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Sanyo VTC-5150 Betamax rewind problem

  • Thread starter David van Kemenade
  • Start date
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David van Kemenade

Jan 1, 1970
0
It seems the VCR has just too little torque to fully rewind a Betamax tape.
I've seen something similar discussed for VTC-5000s, and in that case the
solution involves decreasing the value of the series resistor of the reel
motor. But I can't find a series resistor in the VTC-5150. What can I do?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
L

LASERandDVDfan

Jan 1, 1970
0
It seems the VCR has just too little torque to fully rewind a Betamax tape.
I've seen something similar discussed for VTC-5000s, and in that case the
solution involves decreasing the value of the series resistor of the reel
motor.

Perhaps the problem is mechanical rather than electrical.

A lot of older VCRs, including Sanyo Betacord decks, used rubber idler tires
which would be worn and cracked by this time. A worn idler tire would not
allow the transport to efficiently transfer torque from the motor to the idler
pendulum; it would slip instead.

I would recommend replacing all rubber parts with exception of the pinch roller
if it's still in good shape.

I have a Sears Betavision hi-fi that's based on the Sanyo VCR-7200 Betacord
which required replacement of all rubber parts except the pinch roller. The
replacement rubber included the idlers, as the original ones were badly worn
out. The VCR also required the clutch on the reel spooler of the supply end to
be rebuilt as it was slipping too much on visual search reverse. - Reinhart
 
D

David van Kemenade

Jan 1, 1970
0
LASERandDVDfan said:
Perhaps the problem is mechanical rather than electrical.

A lot of older VCRs, including Sanyo Betacord decks, used rubber idler tires
which would be worn and cracked by this time. A worn idler tire would not
allow the transport to efficiently transfer torque from the motor to the idler
pendulum; it would slip instead.

I would recommend replacing all rubber parts with exception of the pinch roller
if it's still in good shape.

I have a Sears Betavision hi-fi that's based on the Sanyo VCR-7200 Betacord
which required replacement of all rubber parts except the pinch roller. The
replacement rubber included the idlers, as the original ones were badly worn
out. The VCR also required the clutch on the reel spooler of the supply end to
be rebuilt as it was slipping too much on visual search reverse. -
Reinhart

Thanks for your help, Reinhart!

I had already replaced the reel idler and the reel motor belt. Until a
couple of days ago, rewinding tapes worked OK. Since then I've cleaned the
heads and the pinch roller. After that rewinding didn't work anymore, but of
course this could be unrelated.

When I trick the VCR into thinking a tape has been inserted and I start
rewinding, all looks OK. Then I touch the supply reel to create some extra
load on it. Eventually, everything grinds to a halt: the spool, the reel
idler AND the motor! So there's nothing slipping.

Does this narrow the problem down?

Thanks, David
 
J

Jim Adney

Jan 1, 1970
0
It seems the VCR has just too little torque to fully rewind a Betamax tape.
I've seen something similar discussed for VTC-5000s, and in that case the
solution involves decreasing the value of the series resistor of the reel
motor. But I can't find a series resistor in the VTC-5150. What can I do?

I'm not sure if yours is the same as the one I troubleshot years ago,
but on mine the problem was simply lack of lubrication on the motor
shaft bearing.

It completely cleared up when I applied a tiny drop of oil to the
shaft where it disappears into the motor. I did this with the tip of a
sewing pin.

Be careful not to get any oil on the rubber parts.

IIRC, the problem was due to the fact that there was a current sensing
circuit in there which sensed, and limited, the amount of motor
current. When the bearing went dry the motor current went up and was
limited by this circuit. Eventually this left insufficient torque in
the motor.

In my model the current limit circuit was disabled in the FF and REW
modes.

I actually measured the motor current before and after oiling: IIRC
the current went down by more than a factor of 4 even though the speed
and torque went up.

-
 
A

ajb

Jan 1, 1970
0
It seems the VCR has just too little torque to fully rewind a Betamax tape.
I've seen something similar discussed for VTC-5000s, and in that case the
solution involves decreasing the value of the series resistor of the reel
motor. But I can't find a series resistor in the VTC-5150. What can I do?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

If the upper head drum is worn (lost its high polish, perhaps) it will
be producing too much friction aginst the tape. Used to be a common
problem at one time. It is occasionally possible to re-polish the drum
(cylinder) but you can get into more trouble if not very careful.
Usually a case for replacement I'm afraid...
 
L

LASERandDVDfan

Jan 1, 1970
0
If the upper head drum is worn (lost its high polish, perhaps) it will
be producing too much friction aginst the tape.

This wouldn't be a problem.

This Sanyo Beta deck is kinda like VHS decks: the tape is fully threaded only
when in play. All other transport functions are carried out with the tape not
threaded around the drum, including rewind and fast-forward. - Reinhart
 
D

David van Kemenade

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jim Adney said:
I'm not sure if yours is the same as the one I troubleshot years ago,
but on mine the problem was simply lack of lubrication on the motor
shaft bearing.

Thanks for that idea Jim. I'll get oil and give it a go.

Thanks, David
 
D

David van Kemenade

Jan 1, 1970
0
David van Kemenade said:
Thanks for that idea Jim. I'll get oil and give it a go.

Just a quick update in case anyone having a similar problem comes
across this thread.

Jim's suggestion turned out to work. I lubricated the motor shaft, but
this alone didn't do the trick. I also put a drop of oil on both reel
shafts. This made them run more smoothly and quietly, and rewinding is
no longer a problem now!

Thanks everyone for your help.

David
 
C

Colin McCormick

Jan 1, 1970
0
David

Sorry I've just seen you have solved the
problem. I would recommend replacing the
reel idler if you can get one from
www.grandata.co.uk

Regards,

Colin
 
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