Phil Marlowe wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:

>> I use the sensitive tuner in an older broken vcr (never throw those 
>> out as they had the best tuners) which doesn't have a blue screen of 
>> death (argh!).

PM> Good tip, that. The newer ones are duds in that department. And I
PM> think I have one of those old ones around here somewhere.

> I have more than one, and am wondering how much of a hassle it would 
> be to figure out what was what with it...

PM> Can't really say. From my superficial reading -- but this sounds 
PM> optimistic to me -- supposedly just 2 or 3 things account for 80-90 
PM> percent of the trouble. So it might not be much of a hassle.

PM> But I think what Mike is saying above is that you can use a broken 
PM> one as a tuner? At least one in which the tuner is intact.

Yeah,  that's what I was thinking about,  yanking the tuner portions out of
one or more of the dead ones I have in storage for parts.

PM> And I think it was Roy who mentioned a VCR repair kit for $20 [?] 
PM> that I meant to ask him about but never got around to. Am in 

> That was a power supply repair kit.

PM> Oh. Am pretty sure mine is a dried out belt (again from what I've 
PM> read) because it worked fine before it was simply not used for 
PM> about a couple of years. It works now but eats tapes.

That sounds like a rubber idler wheel (if it has one),  which engages one
or the other hub when the tape is supposed to be moving in a given
direction.  The capstan and pinch roller _will_ move the tape,  but if it's
not being taken up on the hub inside the cassette,  it piles up and
eventually wraps around the capstan or pinch roller and you get a mess.  I
know that the one vcr we have here in the bedroom,  bought used,  doesn't
have this part -- it's (I'm told) all gear-driven.

PM> [Unless something got in it?

Any sort of lubrication on the belt or pulleys would make it slip.

PM> I did my annual dis-assembling of my air conditioner recently and
PM> found the usual few dozen bees, wasps, and other assorted dead 
PM> insects.]

Euw.

PM> If it is the belt the problem is finding a local parts supplier who 
PM> carries VCR belts for older models. [Mike, you know of any such 
PM> supplier?] Of course the longer I put off looking for it the less 
PM> chance there'll be of me finding an old belt replacement.

I haven't seen a recent catalog,  but I seem to remember MCM Electronics as
being a good mail-order outfit for VCR parts,  and not all that expensive.

> The one older VCR we have here has a small switching power supply, 
> and when we got this home entertainment center furniture (nothing 
> special), there's a hole in the back for the wires to come out, only 
> reconnecting it did *not* bring it back to life.  A little checking 
> turned up a blown fuse and a switching transistor that was a dead 
> short. Replacing these got the same result, so I got the kit. The kit 
> replaced diodes, a number of different capacitors, and I forget what 
> else, in addition to the transistor. Some of those parts were no 
> doubt contributing factors to the thing's demise, in particular I 
> heard in here that manufacturers are making do with lower 
> temperature-rated caps than are good, and I think the kit had those 
> in there. Anyhow, when I plugged it back in I got a clock display 
> right off, and it's been working fine ever since. That was 4-5 years 
> ago. Not bad when you consider we bought the thing used for $50 in 
> the first place. 

PM> I think it's worthwhile, the older ones having,  as Mike pointed 
PM> out, much better tuners, and therefore far better recording 
PM> capabilities as well.

I guess there's a reason they keep getting cheaper...

PM> As least as compared to the very flimsy looking new models I'm 
PM> using now, and the ones my kids use. But their attitude is that 
PM> this stuff is disposable.  Different generation.

Yeah.  I just hate throwing stuff away when there's a likelihood of doing
something usable with some of what's there.

> Did you want me to dig out the info in the company?

PM> Thanks for the offer, but see above.

I noticed.

PM> Someone else pointed out another use for old VCRs -- that you can 
PM> dub video tapes with two old VCRs, something you supposedly can't 
PM> do with newer models.

> The two we have here being in different rooms, that's actually 
> something I haven't tried yet.

PM> I think at some point -- 1990? -- the mamufacturers were required 
PM> to add some chip that defeated your doing that. Copyright laws 
PM> stuff.

Oh really?  I hadn't heard about this.

> And the junkers sitting in storage don't work, and are good for parts 
> only.

PM> I should have kept some of those for that reason, but I tend to 
PM> keep so much stuff it becomes a problem...

Heh.  Tell me about it.  This room has way more stuff in it than it should,
and I have a 10x20 storage unit filled with stuff as well.

PM> However, there must be some kind of law that says a few days or 
PM> weeks after you toss something is when you'll need it. [g]

Yeah,  there is.  I used to have it in a book around here but can't recall
when I've even seen that book,  much less where it is.

Stuff:  Junk you keep.
Junk:  Stuff you throw away.

:-)

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