Actually I'm quite fond of VCR players from that era (late 90's early 2000): they are cheaply made for sure, but after all they are typically reliable, the tape transport is way less complex than VCR from early 90's and also the electronics board is much simpler due to large scale integration. Picture quality is quite good, Hi-Fi sound is decent, they have on-screen display and also super fast rewind. Top players from late 80's early 90's are cramp full of electronics boards, switching power supply with little to no air flow and a zillion components that can actually go wrong. Plus each old transport has known failures (like the Sony blue gear) which are almost 100% guaranteed to have already happened.
The last generation of VCRs were IMHO the best of the bunch. They had the component count as low as they could go. Very simple, basic but reliable proven designs that were easy to work on. Lots of very complex LSI ICs that buried the complex signal processing. Fewer components meant fewer things to go wrong. The worst ones were from the early 80's and yet these are the ones that people want to collect. I think many people forgot how unreliable they actually were, or were too young (or not born yet) to know. Ask any "boomer" about how much money they spent keeping their VCR running. Ask any of the old guys in their late 50s and 60s that worked in the VCR repair business how much money they bade back in the day. I entered the VCR repair field back in 1983 as a career, and started training on them while still in high school in 79. In those 3 years of "Special High Intensity Training, or SHIT for short" I jumped in feet first and studied everything I could find on color under, FM helical recording methods for video signals. It was a lot to take in, but I was young, and learned a lot from a Japanese tech that was my mentor. I then started my career in 83 at Sony, where I took their in house Betamax course.and a year later left and went to work at the local shop for the next 20 years. I hated the place the entire time, but I made so bloody much money at that place fixing broken VCRs. Back in t he 80's I was making 70 grand a year when the average wage was perhaps 30. Through the 80's and 90s all of us made a killing. It was a like a license to print money. In only 10 years I had saved enough to buy my house and pay cash for it, no mortgage. All things must however come to an end. The price of electronics dropped, the reliability of them got better, and people just were not spending the money to fix the old stuff anymore. By the time I left the repair business my salary had gone from a high of 85K to just over 40 in my last year and the bug drop was around 2000 when it dropped big time. I was out by 2003 and retraining for a second career, where I should have gone right after high school if only I had been smart and listened to advice from my parents and relatives already in that field. I should have been like my uncle and cousin, working at the telephone company. took me 20 years to figure that one out. Been doing that now for the past 17 years. The youth however don't want to listen to advice from their parents. My own son for example, perfect opportunity to learn electronics, and could have gotten a career at the phone company but instead stocks grocery shelves because he is following in his old man's foot steps and not following advice.
Very true, I currently use a Thorn 8947 (JVC HRD140) PAL machine from about '85 for watching back old movies I find on VHS & it's always an interesting thing to see if its going to behave or not like a particular tape. For its age though it's pretty damn reliable all things considered. It simply worked when I picked it up for £5 a few years back and while I've had it the main issues have been the circuit protectors going open for no good reason, tape path cleaning & back tension (can't fully blame the machine on the last 2 though, most of it is degraded tapes so I just run it super low back tension generally.) Linear power supply on this too :)
I found one of these in the Electronic FREE recycling with the orig remote.. it plays tapes excellent and has good functionality in general. Sony really refined things with this basic machine. I did a full test and will be selling it locally. Thanks for the video it could come in handy.
I'm actually really fond of this era Sony machine. I had one of these since around 2004, and its been super reliable and still gets used today. My only real complaint is the rewind and fast forward is a bit sluggish.
I just listed a unit like this on eBay, before packing I heard a rattle. I opened it up and the very same piece is broken on this unit! Kinda neat to see you go through this.
The era of mechanics is over and it's not bad. But I like this technique and I keep it. It is not necessary and it costs nothing but pleases me with its work. What to do . Nostalgia.
I have the same "ringtone" on my phone next to me so I was a bit surprised when yours rang. Mine is just a cheap 2500 clone from the year 2000 but it still works fine as a phone. Unlike a smartphone I'm sure it will be just fine in another 20 years.
It amazes me how you remember how everything goes back together. I guess it's just all your years of experience. also - I don't think I've ever see you "drop a screw" and disppear into the abyss of lost socks. LOL
I think it was made around 1998 I had a similar model like that and the break arm broke exactly the same way. I think it's a good manufactured VCR, even though it has few cheap parts like the back tension arm...
Odd how that plastic lug decided to snap off, no real pressure on it. I like the re-design, works as good or bad as it ever did :) When a molded post on a plastic deck snaps off, the Bodge Cap is worn :-D A mug of tea/coffee is brain lubrication.
Well, when you have done this work for 40 years it really becomes pretty easy. I know I make it look easier than it really is, but even for a seasoned pro, I do have to think logically to figure out where things go a,d visualize the circuits without having any information on them.
Very typical failures in S mecanism based machines: brake arm and fuses (some boards have ICP Nx type ones). I have repaired quite a few of them. Apart from that, they are basic but nice players. Much more reliable than the previous H deck.
That's a real phone. I have several. I even have an old western electric 302 in working condition. They go for big bucks when fully restored. Mine are in various states of restoration. I have several kicking around. Saved them from the recycle bin at work.
I have a Sanyo VWM-390 hat i was messing with the head of it and eventually it just totally died! This VCR, i am going to destroy anyways, which is one the reasons i bought it, but do you know what happened? i would like it working before i smash it just to mess with video playing.
Lol, I just opened a similiar model and the same piece was flapping around inside..it took a few minutes for me to figure where it went...I gave up on it after I couldnt figure out why it wont rewind.
It's how i learned. The shop had some prints but when they went to microfilm and worse computer ur became easier to just stare at the board and figure things out. I would need a print for a complex problem but I would probably condemn the unit at that point.
@@ilanurielilanuriel there are also a few icp but had it turned out to be more than that they I would have trashed it. Not worth the time. I would have done that 20 years ego.
I don't get it. The VCR's, across all formats, are so vast inside as they were in 1977, then the "high-quality" of the 90's/2000's units look like the inside of something you'd get from Goodwill.
Probably never because i don't know anyone that has one and I have never worked on one. I don't have card extenders or the jigs required. So no don't hold your breath for that. Even cameras i don't want to do. they draw much fewer views than say a cassette deck or VHS. Fewer views means less $ to me. Less $ to me means less interest in doing these type of repairs
Now when you buy something from Sony, if it fails while under warranty, they will have you send it to a company called United Radio in Syracuse, New York. Then they'll just replace the entire board that's defective and return it to you.
The only new thing I have bought from Sony recently is the camera I shoot these videos with. I have too many cameras. 3 4k video cameras. 2 HDV and a DSLR. All Sony.
Actually I'm quite fond of VCR players from that era (late 90's early 2000): they are cheaply made for sure, but after all they are typically reliable, the tape transport is way less complex than VCR from early 90's and also the electronics board is much simpler due to large scale integration. Picture quality is quite good, Hi-Fi sound is decent, they have on-screen display and also super fast rewind. Top players from late 80's early 90's are cramp full of electronics boards, switching power supply with little to no air flow and a zillion components that can actually go wrong. Plus each old transport has known failures (like the Sony blue gear) which are almost 100% guaranteed to have already happened.
The last generation of VCRs were IMHO the best of the bunch. They had the component count as low as they could go. Very simple, basic but reliable proven designs that were easy to work on. Lots of very complex LSI ICs that buried the complex signal processing. Fewer components meant fewer things to go wrong. The worst ones were from the early 80's and yet these are the ones that people want to collect. I think many people forgot how unreliable they actually were, or were too young (or not born yet) to know. Ask any "boomer" about how much money they spent keeping their VCR running. Ask any of the old guys in their late 50s and 60s that worked in the VCR repair business how much money they bade back in the day. I entered the VCR repair field back in 1983 as a career, and started training on them while still in high school in 79. In those 3 years of "Special High Intensity Training, or SHIT for short" I jumped in feet first and studied everything I could find on color under, FM helical recording methods for video signals. It was a lot to take in, but I was young, and learned a lot from a Japanese tech that was my mentor. I then started my career in 83 at Sony, where I took their in house Betamax course.and a year later left and went to work at the local shop for the next 20 years. I hated the place the entire time, but I made so bloody much money at that place fixing broken VCRs. Back in t he 80's I was making 70 grand a year when the average wage was perhaps 30. Through the 80's and 90s all of us made a killing. It was a like a license to print money. In only 10 years I had saved enough to buy my house and pay cash for it, no mortgage. All things must however come to an end. The price of electronics dropped, the reliability of them got better, and people just were not spending the money to fix the old stuff anymore. By the time I left the repair business my salary had gone from a high of 85K to just over 40 in my last year and the bug drop was around 2000 when it dropped big time. I was out by 2003 and retraining for a second career, where I should have gone right after high school if only I had been smart and listened to advice from my parents and relatives already in that field. I should have been like my uncle and cousin, working at the telephone company.
took me 20 years to figure that one out. Been doing that now for the past 17 years. The youth however don't want to listen to advice from their parents. My own son for example, perfect opportunity to learn electronics, and could have gotten a career at the phone company but instead stocks grocery shelves because he is following in his old man's foot steps and not following advice.
Very true, I currently use a Thorn 8947 (JVC HRD140) PAL machine from about '85 for watching back old movies I find on VHS & it's always an interesting thing to see if its going to behave or not like a particular tape. For its age though it's pretty damn reliable all things considered. It simply worked when I picked it up for £5 a few years back and while I've had it the main issues have been the circuit protectors going open for no good reason, tape path cleaning & back tension (can't fully blame the machine on the last 2 though, most of it is degraded tapes so I just run it super low back tension generally.) Linear power supply on this too :)
Excellent presentation, thank you !
Bill P.
Good job, Mr Dave. Always a great show. Thanks👍
I found one of these in the Electronic FREE recycling with the orig remote.. it plays tapes excellent and has good functionality in general. Sony really refined things with this basic machine. I did a full test and will be selling it locally. Thanks for the video it could come in handy.
I'm actually really fond of this era Sony machine. I had one of these since around 2004, and its been super reliable and still gets used today. My only real complaint is the rewind and fast forward is a bit sluggish.
I thought that thing was history when you found that broken plastic part. Amazing how you fix things 👍
I just listed a unit like this on eBay, before packing I heard a rattle. I opened it up and the very same piece is broken on this unit! Kinda neat to see you go through this.
Great! Found another I haven't seen. Good one!
I remember having one of these. Good player.
You are doing a Great job.good job find the mistake work with this macchine excellent work.
Number one guy does be again top man Dave great idea drilling I little hole instead of trying to melt it together
The era of mechanics is over and it's not bad. But I like this technique and I keep it. It is not necessary and it costs nothing but pleases me with its work. What to do . Nostalgia.
Great work Dave
Great work and video 😊👍
I have the same "ringtone" on my phone next to me so I was a bit surprised when yours rang. Mine is just a cheap 2500 clone from the year 2000 but it still works fine as a phone. Unlike a smartphone I'm sure it will be just fine in another 20 years.
It amazes me how you remember how everything goes back together. I guess it's just all your years of experience. also - I don't think I've ever see you "drop a screw" and disppear into the abyss of lost socks. LOL
thank you, really helps
Glad it helped!
Neat job! 👍
I think it was made around 1998
I had a similar model like that and the break arm broke exactly the same way.
I think it's a good manufactured VCR, even though it has few cheap parts like the back tension arm...
Odd how that plastic lug decided to snap off, no real pressure on it.
I like the re-design, works as good or bad as it ever did :)
When a molded post on a plastic deck snaps off, the Bodge Cap is worn :-D
A mug of tea/coffee is brain lubrication.
You are so cool mister!!
amazing to see how huge diffrence the is between sony vhs and a sony betamax player in build quility.
Most Betamax machines you find were made in the 80s. This VHS is from 1999 or 2000. Big difference...
@@crashbandicoot4everr yes it is masive diffrence.
I have the exact same vcr that won't turn on. Hopefully it will be just as easy to fix. I have some vhs tapesthat im partial to.
What a Magician. You need to be inducted to the Hall of Fame lol. The classic technician in this wide world.
Well, when you have done this work for 40 years it really becomes pretty easy. I know I make it look easier than it really is, but even for a seasoned pro, I do have to think logically to figure out where things go a,d visualize the circuits without having any information on them.
👍👍👍
Very typical failures in S mecanism based machines: brake arm and fuses (some boards have ICP Nx type ones). I have repaired quite a few of them.
Apart from that, they are basic but nice players. Much more reliable than the previous H deck.
I haven't heard one of those ringers in years!!!
That's a real phone. I have several. I even have an old western electric 302 in working condition. They go for big bucks when fully restored. Mine are in various states of restoration. I have several kicking around. Saved them from the recycle bin at work.
I bought this actually the same machine in 2000 from Sears any exact the same piece broke off on my VCR 3 years ago
Now u know how to fix.
I have a Sanyo VWM-390 hat i was messing with the head of it and eventually it just totally died! This VCR, i am going to destroy anyways, which is one the reasons i bought it, but do you know what happened? i would like it working before i smash it just to mess with video playing.
Lol, I just opened a similiar model and the same piece was flapping around inside..it took a few minutes for me to figure where it went...I gave up on it after I couldnt figure out why it wont rewind.
Great how you do this without schematics How do you do that to show the infrared LEDs? In the movie 15:08 min.
His camera has nightshot mode. IR light is also visible using a smartphone camera.
@@crashbandicoot4everr
Okay, thanks for the quick response. I already knew that about the smartphone.
How do you manage to analyze this without the schematics? Each vcr is different from the other
It's how i learned. The shop had some prints but when they went to microfilm and worse computer ur became easier to just stare at the board and figure things out. I would need a print for a complex problem but I would probably condemn the unit at that point.
@@12voltvids if it was not the fuse and the wire wouldn’t help, would that be the point you decide to trash the unit?
@@ilanurielilanuriel there are also a few icp but had it turned out to be more than that they I would have trashed it.
Not worth the time. I would have done that 20 years ego.
Can you fix my Sony vcr?
I don't get it. The VCR's, across all formats, are so vast inside as they were in 1977, then the "high-quality" of the 90's/2000's units look like the inside of something you'd get from Goodwill.
When will you do a serious VTR like a BetaCam SP machine or a DSR-1500a or fixing a FireWire port (nudge nudge, wink wink)
Probably never because i don't know anyone that has one and I have never worked on one. I don't have card extenders or the jigs required. So no don't hold your breath for that. Even cameras i don't want to do. they draw much fewer views than say a cassette deck or VHS. Fewer views means less $ to me. Less $ to me means less interest in doing these type of repairs
Now when you buy something from Sony, if it fails while under warranty, they will have you send it to a company called United Radio in Syracuse, New York. Then they'll just replace the entire board that's defective and return it to you.
The only new thing I have bought from Sony recently is the camera I shoot these videos with. I have too many cameras. 3 4k video cameras. 2 HDV and a DSLR. All Sony.
S mechanism
S as in s°°t?
@@12voltvids facts 💯
Maybe S as in Snap-together