Many years ago just as VHS was about to fade into the sunset the local Sony outlet had a clearnce sale of new sealed box stock at low prices so i grabbed the only SLV 777 it was still expensive at almost half price but i though that never having owned a top of the range model it was worth the investment. It was built like tank with side panels, all metal front and a heavy drop down control panel with shuttle dial. I used it a lot until the capacitors were clearly in trouble, Sony made a rebuild and upgrade kit this with all the usual other parts returned to to full working order until the upper head drum was starting to chew tapes, another genuine Sony drum went in and it gave me a few more years. These were superb decks, few other brands could compete with Sony We will never see this level of quality again.
@@ACommenterOnUA-cam I only use it to get old footage archived. I would never record on tape. Some say they want the look of old video. Not me. I ha e done a few videos over the years that I shot on old equipment for the fun of it and to show how bad it looks and everyone complains about the video quality.
damn i had to repair my SVHS from Panasonic a Pro one, it cost 100 to fix in the Panasonic official service center in Uruguay, but im glad they still repair this stuff
Panasonic made terrible svhs machines. there was one part that was always failing on it and it was the comb filter module it was an expensive part when it was available hasn't been available for years but one little part was like 90 bucks and it failed on 100% of them.
Dave did you straighten out the pins on connector 204 as you can see the pins are bent at 36 mins in the video. That might be the problem between the 2 preamps if those pins aren't connecting.
@@polyman2 some day it may be looked at again. I need to get back on a bug reel to reel a customer dropped that i have been dragging my ass on. They gave been calling me about it.
Not only do Elna caps from this era leak, so do many other brands. Nichicon was another that was notorious for capacitor leakage. I've spent many a night recapping old Apple gear and having the garage smell like a Chinese wet market for hours afterwards. Any tiny bit of the leaked electrolyte getting heated just a bit immediately turns it into rotting fish smell.
@@12voltvids I ran it for over 10 hours and it's stable. The PAL version of this machine doesn't use a ceramic board in this module so I guess I could easily replace the caps if they decide to sh1t the bed.
Elna is actually not that bad i have a whole Kenwood stereo system. So elna was producing the circuit boards for Kenwood so all elna caps they haven't failed on me yet it's from 86.
@@TechnicFreakJulianThose "crappy" Elnas from the 1980s will probably still be fine in another 10 years when the cheap Chinese stuff you're increasingly even seeing in fairly high-end gear have spewed their guts everywhere over modern equipment.
It could be anything clogged heads that's the first thing to try cleaning the heads. Could be the preamp has a problem bad caps in the preamp or a preamp IC. You'd have to put a scope on it and check for RF from the test point to make sure the heads are actually putting out a signal. Beyond that it could be anything in the video circuit although if it's got nothing that I would think it's probably either the heads that are bad or the preamp. What happens when you put it in pause or try to scan do you see anything? Normally in playback there won't be a picture if the signal is not over a certain level or if there's no control track detected you'll get a blue screen. It goes into a mute mode but if you go into search or pause or slow mo it turns off the mute circuit and then you can see what's there. If you see snow then you're not getting a signal from the heads could be bad heads but you really have to do a little more testing other than saying it has no picture because lots of things can cause that first thing I would try is cleaning the heads and for god sakes don't use a q-tip on them maybe somebody already did and broke the heads if that's the case you got to find a new head drum, good luck.
I would love it if you could find a old piano key video recorder for me and get one working, it's a long shot but I would pay you well if you can, please can you let me no.
@@12voltvids is there any way you can get hold of a uk VHS version. Or know anyone who has one that's survived in good condition, I had no idea that they even made a beta version, I never seen one in the UK, what is its condition, and any chance of some photos of it if it's up for sale. Thanks
As you saw I didn't fix it because the guy that bought it off eBay wasn't prepared to spend what it would have cost to fix it. I told him he would be looking probably between 200 and 250 by the time all the parts were in plus return shipping. He said he budgeted for 150usd max including return shipping. I laughed and told him shipping from Canada would be over100 cdn alone. (He paid 130usd to ship here, but then shipping from the states to Canada is always higher then the other way around but the gap is closing. 150us is just over 200cdn these days. At that point he did what many have done just said keep it. That has happened a fair bit over the years. Even things that are fixed. I contact the owner and give them the total including return shipping and most pay promptly and others just never respond. I send a remember email and I am basically ghosted. I put the unit in storage and hold for a year then attempt to sell but they never go anywhere untill the price drops to zero then someone takes it off my hands. If I put parts that I can easily remove i do that first. (turntables for example where I put a belt or cartridge on. I try to sell for my parts cost and if no takers I pull the parts for the next one and give it away.
@@TD75 i think sometimes people forget how much things cost to ship. When i initially talk to people let them know that mist repairs on vcrs run in the 100 range for standard faults. Think blue gear type repairs.
Many years ago just as VHS was about to fade into the sunset the local Sony outlet
had a clearnce sale of new sealed box stock at low prices so i grabbed the only SLV 777
it was still expensive at almost half price but i though that never having owned a top of the range
model it was worth the investment.
It was built like tank with side panels, all metal front and a heavy drop down control panel with shuttle dial.
I used it a lot until the capacitors were clearly in trouble, Sony made a rebuild and upgrade kit
this with all the usual other parts returned to to full working order until the upper head drum was starting
to chew tapes, another genuine Sony drum went in and it gave me a few more years.
These were superb decks, few other brands could compete with Sony
We will never see this level of quality again.
Where it's from, sounds like our weather right now! Great video!
So sad that old technology is on its way out the door
Can't stop progress.
@@ACommenterOnUA-cam
I only use it to get old footage archived. I would never record on tape. Some say they want the look of old video. Not me. I ha e done a few videos over the years that I shot on old equipment for the fun of it and to show how bad it looks and everyone complains about the video quality.
@@ACommenterOnUA-cam in 10 yours your minidv camera won't work the tapes will probably be moldy and won't play.
damn i had to repair my SVHS from Panasonic a Pro one, it cost 100 to fix in the Panasonic official service center in Uruguay, but im glad they still repair this stuff
Panasonic made terrible svhs machines. there was one part that was always failing on it and it was the comb filter module it was an expensive part when it was available hasn't been available for years but one little part was like 90 bucks and it failed on 100% of them.
They used to have this Sony model VCR on the shopping channel back in the day 😅
Dave did you straighten out the pins on connector 204 as you can see the pins are bent at 36 mins in the video. That might be the problem between the 2 preamps if those pins aren't connecting.
Cn204 is the scope test header. The pins that i bent is RF and head switch trigger test point.
Makes sense now. Love watching your vids and hope you do manage to sort this one out in another video.
@@polyman2 some day it may be looked at again. I need to get back on a bug reel to reel a customer dropped that i have been dragging my ass on. They gave been calling me about it.
Love the vhs videos
More to come. Got one to work on today.
80s Vcrs have the most intense innards. Layers and layers of boards...high difficulty level.
The early ones were nightmares. Hate every last one of them. To the point I refuse them no matter how much money some fool wants to throw it out.
great sir
Not only do Elna caps from this era leak, so do many other brands. Nichicon was another that was notorious for capacitor leakage. I've spent many a night recapping old Apple gear and having the garage smell like a Chinese wet market for hours afterwards. Any tiny bit of the leaked electrolyte getting heated just a bit immediately turns it into rotting fish smell.
That's because they used fish oil as opposed to pcb oil that the old ones had.
A few days I bought an NV-FS200 (AG-1970) and to my surprise none of the caps in the comb filter module have leaked and the unit works fine.
Run it for a few hours and see what happens.
@@12voltvids I ran it for over 10 hours and it's stable. The PAL version of this machine doesn't use a ceramic board in this module so I guess I could easily replace the caps if they decide to sh1t the bed.
@@crashbandicoot4everr totally different part and design
So, after watching for 20 minutes, I would suggest you go to your VCR and recap the same hifi board, just to prevent future Elna leaking.
Elna is actually not that bad i have a whole Kenwood stereo system. So elna was producing the circuit boards for Kenwood so all elna caps they haven't failed on me yet it's from 86.
Mine has already been done. There is a video on mine. Actually i believe 3. Power supply. HiFi board and tuner/if.
@@TechnicFreakJulianThose "crappy" Elnas from the 1980s will probably still be fine in another 10 years when the cheap Chinese stuff you're increasingly even seeing in fairly high-end gear have spewed their guts everywhere over modern equipment.
I just had a bunch of Elna caps in a 1987 Yamaha reciever yesterday.
Elna, the varta of capacitors.
@@12voltvids one 470uf 50v popped and squirted and scared me.
There were two Matsushita 6800uf caps that were still good in it.
i just recapped a panasonic nv-h60 psu that had a few bad Elna caps.luckily none had spewed.
@@chrissanders2562those were probanly the 2 main filter capacitors
Difficult VCR , The circuitry component's micro Soldierin
I have sound but no picture do u know what the problem could be
It could be anything clogged heads that's the first thing to try cleaning the heads. Could be the preamp has a problem bad caps in the preamp or a preamp IC. You'd have to put a scope on it and check for RF from the test point to make sure the heads are actually putting out a signal. Beyond that it could be anything in the video circuit although if it's got nothing that I would think it's probably either the heads that are bad or the preamp. What happens when you put it in pause or try to scan do you see anything? Normally in playback there won't be a picture if the signal is not over a certain level or if there's no control track detected you'll get a blue screen. It goes into a mute mode but if you go into search or pause or slow mo it turns off the mute circuit and then you can see what's there. If you see snow then you're not getting a signal from the heads could be bad heads but you really have to do a little more testing other than saying it has no picture because lots of things can cause that first thing I would try is cleaning the heads and for god sakes don't use a q-tip on them maybe somebody already did and broke the heads if that's the case you got to find a new head drum, good luck.
@@12voltvids it had a picture but it went when I was changing the caps in the power supply I'm thinking power supply I don't know
I would love it if you could find a old piano key video recorder for me and get one working, it's a long shot but I would pay you well if you can, please can you let me no.
I have one but it's a betamax
@@12voltvids is there any way you can get hold of a uk VHS version. Or know anyone who has one that's survived in good condition, I had no idea that they even made a beta version, I never seen one in the UK, what is its condition, and any chance of some photos of it if it's up for sale. Thanks
@@bunnydyton9217 i have a pal VHS deck.
@@12voltvids could you send me a photo of it please.
Crappy Caps, Audio & Video Repair, good name for a business! 😅
These go for $600 on ebay refurbished
I had mine listed for 500 and the best offer I got was 150.
Hello I change the blue gear and clean the switch mode but when I put a tape in it ejects it back and also eats it any suggestions
You have a timing issue.
@@12voltvids you think I have to mess with that big gear down from the blue gear
How can I solve that
Timing marks in gears and mexhanism @@leonjohnsonjr3331
Either you fix it right or don't fix it all.
As you saw I didn't fix it because the guy that bought it off eBay wasn't prepared to spend what it would have cost to fix it. I told him he would be looking probably between 200 and 250 by the time all the parts were in plus return shipping. He said he budgeted for 150usd max including return shipping.
I laughed and told him shipping from Canada would be over100 cdn alone. (He paid 130usd to ship here, but then shipping from the states to Canada is always higher then the other way around but the gap is closing. 150us is just over 200cdn these days. At that point he did what many have done just said keep it. That has happened a fair bit over the years. Even things that are fixed. I contact the owner and give them the total including return shipping and most pay promptly and others just never respond. I send a remember email and I am basically ghosted. I put the unit in storage and hold for a year then attempt to sell but they never go anywhere untill the price drops to zero then someone takes it off my hands. If I put parts that I can easily remove i do that first. (turntables for example where I put a belt or cartridge on. I try to sell for my parts cost and if no takers I pull the parts for the next one and give it away.
@@TD75 i think sometimes people forget how much things cost to ship. When i initially talk to people let them know that mist repairs on vcrs run in the 100 range for standard faults. Think blue gear type repairs.
I never recorded in ep
Many did, especially svhs because the picture was quite good.
Impressed repair👌👍👍👍👍👍