RCA VBT200 - won't play tapes
 

The tuner, clock, modulator, and all that stuff work. When I turn it on, the light comes on and the head starts turning. It will rewind and fast forward. When I press play it will load the tape, and everything viewed from underneath seems as if it is turning like it should. Yet the reels on the tape do not turn. All the belts seem a bit loose - but I don't see them slipping.

Hello Adam those machines have a temper with loose belts try changing all of the belts anyway hopefully that should fix the problem...Timothy

Is the pinch roller engaging the tape to the capstan? Try moving the "pause" switch and see if the pinch roller moves.
jr

The pause button doesn't seem to do much of anything. The pinch roller doesn't move close to the capstan at all. I tried physically pushing it over, which didn't work, until I pushed the whole assembly it hooks to with it. The picture shows where I had to push, the arrow pointing to the back of the vcr, to get it to play. It still wouldn't play at too constant of a speed (the pinch roller is covered in this white gunk and probably needs to be changed). And the vcr still outputs from the tuner even when the tape does play.

It doesn't seem to be my major problem, but where can I find new belts and a pinch roller for one of these units? This is my first serious attempt at VCR repair, I always wanted to have one of these really early models.

Don't know about parts, likely somebody else here will.
So is the whole assembly bound up so that it does not swing easily? IIRC, there is a solenoid that moves the pinch roller assembly (necessary for the remote pause) perhaps it is gummed/corroded so that it does not move easily.
jr

It moves easily, but it doesn't move by itself. If I had to guess what is going on, I would say that solenoid (located towards the back of the vcr from my finger in that picture) should engage and pull that whole assembly back when I hit play, but it does not. I should probably look for some kind of service manual for this too...

Is the solenoid getting voltage during play?
I would also check the little 1/8 inch phone jack in the back, where the remote plugs in... perhaps its contacts are corroded and the machine is constantly in pause (just a WAG, however). Do you have the little "pause"remote?
jr

I know what it is...It's the little Doo-hickey right by the Whickerbill, next to the Whatchamaycallit in the 2nd photo..

I don't really know what I'm looking at here either:D

There is no voltage getting to the solenoid. But if I hook an external power supply to it, it will work and the tape will play (it needs about 12V). But the output from the vcr is still connected to its tuner even when it does play the tape. I don't know if that problem is related or not? I'll look where that remote jack is tomorrow.

Moyers has the parts for that. The belt kit is 4.95. I have the same model, butr mine has issues. It will play a tape, but too slow. On mine the channel lights don't work, and the clock is dead.

I may be remembering wrong, but I think the "playback" switch is moved by mechanical linkage from the play push-button. Perhaps the linkage is jammed/bent/gummed up and not pushing the switch fully into "play". That could perhaps explain both symptoms. Hope it's that simple.
jr

One difference between early Beta VCRs and VHS machines was, the video output from Beta VCRs would go blank as soon as you hit "Play" until the tape video appeared, but on VHS machines the existing video (typically from the built-in tuner) would remain on the screen until the video from the tape appeared a couple of seconds or so after hitting "Play". If you have a separate problem where no video is coming from your tape, that may explain the tuner's video remaining on screen.

While I'm waiting for that transistor for my console stereo, I'm taking another look at this VCR.

At first I thought there must be a problem with the circuit that controls that solenoid. (in 1st pic) But the problem turned out to be that that +12V wasn't getting there.

Now there is a switch which is supposed to activate when the tape loads (see 2nd pic) which turns on the 12V. In the 2nd pic you can see two switches. The top one is supposed to close when the tape loads, and the bottom one is supposed to open. The bottom one functions like it should; the top one does not. There is a small plastic lever which activates the top switch just like you see on the bottom one. There is nothing wrong with it, but I just removed it so I could get a better look.

I took the picture after the tape loaded. The arrows are pointing to part of a metal ring, I believe that ring is supposed to rotate further down so as to push on the plastic piece (the one I removed - so its not in the pic) and close the switch. Unfortunately, I can't really see whats going on without taking large portion of this unit apart, which I was hoping I wouldn't have to do.

The 3rd and 4th pic show what happens when I activate the switch manually. It plays the tape. The sound is good, picture is intermittent.