I have a video stuck in my VCR (front loading). I can deal with it if the tape itself is toast, not happily, but I can deal with it. But right now, I can’t get the video out any damn way. At first, hitting Eject caused the tape to unspool, but now it doesn’t respond at all. Is it possible for someone to take a VCR only as far apart as necessary to extract a stuck video? If not, how much would a repair shop charge?
That happened to me once. I took the cover off my VCR and was able to remove the tape without much problem (of course, there aren’t many appliances in my house that I haven’t disassembled at one time or another :)).
I would have no idea what a repair shop would charge, but, unless you know someone, I’ll bet you get ripped off.
If you remove the top cover, you can get it out yourself, without much difficulty. I’m assuming you have a front-loader, not one of those old top-loaders…
Anyway, first, feel around the cassette to see if it’s binding somewhere. If you can’t get it free fairly simply, look for the loader mechanism (often directly to the right of where the tape sits in the machine). It may be belt-driven, pulley-driven, or gear-driven. Turn the little wheel with a little pressure from your fingertip. If the cassette doesn’t move, turn the wheel the other way. The tape should slowly rise and come out the front of the machine.
If you’re still under warranty, opening the case voids it, of course. Don’t get too violent with any of the innards.
But, while you have it open, use a swab (chamois-tip is best, but a Q-tip won’t destroy it) and some alcohol to clean off that big silver angled thingy. That’s the video head drum. DON’T touch it with your fingers. And don’t go overboard; it’s very delicate.
Thank you! I’ll relay this to Mr. Rilch when he gets home. I’d do it, but he wants to be the master of everything electronic.
What sucks is, I can’t watch TV either, because the cable signal goes through the VCR. Sigh…
well, take the coaxial cable that is carrying the cable signal to your vcr out of your vcr, and put it into your tv.
tada. tv.
I know, Kilgore, but I’ll let him be the big man.
i wish i had a big man to do things for me.
Sure, unplug it from wall for one minute at least, plug it back, turn it on & see if it comes out. THis little trick resets any appliance, computer, tv, vcr, etc etc & more often than not, gets it going.
Do NOT use that cassette again.
If you want, take the top off [you unplugged it first, right?]…plug it back in & wiggle away & see if it comes out.
I went to the Donald Trump school of repair so I know what to do…
1)Unplug unit from wall, including all coaxial cables.
2)Throw unit in trash.
3)Buy new VCR and while you’re at it a new house in the Hamptons to put your new VCR in.
There, problem solved. All questions answered. Cash gifts cheerfully accepted.
Procrutes, lots of times its not the vcr, its the cassette. People give my thrift shops a lot of those, I take the cassette out [a lot of them are cheap or used way too much] & presto! A working vcr.
Handy is very correct.
There are a number of reasons a tape will get stuck, typically, it’s cause the tape itself is all messed up. The tension can be bad, the tape is old, it’s just waiting to wrap around something in there.
But, when it starts eating other tapes, it’s time to head to the shop.
My local VCR repair shop once charged me $15.00 to extract a stuck tape, but before they could do it, they said I had to leave the VCR there for 5 days while they made a “diagnosis”, so they could give me a written estimate. I said, “What? It’s a stuck tape!” They just shrugged. It was a fairly pricey video that belonged to the public library, so I had to go for it.
But ever since then, if a tape gets stuck, I’ve found that sometimes pushing it in a little bit, and then hitting Eject, works. Also taking the lid off like Handy said, works. (unplug it first) I used to have a repeat-offender VCR that I didn’t even bother screwing the lid back down on, just set it in place.
Also just throwing the VCR away and buying a new one, works. Depends on how badly you want to keep the tape.
Update: Mr. Rilch unhooked the VCR, and I got the tape out without even trying, by tilting the VCR forward. I rehooked it and put another cassette in, and the VCR choked on it: that is, kept trying to eject it without actually doing so. So the VCR is history. I’m not going to try to get it fixed, because it’s almost ten years old, and I don’t think electronic devices have more than one life.
I would like to keep the tape itself. It doesn’t seem to have been the source of the problem; the VCR has had an attitude out ejecting and accepting cassettes for some time. The cassette is basically undamaged, except for six inches of ribbon which are somewhat wrinkled. Is it feasible?
Darn, and I was just going to tell you how to fix it!!
Take it to the shop, give them $35 to diagnose it. Come back in 5 working days to find out that the repair will cost an additional $85. THEN you go buy a new one for $69.
SIMPLE!!
Ten years old? Well, why didn’t you say so?
One time I took a vcr in they kept it for a whole year & wrote me a letter in crappy english, saying sorry we no can do it & no charge for time we spent on it. A whole year later!
Last time I took one in they lost it! Even though I attached my name clearly on the top of the vcr. Idiots gave me another vcr that their clerk secretly told me was brought back about four times before! aaaaargh!