, worn gears or warped tape threading arms. These 1980 and 1981 released consumer machines have 4 serious design flaws. #1 The videotape transport system is unlike Cartrivision, EIAJ-2, Betamax, U-Matic, V-Cord2, Quasar VX or VHS. All consumer CVC Microvideo machines used an odd "Ring type" transport system that places a lot of strain on the belts, motors and gears. This sometimes caused worn gears and even warped "C type" transport arms that would lock into place unable to return back to their original resting place. #2 One of the two motors uses an odd rubber "shock absorbing" system that would sometimes fail due to dropping or bumping the machine. This would then cause a gear located directly underneath this motor to become worn. #3 The hotglue used on the mainboards eventually caused semi-conductive shorts which caused function problems and random errors. #4 The lack of physical contact with a spinning video drum means extra wear and tear on the videotape.

[@mcramp20]

Great attempt great video !

[@databits]

Thanks Mike. Too many capacitors to deep dive it.

[@video99couk]

The loading mechanism is a weak point in these. It's probably not quite completing the lace-up, and is then getting stuck there. The loading ring jams up on the large circular plastic guide beneath the head drum, I think it's due to the plastic expanding. Lubrication can help a bit, but not always, and it's hard to get to. Work around: Try quickly going from stop to play a few times, it may complete the load and run. Then for unload, quickly do the same thing and it can eventually complete unload. Very fragile design unfortunately, this problem probably killed off nearly all of these machines by the time they were five years old. Hence they are rare now. (I have working ones though in both PAL and NTSC!)

[@mrnmrn1]

If you really want to introduce this format to us, it was probably not the best choice to get a revenge on this mint condition machine for the unsuccessful repair attempts by trashing it. These things are quite rare. Even if you find an other one, it would probably deserve this one as a parts machine. Good luck to find a head drum or even a pinch roller or a plastic gear for it. Eg. the pinch roller looks OK in this one - which is quite a lucky occasion in a 37 years old unit. And as others already pointed out: next time remove the brownish-black glue residues from the board, as it becomes conductive. Also need to clean the mode switches you can see at 10:11 , and any other switch contacts on the mechanism.

[@deanswetman3887]

This is probably a lame comment, but I had an issue like this with a tape player once and the issue was with the record 'tabs' at the back of the cassette. The little plastic thingy that goes into the holes to stop you recording when you have a commercial cassette and you have to block the holes to record. Maybe something to do with that mechanism. Again apologies if this comment is shite. Great videos btw...

[@JR3059]

get rid of that black looking glue in the vacinuty of the transistors that you replaced. It becomes conductive.

[@databits]

Good advice! That sucker is already in the trash. Perhaps if I run across another machine I'll give it a good bath.

[@UkSkin]

The Cassettes look amazingly like DCC to me

[@VideyoJunkei]

I have a now-working unit from EBAY that I fixed myself-it was quite the chore! Mine had belt issues, and problems with the motor drive gear and 1 loading arm with the plastic parts shrinking and cracking. The load arm was so tight-I could barely move it;I used sandpaper to grind out the inside so it would turn. Putting it all together with the right gear alignments was the hardest part-I had it apart and together about 5 times before everything worked!! If the motor tries to move but cant, it may be the gear on the motor.

[@databits]

Do you still have yours? I need to borrow one to dub off an old tape!

[@coolelectronics1759]

it sounded like a broken hard drive when you say its been getting worce lol haha

[@Asiertxu1974]

Hello there! I got one of this CVC machines (Technicolor 212E), but when I try to start it I get no response at all. I suspect that it could be a fusible that was broken inside, somewhere inside it. Do you know where the fusible is located into it? (if it has one of course) Thanks in advance. Regards, Asier.

[@PwndersWoW]

Where you got the power from? I have the plug female but no plug male to.. so I cannot connect a pc charger to it

[@robertlee1549]

how do you output video? I don't see a video out connection.

[@vintagecameras9623]

nice work

[@databits]

thanks

[@Sys-Edit0r-1995]

As far as I know the fault is mechanical, but I don't know what it is. I read it's a "load ring" but heck if I know what that means or were it is. I know I can move the threading arms manually but it is extremely stiff for my mechanism. So I'm trying to figure out what's keeping it from turning, it's probably the "load ring" and of course it's unobtanium, but is it fixable? I don't know, but I hope so...

[@databits]

I've been told its bad capacitors, and this machine has too many to be worthwhile to replace.

[@Sys-Edit0r-1995]

@@databits I figured out what the load ring is, is a plastic bearing that the left take up arm uses. The only way I figure to fix it is to machine a a few thousandths of an inch off the shaft (below the video head.) I tried to oil the thing and other methods to loosen it's grip, but upon reassembly I didn't see the plastic gear that connected the load arm to the motor got misaligned and then stripped when trying to manually run the motor. after the gear stripped the right load arm moved freely though. Personally I don't always think replacing the capacitors will always be the proper fix. I had a Panasonic camera I want to get working fully, but it was non-functional after I recapped it.

[@1914grant]

You should have tried bypassing the Dew Sensor by bridging it i had an old VHS that i tried it on

[@pippolupin8715]

I've got Siemens CVC portable model FM500 with PAL system colour, this CVC portable is cloned from Funai&Technicolor.

[@jasinere35]

did you line up the sliders underneath the chasis?

[@vintagecameras9623]

cvc format, cool

[@databits]

yes

[@thetechgenie7374]

Get rid of glue by capacitor that stuff become conductive over time and also corrosive. It a darker color which it sure be light brown color. One was to test is just put meter leads accross glue and see if you get a resistance? As far as fixing it, you sure get at very least a multi meter and test voltages to see if motor getting power to it first is a good starting point. Don't guess. It could be a bad motor as well and not even be the motor drive circuit? Also micro switches do tend to go high resistance as they get corroded, or dirty inside and a spray of contact cleaner usually get them reliable again. I would check the switches as well. If problem still couldn't be found them a service manual will be needed and you have to do some back tracing to find what the issue is. Bring it worked before may not be a serious issue and motor more likely is fine.

[@crashbandicoot4everr]

Nice video as always. Did you manage to get the machine going?

[@databits]

I didn't. I trashed it.

[@samuelfellows6923]

😔

[@СергейДеточенко-ц8т]

А какая ширина ленты?

[@joesam7744]

Anyone know the old transistors brand or manufacturer name? they appear in many old machines across all makes.

[@danhefferland9834]

Joe Jetu matsushita (technics)

[@TheVCRKing]

Panasonic

[@NeilVanceNeilVance]

I have two of these and both failed the same way, picture is 90% noise with just about 10% video signal coming through. Is there a fix for this anyone? the video heads are clean.

[@databits]

Someone replied and said "bad capacitors". Problem is, there are a huge number of capacitors in this VCR.

[@NeilVanceNeilVance]

Thanks for that ... Yes for sure there is quite a ton of them!! .. Ill try another deep visual inspection and take it from there thank you.

[@NeilVanceNeilVance]

Thank you for that ... I will have a good look at the physical condiion of the caps 1st ... It's just that the second CVC I bought was new and the video playback only lasted for 1 year. Cheer man.

[@jamiedodd1991]

I would try replacing ALL the capacitors.

[@gaborbanfalvi3917]

Hey U should not replace the 2 transistors but mesure them before. In this old machines there is almost no logic control. You should look for a microswitch witch can operate the motor first. this transistors are only there for speed adjustment(thats what i think) but the easyest way is to follow the motor wires and look where it goes than where is the switch. Once again im 99'9% sure there is a miscroswitch witch operate the motor ON/OFF then these transistors are there for the speed adjustemnt. But the most important is have fun.Its all that matters

[@emorris272]

I've been to Gateway Electronics on Lackland many times. I liked their previous place better. Junkier. Took my tube tester there and tested many tubes. Good old days.

[@chevsev]

Holly crap, I never thought I would hear any one on you tube talk about Gateway. kinda freaked me out. But dear god that place is a danger to your bank account. Edit: If you don't have a better soldering iron by not I have a soldering station you can have.

[@emorris272]

I bet I could help you get it working!

[@michaelturner4457]

Hell of a lot of bodge components on the boards. Made by Funai, which was always cheapo.

[@jeeptrail08]

Better get on digikey and start ordering all the caps you need. You have a lot to change.

[@databits]

Negative. I ain't got time for that many caps!

[@gavincurtis]

Yeah, and make sure you get all the tantalums too. I get the impression you don't like replacing hundreds of capacitors on things you aren't going to use..... hmmmmmm.

[@Cristian.Cortez]

why was there a dislike before a like

[@noisytim]

Cristian Cortez dislike-bots :/

[@cyberwolfe]

Cristian Cortez Usually ugly nasty trolls lol

[@1marcelfilms]

I got some on my channel as well, i get about 4 dislikes on every new video for no reason.

[@MarkShannonroad_videos]

This is the reason why I hide the likes/dislikes on my own videos.

[@clifffton]

Runs as well as any Funai....

[@vintagecameras9623]

respect

[@databits]

love

[@hubzcaps]

tape tentioner and or tape is sticky

[@quantumleap359]

These units were unreliable from the get go. A company back in the early 80's tried to use these decks and a small TV to take around to customers to play demo tapes for how to use their equipment. After only several weeks of carting them around in the car and setting them up, they exhibited these problems. Even when they threaded up properly, the playback was poor at best, a lot of noise in the picture and speed variations in the sound. A complete failure as a portable format. May have had better luck if the units were not subjected to rough handling and transportation.

[@databits]

Agreed. Thank you for your comment. I threw mine in the trash. What a hunk of junk.

[@timothy2830]

You must do all the cursing off camera...?

[@databits]

Yes. Gotta keep it clean. :)

[@slayufa]

Слишком много слов

[@lenovovo]

Disappointing video :-( thumbs down.