problem with old vcr

donnajunkie

we havent used our vcr for quite a while and it hasnt even been plugged in for all that time either. today my dad wanted to connect it to the sky+ box to record something for a friend onto vhs. it was definitely connected up properly. however the problem is it kept eating tapes immediately. the tape would go in and get kicked straight out and be caught inside the vcr. with a couple of the tapes a numerical code appeared on the front panel which i have seen before but it never caused problems before. we have lost the instruction booklet so cant refer to that. the model is a sony SLV-SE710G.
any ideas anyone? why would a vcr that was working perfect the last time it was used suddenly start eating tapes just because it hasnt been used for a long time?

Ephemera

Not an expert but it could be that one of the little motors has stopped working and it is causing the problem!!
No idea how to stop it apart from maybe leaving it switched on for a while to see if warming it up loosens the grease in the bearing and it starts to work again...try an old tape first!

totalsolutions

Yep. Aged rubber drive belts perish after a while. Also where was it stored, if in a cool place the heat in your home causes condensation to form on the heads and the tape sticks, leave towarm up slowly i.e. 24hrs. Old/thin tapes perished. Electrical compoments dry up if not used/powered up. Bugs crawled in to sleep?


Found this on a web search....you might need to know about this for later..
"I have a Sony VCR SLV-SE820 which has fallen victim to a well documented problem. It appears to have suffered memory corruption of the NVROM."

southernscouser

What the hell is a 'VCR'?

donnajunkie

so what are the odds for me, if i leave it on for 24hrs? i would estimate that the time it has been off is around 18 months. it has been sat on the floor next to the tv with dvds stacked on it.
i guess i could buy a new one but it has always been a top notch vcr.

i knew i should have swapped it with the crappy one i have upstairs.

shown73

If its any help, I saw some in Asda for just over £30....VCR's that is.

donnajunkie

thanks, i will check them out. i will be getting a decent quality one if i get one otherwise i might as well stick with the crappy orion one that is connected to the portable upstairs.

shown73

You'll be lucky to find one, I think, they seem to be disappearing fast. Last time I looked, Amazon had a few.

donnajunkie

i have seen vcr's by lg and by phillips for around £60. apart from them i have just seen dodgy brands like funai. is there no shops that i may not have thought of that specialise in still selling vcr's? brand new only by the way.

superscaper

donnajunkie wrote: »

i have seen vcr's by lg and by phillips for around £60. apart from them i have just seen dodgy brands like funai. is there no shops that i may not have thought of that specialise in still selling vcr's? brand new only by the way.

£60!!!! You can get a DVD recorder for £35. http://www.willentrading.co.uk/vision/dvd-recorders/bush-dvr3002-recorder-p-645.html

donnajunkie

yeah, we already a have one. i just want to be able to watch my old tapes. i know i should copy them to disc but there are millions of them and you cant get much on a dvd disc if you want a decent quality picture.