Old VCR fault

Discussion in 'Tech Talk' started by DIY0001, Dec 16, 2019.

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  1. DIY0001

    DIY0001 Active Member

    The other half has found some old family VHS video tapes of that she would like me to copy to mpeg so that she can send to her relatives etc. I think these were originally cine film that were copied onto video tape in the 90's from much older originals.
    So I went up into the loft and retrieved the old VCR that was packed away years ago. It was the cheapest model I could find when I originally bought it, as I only wanted something to copy our VHS tapes onto DVD. So it hadn't seen much use when it was packed away. However, when I power it up the display flashes with what appears to be error code, 3, and won't accept the cassette. It definitely doesn't have a cassette in there either. The User Manual, that was with it, isn't any help, suggesting to press the reset button on the base, which only seems to reboot it, resulting in the same error code.

    Its a Funai model 21B-200 and I haven't managed to find a Service Manual in the usual online places. In fact Funai don't even seem to acknowledge making this model on their web site!

    Is anyone familiar with the Funai 21B-200 that can suggest how to resolve the problem or know where I can get a Service Manual for it?
     
  2. teabreak

    teabreak Screwfix Select

    Only a long shot but where was it stored? I remember they had to be left to reach room temperature when new to avoid condensation causing a problem ,may be leave it plugged in for a couple of hours or so.
     
  3. Teki

    Teki Screwfix Select

    Often VCRs that have been left for a while suffer from the drive belt perishing. This stops the mechanism from accepting a cassette. If you feel competent, you will either need to remove the metal top cover/bottom cover and check if the drive belt is intact or slipping.
     
  4. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    Try Freegle/Freecycle for old VCR's,usually quite few turn up,otherwise there are firms who can still copy vhs to dvd.

    Be very careful, as vcr can/might chew up the tape.

    Are you sure there no cassette already loaded in vcr?
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2019
  5. DIY0001

    DIY0001 Active Member

    Thanks for the suggestions, but I've already had the top off this machine to check for mechanical blockages. There definitely isn't a cassette loaded. Both the loading and the drive belts look sound and the loading motor runs for a few seconds after power-up then stops: it is still mechanically free and would drive further if it needed to. There isn't any tape around the drum and the loading guides are all in the "eject" position. So it "should" take the new cassette when it is pushed into it, however the loading motor doesn't start to move and the display just flashes with the tape symbol and "3", which I presume is an error code.

    If it wasn't for the display flashing like that, which the user manual indicates isn't right and suggests the "reset" button will cure, then I would have expected that a switch wasn't sensing that a tape had been pushed into place to start the loading mechanism.
     
  6. Teki

    Teki Screwfix Select

    Looking at other Funai VCR model service manuals, error code 3 is related to the cassette loading mechanism.

    Although your model is not listed on this website, you might find the circuitry for the 21A-724 model is similar:

    https://www.manualslib.com/brand/funai/vcr.html
     
  7. DIY0001

    DIY0001 Active Member

    Thanks, that looks very promising!

    Even from memory of the circuit boards and layout, that looks very similar indeed, and the description of the Error 3 is exactly as I find, flashing at 0.8Hz.

    I'll have a closer look at the section on mechanical alignment tomorrow and see how it compares to the current status on my machine.

    Thanks again!
     
  8. DIY0001

    DIY0001 Active Member

    Oh well, I eventually identified the problem, but I don't think it is easily fixable.
    I went through the mechanical alignment section and there are 4 alignment points that should be made before powering on. The 3rd of these is the alignment of two cogs in the cassette loading assembly, so it seemed likely that was were the fault lay. However, every time I aligned everything, including these two plastic cog wheels, there would be a couple of loud clicks when power was applied, as some other cogs in the assembly jumped, and then the same error was displayed.

    After a couple of attempts to find what was sticking, I had a closer look at the alignment diagram. One of the alignment wheels has 7 cogs on it around part of the circumference, however mine only had 6 cogs. Closer inspection showed that there was a cog that had broken off the wheel. Worse, this was the first cog that was used for alignment so I had inadvertently been using the second cog for alignment. That probably explains why the rest of the mechanism jumped and why it won't work.

    Since these are fairly specialist cog wheels, I doubt I'll find any replacements for them these days. So, for the want of a 2mm plastic cog, the whole VCR is destined for landfill. :(
     
  9. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    Get one 3D printed.
     
  10. DIY0001

    DIY0001 Active Member

    Not as easy as you'd think. I've just had a chat with our 3D printer guy at work. This is quite a complex part, so it requires careful measurement and drawing before getting a couple of test pieces made. Even then, only a few 3D printing options are likely to have the required mechanical strength to function, even for a short time.
     

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