The Philips VR2023 is not my favourite V2000 format video recorder. So why try to fix one?

[@nin74]

I love the video 2000 format and are collection a lot of pre-recorded releases on the format (got over 900 now). For me there is two reason to repair and service even the early vr202* machines. 1. For future preservation of important electronics. I think it is important that we should also in the future be able to display and use old electronics like a functioning museum. 2. That a certain player or model has a certain nostalgic or memorable memory. I have two of my grandfathers VR2020 in my collection. They still work and I'm planing to have them serviced. For me it is important to have these in working condition because these are the machines I watch so many movies and cartoons when I was a small child. Great video as always.

[@JacGoudsmit]

The 2023 was one of my favorite VCRs from the day. It may be difficult to repair but at least with these early recorders they didn't change half the mechanism to plastic that goes brittle. I kept mine going for years until I could finally afford an S-VHS machine. I even used my 2023 as TV tuner; I remember having a circuit that would basically push the stop button every minute or so, so it wouldn't turn itself off.

[@livinlifetothefullest2750]

35:59 oh dear famous last words

[@MVEProductions]

Ha, I remember seeing one of the first Video 2000 recorders back in the day at a Philips branch where they made röntgen spectrometers in The Netherlands. My father was head designer there and we kids spend a family outing at dad's work place. In one of the rooms a Philips Video 2000 recorder (VR2020/VR2023?) was playing children's cartoons. As a kid it was magical to me. So I have great memories of it.

[@Petertronic]

Good to see the 2023 working after all the time spent on it. Loved the screechy brakes! Ooops - looks like another video on the 2324 forthcoming... 😬

[@mikaelgranquist821]

As a kid in the 80:s, we had one VR2020 and one VR2334. And we never had any problems with them as far i can remember. But i must admit that i just love the loud noises the VR2020/21/22/23 made! I just love V2000!

[@bjarneanthony7797]

This transister control the casette deck Colin on the VCR 60 and Philips vr 2324.Anthony

[@curleytony]

Hi Colin. I have worked on lots of V2000. Machines in the past and especially Philips are a nightmare . I still have a few of these machines and as you have found Philips work on minute and not the next. Grundig v2000 were better (just). Another great repair video. I admire your patience. Often felt like throwing the Philips machines through the window!

[@hapskie]

The green winding on the defective head seems faulty. One of the wires is not connected as far as I can see, on the outer edge.

[@Ragnar8504]

Out of the four V2000 machines I've owned (plus three entirely buggered ones I never saw working and either returned or scrapped) the Ingelen 20VR22 has been the most reliable. Unfortunately it doesn't have AV In/Out, only an aerial connector. All I ever did to it was replace that evil Rifa and the battery, probably ten years ago. I used three 1/3 AA NiMh cells with tags soldered together and covered in heatshrink. Conrad sold them for a reasonable price back then. I seem to remember the service manual tells you to press eject before disassembling the machine, good to know you can actually take it apart without powering it up!

[@kelvinhoughton7953]

Many years ago I used to sell the Philips V2000 machines think they were ex rental etc , nightmare, if the customer was far away I'd take 2 or more working machines. I have 1 left Pye 20VR22 (I think) which is basically the Philips VR2022

[@bjarneanthony7797]

This transister control the casette deck Colin if its defekt its make click sound turn of Going on .Anthony

[@nin74]

I can give a little secret. The best v2000 machines are the one that have an F after the modelnr on the back. Like 2334/0*F, 2340/0*F etc. As I understand it these have the latest version of the head and some other things. Off my 10+ players the F machines have a much better image with less noise and good picture than the others.

[@nin74]

The F models have improved power supply, DTF is working more accurate and the video heads are improved.

[@whaka54000]

exactly, you nailed it as i did. early 23xx weren't as good as the 20xx in term of picture quality playback (those early 23xx have the black bridge on drum top) then they improved by mounting a new head amp, some modifications on the Y/C board, then the narrow head tips for XL option they even put in "SP" machines. all in all, they greatly improved. and in france the "F" models even get a switching mode psu reducing power comsumption about 10W. but sadly, some of the "F" are also crippled in term of sound quality, because before switching to vhs, they started to mount the vhs audio head on V2000... and leading using the CTL track head on vhs for sound on V2000... and those V2000 have a more muffled sound. philips really didn't care anymore of V2000 at that time. i even did a capture of that when i was wondering why the sound was so bad, before i realize they put this fuc... vhs audio head in it... kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZLKnIR_esiXasU

[@mshobbies8x11]

Nursing one back to life what cable to connect iit to scart or rca?

[@video99couk]

I do show the pinout of the required cable during this video.

[@richiereyn]

I have several of the first-generation V2000 machines. I was impressed with the technology, the DTF was a revelation at the time for a domestic VCR, but the overall picture quality which after all is the most important thing was rather lacking. I always felt the Grundig machines had the better picture. The worst machine for picture quality was the VR2840 long play recorder. The track width was cut in half to allow for a longer recording time but the reduced S/N ratio made for a terrible picture. They used the same narrow head for standard speed which made SP speed worse than the standard speed only machines. I wonder how much better the format could have been had it been designed to use metal particle tape instead of oxide, though at the time of development I don't think metal particle tape was available.

[@douro20]

Yes they were very much ahead of their time. Video 2000 as I understand it introduced dynamic tracking to cassette formats- it was solely the domain of large VTRs at the time. And AFAIK we wouldn't see another consumer machine with it until the Panasonic NV-89500 which was the only VHS machine to have it.

[@whaka54000]

brrruuhhh... optocoupler failure can be very tricky on those, as you may have noticed on schematics, they're wirered in serie. so if one of them fail for any reason, they all fail. i got an issue with them on a VR2022 and while you think the counter is not running because of a reel sensor, well in my case it was the tape begin/end sensor that got a bad solder joint on it. and working on this optocoupler is tricky because the space is tight, and you can't easily get it out of the deck.

[@haweater1555]

I'm in Canada, so I've never seen those weird Video2000 tapes with two sides. If Europe had both VHS and Beta, I can see how the format wars just got messier. Techmoan had described V2000 as "coming in third in a two horse race" . Just another early home video format in the dustbin of history. Besides the familiar three, there was the original Philips stacked reel "VCR" format, Quaser "VX" , Avco "Cartrivision" and Sanyo "V-cord" . Websites show that VHS won because they were the first format to offer 4 hour uninterrupted recording time - easily enough to tape an entire American football game for time-shifted viewing later.

[@video99couk]

Running time wasn't the issue. Here in the UK, an L750 Beta tape runs for longer than an E180 VHS. So Beta had the longer running time, at first anyway. Longer tapes were available later on both formats, but running times were not different enough, it was a non-issue.

[@MaximRecoil]

@@video99couk "Here in the UK, an L750 Beta tape runs for longer than an E180 VHS." How do you figure? The only way Beta's L-750 runs for longer than VHS's E-180 is if you make an apples-to-oranges comparison, e.g., if you compare Beta's half-speed recording (βII speed, 3h 15m) to VHS's full-speed recording (SP speed, 3h 4m). If you were to use VHS's half-speed (LP speed) for an apples-to-apples comparison, you would get 6h 9m with an E-180 tape, which is nearly twice what you get from the Beta L-750 tape at half-speed.

[@video99couk]

@@MaximRecoil No, that's factually wrong. In the PAL market, Beta was a single speed, as was VHS in the early days. So an L750 ran for longer than an E180, despite having slightly higher resolution and lower noise.

[@MaximRecoil]

@@video99couk "No, that's factually wrong." No, it isn't. "In the PAL market, Beta was a single speed" It doesn't matter. It was the PAL version of βII speed (half-speed). The true (NTSC) Betamax linear tape speeds were βI (4 cm/s), βII (2 c/s) and βIII (1.33 cm/s). The PAL speed was ~1.85 cm/s, which most closely corresponds with βII. "So an L750 ran for longer than an E180, despite having slightly higher resolution and lower noise." Again, that's an apples-to-oranges comparison. The apples-to-apples comparison is with VHS's half-speed (LP speed), i.e., 6h 9m with an E-180 tape, which is nearly twice what you get from the Beta L-750 tape at half-speed. On top of that, the E-180 was the standard PAL VHS tape size (roughly corresponding to an NTSC-market T-120) while the L-750 was an extended length tape size. The standard for Betamax was the L-500, which only has 2h 10m of recording time. So either compare the E-180 to the L-500 or the E-240 to the L-750. You had to stack an apples-to-oranges comparison on top of an apples-to-oranges comparison in order to get Betamax to come out ahead on recording time.

[@PaulsOldVids]

Thank you once again for another interesting and informative video. I note at the end your normal v2000 VCR had an over current protection circuit, do Panasonic HS1000s have a similar feature? I have an HS1000 that fires up then quits, I thought it was blowing fuses, but the internal PSU fuse is fine. I'm now wondering if it's an overcurrent detection issue and I'd like to know yours thoughts before I try to recap the power supply like I successfully did for my F70.

[@bjarneanthony1363]

Hallo colin when you begin to look at the vr 2324 with click sound i put a video how to clean VCR 60 Bang olufson its same model i show all in the casette parts. Anthony

[@MVVblog]

Lovely video and charming video system. I have a more recent one and would like to include it in one of my videos. Unfortunately, I believe that a serious repair is beyond my abilities. I am considering sending it for a proper repair. I am based in Italy, so would it be feasible or would the shipping costs be exorbitant?

[@video99couk]

I can't take on repairs, I have a backlog of my own equipment to work on.

[@MVVblog]

@@video99couk Just like me 😄

[@IainDavies-z2l]

Sorry to say but before I work on any old equipment I fully clean them. I hate seeing people working through a lot of dust and grime.

[@JCTsFascinatingHobbies]

I have a love/hate relationship with these decks. I have a PYE 20VR22 that is hidden under my bench, abandoned after many attempts to repair it. Having just watched this video, I’ll drag it out and have another go with it. I also have a V2022 Philips branded deck which chooses when it fancies working. They make my Sony SLC7UB look completely reliable!

[@mrnmrn1]

One of my Philips V2000s did something very similar like your 2324 did in this video. It might have been an other 2324. Anyway, it did the same stuttering with constant restarts, it even blown a fuse. I said: F it, and put a bigger fuse in, let the magic smoke escape from where it wants to, in order to detect the faulty part. It stopped stuttering but the display dimmed when I switched it on and the transformer was humming quite loud while I was fingering different parts to find what is hot. I started to worry it will burn up the transformer, when all of a sudden, the short cleared itself and it started working perfectly... It is a mistery what was causing that. Nothing smoked, nothing flashed (so probably not a blown trace towards a shorted tantalum). My best guess it was a shorted tantalum, but I have never seen a shorted tantalum go open without smoking or blowing up itself or the trace on the board. Or maybe it was a tin whisker somewhere.

[@video99couk]

A thermal camera would have been handy. But the fault could have been on a PCB under the deck, not so easy to see.

[@Stuart_Cox1969]

hahaha just noticed the "Techmoan" mug in the background, nice one.

[@scottwillow332]

its back tention of supply spool. Had this fault many times with felt brake pad glue letting go in a lot of early National vhs machines

[@video99couk]

These machines don't have a back tension band, they use motors for back tension, as do some Betamax and all professional Betacam machines. I do remember the felt pad falling off Panasonic NV333 machines a lot.

[@bjarneanthony1363]

Now i know its Hard repair Elektronik Colin i spent 3 ours work on a Philips n 2400 casettedeck meltet belts dry parts need fat and olie now run so fine with good sound its from 1971 Philips n 2400 1 of the first stereo casettedeck.

[@bjarneanthony1363]

This transistor that make clicksound Colin cost 10 pounds

[@Channel405]

Another fascinating insight into the murky world of V2000! You are right when you say they are unreliable and temperamental. What were Philips thinking when they developed this format? It has many good features and could have succeeded. BUT it was ultimately a Philips product so it was blighted by many strange quirks besides the over complex mechanics, PSU and that bus system etc. Compared to the formats V2000 was competing against, these early machines were large, heavy lumps and not simple to use. I could never understand why it would power down after a few mins of no mechanical activity and shut off the E-E signal, why was the remote control an option even on higher spec models? Also the early mechs made a unique metallic noise which never sounded right! Despite all this, V2000 is still my favourite consumer format. I've got a load of them here including the later generation models to work on soon. Were the later flagship Matchline series any better built?

[@video99couk]

Never seen a newer one than my VR2324, but I doubt the later ones were much better. The clang from the early ones was the reel motors which rang like a bell, which could be quite a nice sound as long as they didn't screech too. That powering down thing was carried on into VHS, I had a Philips VHS Hifi Charly deck which wouldn't stay in E-E mode.

[@voltare2amstereo]

I'm interested in the video layout on the tape, how does it manage to record on both sides, is ½ the tape used or does it overlap

[@JacGoudsmit]

It uses half the width of the tape, and it uses "Dynamic Track Following" (DTF) to keep the video tracks close together to fit 2x4 hours on a single cassette. DTF worked by recording different frequencies with the video track, and adjusting the video head positions with piezo crystals.

[@crashbandicoot4everr]

It uses half the width for each side like an audio compact cassette. Years ago I tried playing a V2000 tape on a VHS machine as an experiment. Of course there was no picture, and the sound was playing backwards since the audio tracks are on the opposite edges of the tape. :)

[@GTI1dasOriginal]

.... Complicated format(??) Okay... Here's a story: my granddad bought it new back in 1980 (81? Not sure) at an age of 78 (he was born in 1902) Read the manual, and could read and write with that machine, almost instantly. They (grandparents) owned it for 8 years troublefree. Take it from me: that VCR was used intensively... Just because the owner of the local hifi shop convinced him he "had to" buy a new VCR, granddad indeed did. The philips was traded in and a Blaupunkt (VHS) took it's place.

[@video99couk]

It's technically very complicated, reliability was much worse than Beta and VHS on average. Your grandparents were lucky to have one work without fault for that long. In part reliability problems were because of the complex electronics, while in part it was due to poor manufacturing decisions such as using unsuitable plastics (Grundig).

[@nicodenhaak3961]

Hi, Love the channel, had lots of V2000's. I still own my second V2000, which i bought in 1987 second hand. I see some axial blue caps on your dtf board. These type of caps are now known for extreme capacitance drifting, as they are 40 Years old now, and should be swapped.

[@WolfmanDude]

That DTF system sounds like a nightmare to keep running, I am soo happy my VHS machines dont have that. I guess they did that to wow 80s consumers at the electronics store. But today I am very happy without freeze frame. Thumbs up for your patience!

[@DewtbArenatsiz]

Sony made dtf work reliably for the DAT audio format

[@herauthon]

i know this machine - we had it on our school - after school somebody programmed it to record the many themes offered on TV - what is bad about it - it was very pricy for the time. i also found an add and tech info.. there is a site with all Philips devices listed..

[@biggiejohn3360]

very interesting, I had never heard of this format before.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

If it was a Stereo V2000 then there might a slight shimmer on the image maybe I am wrong.

[@zx8401ztv]

That vr23 24 just made me laugh, having a Dicky fit :-D On my old piano key jvc vhs machine i had to keep the head earthing contact very clean, otherwise a snow storm was the result. Make sure your v2000 head has a really good grounding. The hitch hikers guide to the galaxy, what a great test tape :-D i loved that series. V2000 machines are so layed back lol.

[@frankowalker4662]

Philips built things well, but they were'nt easy to get into. LOL

[@a68k_de]

6:50 - I left the battery on the card in my 2024. It hadn't leaked yet and this I thought is a thing if the 2024 would come back to life to do. It charged and hold the charge well (surprisingly) But at least your 2023 is turning on and doesn't do endless click and clack stupid things like mine does ...... woooowooo... like at 36:25 your 2324 machine does .... but your machine turns on at least

[@Capturing-Memories]

Would a LiFePO4 cell of the same form factor be a perfect fit for that internal battery?

[@video99couk]

The charger circuit may be unsuitable for that type of battery chemistry.

[@Ragnar8504]

@@video99couk I'd even go as far as to say it's very likely to be unsuitable. If I remember correctly, the charging circuit used for the original NiCd is the most basic design possible, little more than a current-limiting resistor.

[@Capturing-Memories]

​@@video99couk I wasn't aware that the internal battery in that VCR is rechargeable, I was talking about non rechargeable LiFePO4 for retaining data purposes for modern devices that last for years with a size of AA battery. They even sell non rechargeable li-ion AA cells now for remote controls and clocks.

[@ConsumerDV]

I never liked V2000. Philips used the same concept of flippable cassette as compact cassette, and the idea was not convenient to begin with. At least with audio, there were auto-reverse decks, but with V2000 I presume the reverse was not possible, as the drum is angled the certain way and does not move.

[@video99couk]

There were rumours about auto-reverse but I don't think it was on. The only practical solution would be to actually flip the tape over, like one or two audio cassette machines did (see Techmoan intro).

[@JorgeGarcia-wu6bv]

Buen video👍📼

[@frankowalker4662]

It's those pesky Vogons.

[@Synthematix]

These things were a mechanical nightmare

[@vanCaldenborgh]

I remember these machines from school in The Netherlands when I was about 12 years old, they were crap. Actually somewhat later in High School the consumer brand Philips had the general reputation of being crappy in my generation. We did not buy anything from them any more. Good researchers and creative engineers cannot compensate for incompetent managers without any affinity for engineering for technology and neither much knowledge about people and how they will react.

[@Matt_Quinn-Personal_Account]

The earlier 1500 system was used in the Glasgow (Scotland) schools in the early 70s. This was supposed to substitute for the Educational Television Service the city had previously provided... One machine to serve a school of what I think was close to 1400 pupils at the time. It was awful! - To be fair though; those machines were never intended to take the punishment of that environment. - And yes; in later years the brand (sadly) descended into being just badge-engineered rubbish. - As a lot of once-respected brands did!

[@alandoherty8279]

Hi Colin, I am getting bounced emails from you, and an attempt at contacting you via the comments on the webpage order form has not worked either. I want to donate a load of IC’s left over from my TV and VCR servicing days. Cheers, Alan

[@video99couk]

I did get your message and reply, At the moment my mobile number is on the video99.co.uk site, you could text.

[@zhaohaigaogu7821]

saw it for the first time. I haven't seen it in Japan. Very helpful. 👍

[@crashbandicoot4everr]

The VR2023. Video you can understand, from Phirips!

[@a68k_de]

I wish I could find the fault on my 2024 ...

[@jameslaidler2152]

It's a Firrips!

[@AttilaTheHun333333]

That thing sounds like a slot machine.

[@haweater1555]

Is a good thing the V2000 format died (well) before the actual year 2000, otherwise the name would be an anachronism.

[@senilyDeluxe]

I used the format up until around 2003... watching/recording around 4 hours every day, these machines last around 2 years each... VHS were much more durable and plentiful.

[@haweater1555]

@@senilyDeluxe I hope there was still a working player available so you rescue and dub off of them anything important onto another format.

[@senilyDeluxe]

@@haweater1555 I have two fully working machines (Philips VR2022, Grundig 880) and one that's temperamental (VR2220). It plays and records well, but it randomly shuts down every couple minutes (and sometimes it just works).

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

DTF

[@TTVEaGMXde]

The first generation of V2000 machines from Philips were never the best. So why would I try to fix one? Good question that unfortunately wasn't answered, or did I miss a unique function? Poor general condition is not unique to PHILIPS video recorders😉 Someone from the USA wanted to know where he could get a 56nF capacitor with Mains approval, but I was able to trade him up to 100nF, which has the advantage that Panasonic ECQUA capacitors can be used. Sorry, Google Translate

[@johnnorman7044]

VR2023 are slow it's the system has all the bells and wistels but it's slow at doing it not the best vcr the small later ones a far better, VR2840 makes it look prehistoric

[@video99couk]

I agree, later models were better, although no less unreliable. I use a Grundig 2x4 Super and a Philips VR2324 for most of my V2000 work.

[@microtacc]

WHO wants to know if V2000 is your favorite format? And IF you can't fix it, don't have V2000 spare parts AND don't understand this technology, then don't do it!!!

[@video99couk]

Did you actually watch the video? I repaired it. Fortunately my subscribers won't agree with your sentiment.

[@microtacc]

@@video99couk 28:49 ...when I watch you "remove" the head drum, every (V2000-)expert gets an eye trauma 🤣

[@randomsteve4288]

@video99couk Actually you did not fix anything. The problem is still there and lurking. Anyone who worked on V2000 sees it. There should be no "run in" time needed for the Picture to "stabilize" after loading the tape. Your problem is not in the DTF, it is a tape path issue. This is 100% evident by the fact that picture search FF or REW will restore the function. Either your back tension is insufficient or the loading mechanism is not resting properly into the end stops causing the tape to not properly ride the ridge on the lower drum assy. And YES this machine has a backtension band,- albeit an electronic one, that consists of a spring loaded swing arm on the left side in the tape path which has a wedge shaped flapper that will partially shade off the beam of an optocoupler depending on tape tension. And the signal from the optocoupler controls the current with which the supply spool motor will run in reverse (!) creating the back tension. A way better approach than the felt band brake and mechanical lever used on VHS.

[@randomsteve4288]

​@@microtacc that I 100% agree with. He is lucky in that Philips took the shortcut to put the drum speed and phase detector on top of the head drum (that little plastic pin on the top passing thru the optocoupler behing the head). If it was a proper V2000 like the grundigs where drum phase was derived from the lower part of the head assy, he would have to undergo a head phase alignment and also shim the drum for proper ride height. But even on this machine here on head swap the phase detector is to be adjusted by slightly rotating the optocoupler on top of the drum and checking with a scope that head switchover point occurs slightly ahead of the frame retrace pulse. It is sad that people who do not know the workings of these machines judge them from their limited knowledge point of view. Fixing V2000 properly is an art. Fixing VHS is child's play.