Trash Picked VCRs Inspection & Service

[@PaperbackWriter92]

I'm 31 and It's always nice to see people saving things like VCRS from the trash heap since I grew up with one in my house throughout the 90s-2000s and yours is the first video I watched involving VCRS that were abandoned/thrown out. So you're a Sony fan, eh? I have a Sony too but it was from during the DVD era since it's a combo unit. Unfortunately it started eating tapes so now I've been searching ebay for a better VCR since I'm not an expert in repairs and I guess it wasn't a high end model. The only reason I picked it (it's a Sony SLV but I don't recall the rest of the model number since it's not in front of me at this moment) is because I still have the original remote and ebay sellers often never have the remote included because they lost it or got the VCR from a thrift store or something. The Sony machine I had before which was an exact twin of the one I've been using now never ate tapes and only had the issue of the DVD tray not opening anymore, it just got completely stuck.

[@twocvbloke]

Bit further on in the vid now, the Philips unit is showing that the heads are still dirty, a few more careful cleaning sessions would sort that out, also beware of old tapes that are poorly stored & disintegrating, as they can shed the magnetic media onto the heads, akin to what happens in old flppy drives, contaminating them as they go resulting in a picture like that VCR had, so don't give up just yet, have another go at head cleaning... :D

[@Tomsonic41]

One of my VCRs has a broken head causing the picture to be horribly noisy no matter what I do with the tracking. I've cleaned it over and over again to no avail - but as it still moves the tape, it is still useful for checking unknown tapes in case they are horribly dirty or have splices. (I frequently buy boxes of old tapes on eBay lol)

[@speedyboishan87]

​@@Tomsonic41The Heads are probably shot, The Heads will need replacing.

[@VHSBits]

Nice find. The little sponge inside might have had a purpose for the average user back in the day but is not worth saving now, one of the first things I do when I clean out a VCR is pull it out just in case it causes problems. When the picture or sound starts degrading it's not a big deal to open it up and do another round with paper+ipa

[@mdftrasher]

Subscribed to your channel ;-)

[@TODESHAMMEL]

Your T-shirt selection (band shirts and now this) is very nice 🌱👍

[@JanBeta]

Thanks! I own way too many t-Shirts (if that is even possible)… :D

[@TheRealAndreasBartel]

I have removed the auto clean arm on all my VHS, when I get a "new" one --> open, remove auto clean arm, clean tape path (all), dry with hear dryer, power on... latest find was a JVC HR-J507MS, a multi system with PAL, NTSC, MESECAM and SECAM; never opened before

[@granitepenguin]

I've been using my old Panasonic to do exactly what you mentioned: taking the signals from Apple II and C64s and massaging the output for a TV that can't deal with the signals directly. The VCR is a lot more forgiving of the signals.

[@dimitarlazarov2094]

Hi Ian. When cleaning the heads you should spin the drum anticlockwise and best way to clean very dirty heads is with the back of your nail when the VCR is in operation. Also part of routine maintenance is to clean the mode switch. It's usually located under the mechanism

[@dimitarlazarov2094]

Don't be afraid to apply some more pressure when you let your fingernail to rub against the heads.

[@cronosoft]

Excellent video. It's nice to see an unwanted item saved from the rubbish tip. I agree with twocvbloke below though, that I would not give up on the Philips VCR just yet, and give it another good head clean. I've had many VCRs do this, and multiple runs with a good head cleaning tape have solved this problem - I can see that the machine is trying hard to work. I think it's just another clean or two away from working again. :)

[@JanBeta]

I‘m definitely not quite giving up yet. I’ll give it another try! :)

[@giuseppelavecchia775]

Jan,sono felice che hai fatto un video sul VHS,sistema che amo molto!

[@electrothecat07]

I'm 17 and have always appreciated VCRs. For as long as I can remember, I had a basic understanding about how VCRs worked. Only a couple of years ago did I really understand the complex mechanism they have. I currently own a working VCR/DVD deck but took the DVD part out because it was causing the deck to lose power. It works just fine now

[@Oldgamingfart]

Neither are Hi-Fi stereo machines, but usually these mono decks are good enough if you just want to watch the odd cassette. They also won't have the issue of Hi-Fi stereo drop-out, which is usually the first thing to go when the heads start to wear-out!

[@TECHNOGEEK20000]

Not surprised that the Sony worked....I think Sony makes excellent A/V equipment. At least back then not sure about now. Never bought a new modern Sony A/V unit in years.

[@stephanemignot100]

I've always had problems with Sony products. CD related products mostly. I'm a Panasonic/Technics guy anyway.

[@TECHNOGEEK20000]

@@stephanemignot100 I have had problems with their cd players (mostly low end boom box style) but their DVD players and rack style CD players I think are pretty decent. Or maybe i've just been lucky. Bought many sony CD changers used and every one has worked right out of the box. I personally have never used their VCRs so I dont have any experience with that. Panasonic does make a very good VCR I do know that. Very well made and robust. Myself I am a Pioneer guy mainly their receivers.

[@stephanemignot100]

@@TECHNOGEEK20000 I haven't bought any Sony product in 20 years to be fair.

[@TECHNOGEEK20000]

@@stephanemignot100 yeah its been awhile for me too. the only thing sony I currently own is a DVD player.

[@mountainpeakonline]

Very informative and intertaining also, Jan. I am going to take a look at the one I have sitting for years without using. Thnx

[@JanBeta]

Thank you! Hope you can resurrect your VCR! :)

[@richardtomlinson8147]

I really enjoyed this. I love all your computer content too but it's nice to also see you also working on some non-computer electronic equipment, as I don't think I've seen anything non-computer related since you last worked on the Nad amplifier. Pleased to hear at the end that you are looking to work on some CRT televisions in the future. Can't wait to see that content and also of course more of your regular computer related upgrades and repairs.

[@JanBeta]

Thanks! I really enjoy working on non-computer projects from time to time so those videos are always going to appear here. :)

[@RetroJay1974]

I swear you are reading my mind Jan! lol. About 5 days ago I fished out a NOS VCRs still boxed. I just never got around to inspecting it. The idea I have is to use an AV2HDMI upscaler connected to an Elgato Game Capture HD. I managed to do a quick test last night and the quality/output is beyond anything I have tried in the past! I just need to service the vcr as it tends to not like rewinding the tapes :(

[@twocvbloke]

My only remaining (working) VHS recorder is a Philips model, found in the garden shortly after moving into this house (garden belongs to next door, but the uncle now lives there) and the owner had cleared out everything into the garden before taking it to the dump, I had fun picking that pile, even got a lawnmower out of it and a boxed original copy of the PC version of Grand Theft Auto too... :D

Kind of amazes me that these were both out in the rain and survived in such good condition. But probably it was not a heavy rain.

[@JanBeta]

They were sitting under a tree on the side of the road so they were somewhat protected by that I guess. It was not raining that heavily, too. And thankfully both units don’t have a lot of cooling vents etc for the water to get in so it was mostly a bit of dirt on the outside. :)

[@KolliRail]

Nice find! And a lot of luck that the better is working!

[@JanBeta]

Yes! Super happy I found these! :)

[@dinomatvij833]

VHS and analog television were a real charm.

[@wybuchowyukomendant]

Oh man, that casette eject sound brings back memories

[@IanSlothieRolfe]

FYI: The connector on the Philips machine is a IEC C8 socket, which takes a C7 plug that is on the lead you found. Very common in portable mains operated devices, its a little rarer on "installed" devices like this VCR, although I can recall a lot of Philips devices I have had that used them, so maybe it was one they preferred.

[@HeyBirt]

Only 8 minutes in and the 1st unit you trash picked is much cleaner than the one I bought from a thrift store 5-6 years ago. The one I got had been owned by a chain smoker. After cleaning the head 4-5 times with alcohol it sort of worked. I cleaned it twice more with acetone and so much more cigarettes nastiness came off it was astonishing. After the second cleaning with acetone it worked great. I used to fix VCRs and this is the only one I have had to use acetone on.

[@JosipRetroBits]

Very nice VCR finding :)

[@sholimz]

You are correct, they were introduced in a latter year of VHS. If you notice the mechanism was positioned in the middle compared to older ones on the left hand side.

[@kaitlyn__L]

I loooove VCR/VTR repairs. Audio tape deck repairs are fun and all, but all the mechanisms for U-matic, Beta, and VHS, and the intricacies of the spinning drum, make them very special.

[@milk-it]

Einfach toll! I still have my original Sony Hi-Fi VCR, which I haven't powered up for many years. My Sony CD player from the '90s doesn't play CDs, but I think it has a belt issue. Nice video and it inspires me to fix my older devices, so they can work along side my Amigas and C64 ;-). Danke Dir!

[@naderhumood]

Terrific.. keep it up. Thanks Jan Beta..

[@Dr.Brainwash]

Love the Adam audio behind you!! ❤🔥🔥

[@JanBeta]

Yes! They are quite magnificent! :D

[@alphabeets]

On the Phillips. Clean the heads more. As a last resort you can try adjusting one or both of the tape guides that thread the tape. Sometimes only a small amount of change will lock the picture back in.

[@EdwinSteiner]

This gave me flashbacks. I recently repaired a Sony SLV-730 that I needed for my latest video. It only had a single bad cap in the power supply (the shielding of the power supply had been installed the wrong way, impeding the airflow and causing the power supply to run hot) and one broken mechanical part. It had the sponge wheel but that was fine. However, it had nasty tracking problems that I could not fully resolve. VCR tracking is complicated.

[@MrMurphyprecht]

The two vertical rods are the idlers nut you're right about replacing the heads, you would need a dedicated micrometer, good luck finding one of them. Good video Jan

[@atanassotirov9466]

I have Panasonic NV-J35 EE. It is from 1990. It is with remote and user manual. In 2007 it stop work and can't turn on. Before a few years ago I opened it and replaced all 15 electrolitic capacitors in Power block, lubricated it and cleaned the head with paper bars with rubber alcohol and now it is alive!

[@beeqool]

what lubricant did you use?

[@atanassotirov9466]

@@beeqool mineral gress

[@UpLateGeek]

I'm still a bit annoyed with my parents for throwing away my old VCR after I moved out. It was a top of the line Panasonic model from the era just before they started getting really cheap and dropping features. A few years ago I bought a similar high-end Sony one just so I've got one. I've only got a couple of pre-recorded tapes and a few sealed blanks, all the home recorded tapes at my parents' place were thrown out with my old recorder, but I managed to find the blanks at the back of a cupboard, so I kept them. I figured I should buy a decent recorder while they were still cheap, since there's no point having tapes that I can't play or record onto. But what I really want is a D-VHS recorder. We used to have one at work, which was actually the first one in the country. It was a pre-production model that our senior engineer got from the manufacturer on a trip to the US. They wanted to evaluate the format to see if it's worthwhile using it in production. But it turned out to be a lame duck since they were already using Digital Betacam. Anyway, the format never really launched here in Australia, and they eventually threw out the D-VHS recorder when the guy retired and cleared out his office. But similar to the blanks at my parents' place, I also found the blank D-VHS tapes at my work, and rescued them from the e-waste.

[@M0UAW_IO83]

It does very much look like a worn out/clogged video head but check the position of the tape on the 'ruler' around the lower head drum, the tape mustn't be too high or 'rippling because it's too low. Common problem used to be that the guide rollers would work loose. Donberg Electronics may have spare head drums, there was also Grandata and a few other old time places. A quick and dirty way to check for head alignment is to record something and play it back, if it plays back better than a pre-recorded tape then it's a pretty good indication that the deck is out of alignment but heads are OK

[@JanBeta]

Oh, I’m going to give that a try, thanks for the tips! :)

[@mrjsv4935]

Cool finds and good that at least one of them is working fine :) I have a Philips VR140 VCR, bought it new in 2003, and only recently it has started showing signs of age, with intermittent temporary malfunctions. For instance, last time I used it (few days ago), everything was fine at first, but during watching a tape, image went bad, grainy, kind of interference at the image and distorted colours, but it was bad even when I stopped the tape, so it didn't have anything to do with the tape heads. Then I rewinded the tape to the beginning, and some motor sounded weird for a while, the VCR shut itself off and started blinking number 2 on the front panel display. It started again immediatly from power button and ejected the tape. Now, as I watched this video, decided to try again what it does now, and everything is back to normal operation, image is good, tape plays fine, rewinded it back to the beginning, no problems at all. Strange problem, hard to catch the actual root cause with this kind of intermittent symptoms :P

[@coolelectronics1759]

cool cool cool just picked up a huge pile of these up from my old highschool about 25 VCRs they were abandoned and left to rot there for years Im so happy Ill be able to bring some back to life and recycle/harvest parts out of all of them. They are maybe worthless to many but I bet Ill sell some like the 10 or so that have builtin DVD players.

[@circuitpig]

Jan Beta using...VHS? Oh the irony :)

[@TheMcflyster]

Hey Jan. I belive you can fix this Philips video quite easy. I belive you must just adjust the tape alignment. You can try to do this without a Ocilloskope. But if you want it absolutly perfect , you hook up a Ocilloskope to the RF testpoint. Dont give up on this one! You will fix it.

[@zero0ryn]

it looked like one of the heads was dead / low to me.

[@crcomments8509]

That is not a tape alignment issue as the image itself is steady, it just has a lot of drop out, the heads are worn out, one possible temporary fix would be to increase the pressure on the back tension arm.

[@TheMcflyster]

Worn out videoheads are rare. I belive the heads are fine. The heads could still be dirty thou. The correct way to clean them is to do it counter clockwise several times. I belive he can fix this unit. We want part 2 😊👍

[@Alphadec]

remember to rewind the tape! :)

[@TheErador]

You mean you don't have a dedicated rewinder?

[@Alphadec]

@@TheErador I have a few vhs players, I think I did rewind anyway those I did rent I did.

[@JanBeta]

Always! 😅

[@BG101UK]

It was certainly annoying having to rewind rented tapes before watching them. My first machine took ages to rewind!

[@canlelola]

Oh yea, all the Sony VCR's I have ever come across, have always been in good nick.

[@JanBeta]

The Sony equipment I looked at so far was usually well built and relatively easy to work on compared to other brands. I’m a bit of a fanboy. :)

[@cohort6159]

I bought a Sony VCR last week at the thrift store. Haven't had a chance to try it. Hoping for the best. I was always jealous of European residents as they got SCART connectors which seemed so much easier and elegant a solution for connecting equipment. Consumer television equipment didn't have composite or line-in Jack's in the US until the late 80s or 90s. You had to go to a high end monitor class TV to get such options. Everyone else had to use the horrible modulator output to the antenna of the TV and then have an antenna switch.

[@aaroncarroll2844]

Sony's always seem to be built like a tank! Nice video! Thanks.

[@analogvideochannel4612]

Hi. The rubber cleaning thing on these philips vcrs tends to instantly clog the heads when activated. Strongly suspect that's the issue here. Happened on all 3 ones I got, I guess it's due to the aging rubber or something, probably worked great in their day. Would try to remove the auto head cleaning arm (it's just clipped on) it and then clean the heads. Also, as someone else already mentioned the other main failure point on this mechanism is the gear that sits on the rot driven by the loading motor, which has a tendency to crack, causing it to slip. If this happens the vcr will fail to load tapes properly. I've "fixed" it by using epoxy to glue the gear to the metal rod but I don't know how well that holds up long term. If you look up the service manual for it you can also show how many drum hours it has and some other things. I know some of these late model Sony VCRs (at least the fancier hi-fi variants of this one) have some power supply capacitors that can fail eventually. Don't know for sure if this is an issue with this base model in particular though. One good alternative for remotes for VCRs if you can't find the original is a "superior freedom micro usb", you can select the vcr model from the computer interface and it has support for nearly every vcr I've encountered. They're like €20 on ebay.

[@Octamed]

Keep in mind if you want to digitise your band videos, these aren't using the HI-FI sound standard. If you tapes were recorded with hifi they'll sound WAY better than standard audio. It's actually really interesting, hifi uses the whole tape width from the drum head, but standard audio is on the edge and separate.

[@0toleranz]

Why did I expected a Beta Max video? Nice find and repair! BTW I recently discarded all my old VCRs having no media anymore and finally having anything digital in our private cloud. Two of them were hosting some small wasp colonies at some point in the past sitting in the attic for the last 20 years or so.

[@guillaumel2853]

If you don't know him, NorCal715 is the youtube king of VCRs repairs 😎

[@JanBeta]

Oh, I’m going to have to check that channel out then! Thanks for the hint! :)

[@Oldgamingfart]

@@JanBeta ..and 12voltvids!

[@heffe2001]

If I remember correctly, that switch to blue on no signal was called 'Blue Muting' back in the day. Been at least a decade since I've even touched a VCR, if not longer.. Just easier to watch stuff digitally, and we converted any VHS tapes to digital years ago. Still have quite a few tapes in storage though, not sure if any work at this point though.

[@cheapasstech]

Some German channels used a few frames in full blue to tell VCR’s the ads were done and it should stop or start recording again.

[@jamesdye4603]

Years ago I bought a head cleaning kit for VCR's and the wand tips were a kind of rawhide, no lint cleaning.

[@AlexFalkenberg]

I think you're referring to chamois swabs; I used to use them back when I had a job that included servicing VCRs and other equipment. Amazon still sells them, single or double-headed.

[@jamesdye4603]

@@AlexFalkenberg Possibly, but it was so long ago I can't remember the details.

[@AddieDirectsTV]

I have a VHS machine in my collection. Rescued it from the eWaste pile at work. The tape mechanism doesn’t work but it works great as an analog RF tuner for my late 70’s / early 80’s video game systems. Takes NTSC Analog in, delivers me NTSC composite out which can go to my Sony PVM (also rescued from my station’s eWaste)

[@BilisNegra]

A Sony PVM from eWaste? What a lucky guy...

[@AddieDirectsTV]

@@BilisNegra I work at a tv station. They finally had recycled repaired spares for the monitor wall that didn’t exist. We’re collecting them for scrappage and I asked an engineer if I could have one and he said yes.

[@BilisNegra]

@@AddieDirectsTV That makes sense. Still, very cool!

[@rztrzt]

5yrs ago I donated a as new jvc 6-head hi-fi stereo vcr to a charity shop, I might have used it 5 times. Still in its original box with remote, manual and the actual service manual with schematics which I purchased separately as I wanted to do a mod to it. It was one of their top of the range models when I brought it.

[@ArchivoHumano]

I'm curious about the mod you were trying to do. What was it?

[@rztrzt]

@@ArchivoHumano Can't remember much but creating a different type of video output.

[@RDJ134]

Thats a very nice VCR ;)

[@dennisp.2147]

Sony is really good about listing the exact model number of the remote in the manual for whatever the device is. So if you can find the manual you can look it up.

[@JanBeta]

Sony thankfully used the same remote for a variety of VCRs, it was super easy to find one on eBay for a reasonable price!

[@neohideo]

I have that Philips VCR! it still works but it's not used for many years now.

[@rjpete66]

I have a very similar sony vcr (case is almost identical with addition of composite inputs on the lower left front under the eject button). it works great. I picked it up from a thrift store without the remote and then picked up a sony remote from a different thrift store and it works great. My vcr is a SLV-N50 and the remote is a model RMT-V77 if that helps you in your search.

[@TPau65]

Wow, you found these near the street? Great to see that at least the Sony does still work! Headcleaning with normal paper? Isn't that too rough for these sensitive heads? 😲 This video reminds me that I also still have a Panasonic VCR which needs a service/repair. It has a mechanical issue, as it doesn't start the tape (error message) and/or sometimes ejects the cassette right after inserting it. 🤔

[@josericardogs1435]

I have a Philips VCR and it is very sensible to dirty heads, keep cleaning it will work fine I'm sure

[@MrBlackmaxDK]

Jan, you only have to ask. I work in a second hand show we get VCR's in allmost every day :D

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

Hmm, with the Sony working as well as it does, I'm baffled as to why someone would just cut off its cord and chuck it. If it's about just salvaging the cord then that's a dumb way to do it! And what were they gonna do with the remote control that they kept behind?

[@JanBeta]

I have no idea! Kind of rude to cut the chord on a working VCR. But people are strange sometimes.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

@@JanBeta: Yeah, exactly! Not only that, but throw it away instead of donating it to Goodwill or Deseret Industries, etc.

[@alphabeets]

You will likely discover that the picture quality from a VCR will actually look more pleasing when displayed on an old school CRT type TV.

[@Very_Dark_Engineer]

Holy dreams comes true. Two "time machines" from trash.

[@jabbawok944]

The socket on the Philips is an IEC C8 the plug would be a C7

[@OfficialBeHolder]

I have this "Sony" one, but no buttons work, whatever I press, recording starts, any solution? :D

[@mrvellu]

yay, VCRs! fun stuff

[@Sebastian959]

Sehr schöne funde. Ich hätte an deiner Stelle Schrumpfschleuche um die Verbindungsstellen des reparierten Kabels gemacht, aber geht auch so ;).

[@inactiv4822]

I have a Schneider VCR that looks exactly like the Philips on the inside, but when I press play it plays sound but it doesn't show picture, I pressed the tracking buttons but still nothing. The only picture I get is from the RF input and there is no blue screen when powered on

[@beeqool]

Hi, i also have a silicon spray like you, a runny liquid one, but i dont understand how am i supposed to use it on a vcr? because its very runny like water. the original grease leftover looks like actual grease, its light blue and sticky, but i dont know what it is.

[@ronny332]

I had to see the cut off mains cable. Just with the thought "I have no idea what to do with the device, but maybe I need the power cord".

[@vvm2004]

Der Philips VR475 ist ein 4-Kopf-mono Videorekorder! :) Entferne unbedingt den Kopfreiniger! Dieser befindet sich gleich hinten rechts neben der Kopftrommel (das weiße Plastikteil mit dem gelben "Rädchen")! Dieses verschmutzt dir sofort wieder die Köpfe! Wenn du ihn entfernt hast, führe die Reinigung nochmal durch! Dabei bitte die Kopftrommel gegen den Uhrzeigersinn drehen!!! Dann sollte es mit dem Bild wieder klappen.

[@josehereter4062]

Some years ago i picked up a perfectly workking vcr from the street.

[@VincentGroenewold]

I hope you made digital copies from your band's VHS tapes... nice change of hardware!

[@dinomatvij833]

On the first VCR recorder, the head cleaner probably smears your head. I had to remove it because the plastic probably lost its primary state. After that, there was no more snow.

[@DavePoo2]

I think the only VHS tapes I have are that Star Wars set.

[@JanBeta]

Haha, nice. That scientifically and statistically proves it’s a very common set, I guess! :D

[@hollgo626]

"Damals" haben sie für die Kopfreinigung immer sogenannte Reinigungskassetten empfohlen die man mit etwas Iso tränkt und dann für ca. Eine Minute durch den Recorder schickt. Ich denke, deine manuelle Papierreinigung erfüllt denselben Zweck...?

[@JanBeta]

Joa, selbes Prinzip. Vermutlich ist es mit den Reinigungskassetten deutlich schwieriger, die Köpfe zu verbiegen. Andererseits ist die manuelle Methode wahrscheinlich etwas gründlicher. Vor allem weil man den Dreck sehen kann, der auf dem Papier bleibt und einfach so lange putzen, bis nix mehr sichtbar ist.

[@happyasahippo8597]

The Philips VCR certainly looks like one of the heads is dead. There's nothing to align directly on the head drum. So you've not misaligned it with your cleaning. Only things to align are the synchronization of the thead switching with the sync head (electronic adjustment with a potentiometer usually) and height of the infeed and outfeed roller pins (mechanical adjustment by screwing them up/down). Those two settings together make the overall alignment of the tracks on tape to the path of the heads on the drum when the tape is passing by. It's certainly 20 years ago since I repaired VCRs - but back in the day we used special wooden spatulas with very smooth and soft leather on the tips and IPA. Cleaning the heads with normal paper is something I would not suggest. That seems to me much too abrasive. These heads are really delicate. Maybe that's what's given one of those heads the rest...

[@JanBeta]

Oh, that’s good advice, thanks! I’m definitely going to take another look at the Philips soon. Maybe it’s fixable after all.

[@rager-69]

Episode II documentary? So much for those tapes being non/pre-SE

[@ElectoneGuy]

The Philips probably just needs the tracking adjusted or the tape path is slightly off.

[@JanBeta]

Thanks! I’m going to give it another try soon.

[@demenACE]

They usually cut the cord so nobody else can use it. Most of the time the unit works. Also, Sony and Panasonice are my favorite for long lasting.

[@DoubleMonoLR]

Here at least, commercial sellers are required to have powered devices tested by someone with the appropriate certification. It's a cheap test, but a number of sellers simply cut off the power cable instead.

[@kpanic23]

5:16 No idea what they are called in English (device plug?), but in German they are officially called "Doppelnutkupplung"!

[@BG101UK]

We just tend to call them "figure-eight" connectors .. and the 3-pin version often found on laptop power bricks sometimes refered to as "mickey-mouse connectors" although I think the correct name for the latter is "cloverleaf".

[@ronwilgenbusch1961]

the older vcrs had a metal strap that touched the center on top of the head, this was a ground. I don’t see one on yours, it may be grounded somewhere else. Check the ground to the drum, on the phillips.

[@gower1973]

Who wants to see Jan’s home movies of his band days, come on Jan don’t be shy!

[@JanBeta]

Haha, never! Let’s just say the nostalgic value of those recordings outweighs the musical value by far. :D

[@HankPanky]

From Sony, a name you can trust.

[@arjanvanraaij8440]

The weakest part of the philips is the first shaft driven by loading motor. This one is a late low spec model.

[@mrnemo204]

Did you find a remote for the Sony one?

[@lineways5477]

Whats the common in VHS and Netflix? No freaking commercials, that's why I don't watch the idiotbox since 20 years :D brings me back good times watching Mortal Kombat and other classics from VHS, some more advanced could actually automatically turn off when recording to skip the ads.

[@kaidzaack2520]

Decades ago, a german student invented and built a device which kept track of the TV channels logo (usually in a corner of the screen). When commercials were interrupting the movie, the logos were not shown, so the device switched the VCR into „pause“ during the recording. But I think at that time VCR‘s were already on the death row…

[@BG101UK]

@@kaidzaack2520 Fantastic idea when logos are shown but we didn't have them before cable and satellite. The cue-dot could be used though if there was some way of detecting the end of the ads. Maybe just a timer set by the user at the first ads. Reminds me of Pausing then cueing up ready to resume. This was normally a 2-step process; go slightly further than intended, wait a minute then back it up to the correct resume point. The reason for this? .. the ad breaks were often JUST long enough for the pause function to time out (5 minutes?) and the VCR going to stop mode, buggering up the edit.

[@catriona_drummond]

cutting off power cables seems to be some malicious German thing along the lines of "If I don't use it anymore, noone shall!" Somebody I know from a retro forum found a small flatscreen TV next to the trashcans behind the house. Power cord cut off. Ironically the cord was attached with a plug, just like on the Philips VCR. He just put a new cord in and the thing worked like a charm. No idea why people do that seriously. Yes, "never assume malice where stupidity is a sufficient explanation." But I struggle to come up what kind of stupidity, aka what thoughts would compel people to cut power cords that can just be unplugged.

[@senilyDeluxe]

Naah copper thieves cut the cord on everything. I once put out a perfectly fine 486 PC (just as they started to stop being totally worthless) with a "Works - for free" sign on it, after an hour, all (ALL) the wires were cut off. Even those that were just plugged in. I see this happening all the time. I live in a smallish town, you could call a suburb, in the big city, you can't put anything with a CRT in it on the curb, it'll be smashed to shreds. There once was an arcade (as in a Retro Arcade, not back in the day, but in 2016) in Worms (I think the English name for the city is Vossen) which was foreclosed and someone broke in, smashed all the machines into small pieces and then ripped out the wires for like 50 cents of copper from a machine that's worth 4000 Euros. As in "I didn't know a negative number on an IQ test was possible"-stupid.

[@mbob4337]

If I throw something out with a cable. Old, but working. Or it's broken. I cut it off. It's just to avoid an annoyance when throwing something out. If it's detachable, than I just toss the cable.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

Wait, did you check the audio from the Sony?

[@JanBeta]

Yes, audio works fine. I did a lot more testing and cleaning off camera.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

@@JanBeta: OK, that's good!

[@tomleech9753]

Are you sure it's not just the tape? I never saw you try the same tape on each VCR. The first one you tried looked like some poorly recorded over Star Wars with something else. I mean, I know it's the first rule of troubleshooting and the great Jan Beta would never overlook that, so I'm probably mistaken. :)

[@JanBeta]

Oh, I used the same tape for all the tests. It’s episode IV but it has a longish documentary-style ad for episode I before the actual movie starts. That’s why there’s random interviews etc showing on screen.

[@tomleech9753]

@@JanBeta Oh good. Because when the second VCR video starts up it flashes "Episode II" on the screen, so you can see my confusion. :)

[@josehereter4062]

Please make some kind of post apocaliptic cyberpunk remote for the vcr!!!

[@larryk731]

I don't know if this is useful but technology connections did a video on Vhs tapeva few years ago. Of course he lives if formerly NTSC land and you in formerly PAL land but check it out. I don't know what the vcr differences are between the 2 standards. I also don't know how 220v vs 110v would affect things.

[@johnps1670]

That Philips was the cheapest 4 head of the brand in that days. But for normal use it did a good job.

[@JanBeta]

Yeah, seems pretty basic but quite well built. Bummer I didn’t get it to work (yet).

[@Faceplant-hl5yn]

I've got a Panasonic Super Drive my dad didn't want anymore, so I gladly accepted

[@garyjohnson4608]

Wow that is amazing that getting the Sony VCR to work was so easy !

[@hubertx8222]

SONY has very compatible remote controls between their devices. Its very possible to use RC from different model of Sony VCR. Many of Sony remote controls also have toggle switch between tv/dvd/vcr - its easy to find and should work fine Sorry for my english :/

[@jorgelotr3752]

Now you can back up those invaluable tapes.

[@runcmd8851]

That Sony VCR is the best model ever made we had one and it worked great for many years until we got a dvd player... great video brought back some memories.. .

[@leftymuller]

Its crazy what VHS players in working order are worth!... even more for working Betamax players!

[@JanBeta]

Yep. That's why I didn't get one before I found these. I frequently searched Ebay for working good brand ones but they were usually way too expensive for my taste.

[@freibier]

So glad I kept my JVC S-VHS one (HR-S 9600) all this time. Hard to find anything comparable on ebay at a halfway reasonable price these days.

[@stevesether]

Strange. They're still cheap here in the US. I just checked, and I can find these at thrift stores for about $10.

[@BilisNegra]

@@stevesether Well, at the same time there are people still dumping them in working condition, as seen in the video, so yes, it's weird, maybe we're amidst a transitional stage?

[@leftymuller]

@@stevesether I bet you they arent Betamax.. they are rare as proverbial rocking horse poo.. even on ebay VHS in good condition is $100-$250AUD

[@stevesether]

I'm surprised to see all english printed on the front of the VCR. I'm surprised Sony and Phillips didn't print German on any of these for the German market. Did they maybe just make one model for all of Europe, and figured they'd just use english to save making a different case for each country?

[@senilyDeluxe]

My experience with those Philips VCRs is that you can't clean the heads the normal way. You got lucky one of them had a picture. You have to hold your fingernail to the head while it's playing the tape, that sounds aggressive but it was the only way I found to clean them. I know someone who has a VCR like this and never uses it, it had no video output from both heads and I used the fingernail method, watched a movie and when I came back to the place, again there was no video output.

[@angelmaya3231]

Ya me animaste a reparar mis videocaseteras ...

[@grizzlyaddams3606]

Good luck finding a remote for cheap. They typically go for as much or more than the VCR itself. The sellers know that often times you must have the remote to use most of the functions. Still you got lucky. 1 of 2 ain't bad.

[@JanBeta]

I found one on eBay in the meantime. The price was reasonable (15€-ish) given that the VCR was free. Sony fortunately used the same remote for a variety of VCRs so it was not difficult to find at all.